VA - Inside Deep Note: Music Of 1970's Adult Cinema (2003)

Porn music is iconic in and of itself. Everybody knows what it sounds like, even if they've never watched an adult film. They know the incessant wah-wah guitars, the limp funk vamps, the shimmering electric pianos, the low-rent production that practically conjures shag carpeting, leisure suits, bell bottoms, and afros -- it all adds up to the sound of porn. And, 30 years after the golden age of adult cinema has passed, everybody still thinks this is what porno sounds like, which is why collections like the 35-track (!) Inside Deep Note: Music of 1970's Adult Cinema exist. This collection, copyrighted in Denmark, certainly uses Paul Thomas Anderson's 1998 epic Boogie Nights as its ground zero, claiming that it was produced and compiled by Brock Landers and the Colonel and that the "images" -- lots and lots of photographs of women from the '70s, some clearly stills from films, some clearly not; some quite sexy, some quite not; some naked, some just in various states of undress -- are from the PT Archives, but it's nearly a sure bet that PTA was not involved in this production. In fact, there's no indication of who actually was involved in this production, or where any of this music comes from; there's no discography, no filmography, the liner notes are a narrative of "casting room capers of a female X-rated movie director (circa 1974)" and there's not even a mention of who the naked women are. These fast-n-loose rules are infuriating if you want to know something about the music (or if you want to seek out the films), but they're fine if you're just interested in the surface of this collection, which, admittedly, will be most listeners. And on that level, it does deliver the standard wah-wah guitars, electric pianos, and limp funk grooves that are part and parcel for the genre, along with some aural clips that are amusing enough, but the thing is, this stuff is amusing only in small doses because the music is so damn repetitive, with no development of the grooves and no solos to break up the monotony. Then again, that's just the way this music is -- it's mood music and it's evocative enough in small doses and, as far as CD releases of it goes, there aren't that many, and there aren't that many with this many songs or as many groovy photos. So, if you're looking for a collection of '70s porn music, not caring what movie it's from simply because you want a taste of that sound, this isn't a bad choice, particularly because the packaging is nearly as evocative of the music. But be forewarned -- it will more likely be something friends look at during a party rather than listen to.