Keith Mansfield

Vivid Underscores BE WITH. LP

Instrumental library music for crime-busting moods.

Original KPM pressings of 1977’s Vivid Underscores

fetch up to £100, partly because it’s so sample-friendly, but also as the High Velocity track actually was sampled for Memphis Bleek’s Jay-Z-featuring What You Think Of That. So there is a market for what is, strictly speaking, this first issue – it was a subscription-only library album not for sale in shops. UK arranger/composer Keith Mansfield had been at this sort of thing since 1968, and his other library work has been sampled by Danger Mouse and Fatboy Slim. Tagged on the sleeve as “Contemporary scores for visual effect”, the 17 cuts are funky in a TV crime show way, or atmospheric in a Lalo Schifrin-scored cop film way. Titles like Espionage and Matter Of Urgency play to this vibe. Great for soundtracking a living-room car chase.