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SYFY WIRE Mondo

From Aliens to Halloween, Mondo's new 'The Art of Soundtracks' book salutes the gorgeous art with our favorite scores

By Jeff Spry
mondo1

Mondo is the pop-culture emporium and geeky art gallery based in Austin, Texas renowned for their custom apparel, collector tribute posters, tiki mugs, toys, board games, books, and deluxe, limited-edition vinyl releases for iconic sci-fi, horror, and fantasy properties.

Now, in the wake of its 2017 hardcover release titled The Art of Mondo, the folks at this nerdy institution are offering up a vivid new collection of original artwork used to adorn its library of movie and video game soundtracks pressed onto premium vinyl.

mondo cover

Arriving on June 1, Mondo: The Art of Soundtracks is a 216-page hardcover that spotlights the imaginative cover and gatefold art created by an international roster of acclaimed artists and featured in the company’s record product line — and SYFY WIRE has an exclusive peek to share.

The limited-edition vinyl market has exploded in the last decade, with millions of audiophiles reliving the glory of classic albums and their accompanying art.

This colorful coffee table book is written by Todd Gilchrist with Mo Shafeek and Spencer Hickman, Co-Creative Directors for Mondo Music and Death Waltz Recording Co., and is brimming with over 90 pieces of inspired soundtrack interpretations in a variety of mediums including photographs, digital paintings, collages, and abstract renderings.

aliens

"There is something truly magical and unique about a soundtrack,” co-author Mo Shafeek tells SYFY WIRE. “It's one of the few types of music that comes anchored with a visual association beyond a square album cover. There a 3-dimensionality and emotionality that is spawned from your relationship to the film, the play, the television show, the videogame, the property etc. And because of that, it provides endless opportunity to do alternative interpretations. And the vinyl format, in particular, is just the perfect sized canvas to explore all of those opportunities." 

Mondo has long been known as the Poster company and after they saw the enthusiastic response for their poster retrospective, they wanted to showcase one of the many other things Mondo is famous for.

"So we sat down and did our best to do a full retrospective of what Mondo and our sister label Death Waltz Recording Co., have spent ten years bringing to the record stores," Shafeek adds. "Some of these records you can still find in stores, but many are long out of press and will never be made again, and we tried to balance that, while giving people the opportunity to see a celebration of the vinyl medium as a canvas, and show some love to the genre of soundtracks."

liquid sky

Now check out our exclusive look inside Mondo: The Art of Soundtracks, presenting art and colored vinyl images for Aliens, Back to the Future, Fight Club, Blade Runner 2049Liquid Sky, Halloween, and more.