If you're an attentive music drone, you've probably come across the term 'library music' at least a few times in your travels across internet land. Maybe not - but now you have. I suppose it's no different than any other sort of genre name - it doesn't really define a sound at all, but serves as some demarcation point for where one thing begins and ends. One would probably be able to substitute baroque pop or orchestral rock for the term, but again, the name doesn't really matter.

Using the term 'library music,' though, does seem to have a few specific connotations. In addition to making the music just sound smarter than you, it in fact defines the genre as a precursor to Muzak. Of course that term has its own burdens to shoulder - and really it just makes me think of getting in an elevator at my grandmother's apartment building in anticipation of smelling that old Jewish lady smell that they all seem to somehow acquire.

Anyway, the Peer Music label specialized in 'library music.' And while that isn't a definitive term for a sound, the music on the Stringronics' album Mindbender is relatively unified considering that four separate musicians contribute to the proceedings. Barry Forgie, Anthony Mawer, Nino Nardini and Roger Roger shell out music for the disc. And while none of those folks should be readily identifiable to you, they all traffic in some swampy mess of jazz, funk, '70s AM radio and of course strings.

For whatever reason, this particular album has become much sought after. It is more than sample ready and sports enough '70s flair to either be able to bolster a cop film or porn - that's at your discretion. The Barry Forgie suite of six songs that begins and makes up about half of the disc is more diverse in its inclusion of various sounds than any other clutch of songs here. It's difficult to imagine this music being used in anything other than full length films, but even then, it'd be curious as to how an editor and director would work with these sounds that have been created independently of the filmic project.

The inclusion of strings, which is obviously denoted in the title to the disc, at times works to better the track, but at other points, as on both of the Anthony Mawer works, makes the music sound a bit below b-movie cowboy fare. Mawer, though, seems to be the odd ball on this comp. Every other track, in some way, includes either an overt African influence or just some funk.

Nino Nardini adds some quizzical sounds to the funky drumming and wah wah guitar to create a Pink Panther mood over a few tracks that she contributes. Again, though, adding these works to a film or television show might prove problematic. But at this point, no one's trying to do that any longer - this is now a forgotten art of sorts. That's really unfortunate, though, considering Roger Roger's "Safari Park" is funky enough for any producer to mangle into some rap productions. If you can find the disc for less than a hundred bucks and you own turntables - get it.