Ennio Morricone -- "Le Foto Proibite Di Una Signora Per Bene" OST, Vinyl, LP, Album, 1970/2014 (Dagored)

The genius of Ennio Morricone's score for "Le Foto Proibite Di Una Signora Per Bene" is the mixture of easy listening samba beats with threatening orchestration that something bad is going to happen around the corner.  Morricone is a master of tension being built up, and then the blissful melody or beauty arrives. Featuring the eternal vocals of the great Edda Dell'Orso, this is one of the important soundtracks by the Italian master.  As I have written before, I think of Morricone as one of the great composers of the 20th-century.  Here he also orchestrated the music as well as writing the score and incidental music for the film. 

Ennio Morricone "Veruschka" Album, OST, 2 x Vinyl (Dagored)

The ultimate Italian/Euro swinging set of melodies by Ennio Morricone, which is the soundtrack to the 1971 documentary "Veruschka - Poesia Di Una Donna." Veruschka was the first supermodel, and here, the music matches her beauty. The film is forgotten (unless your Tarantino) but the music is iconic and beautiful in that it conveys a textural Brazilian motif, yet, clearly Italian. The album features the breathy vocals of Edda Dell'Orso, who is the ultimate singer for Morricone. She comes off as Yma Sumac but even in a more mysterious landscape. This is a double-album vinyl set, and it is the first to be the complete soundtrack to the film. A must for the exotica fan, as well as anyone who appreciates the genius of Ennio Morricone.

Ennio Morricone - "Comandamenti per un Gangster" (OST) Vinyl, LP, Album, Limited Edition, 2015 (Dagored)

The album as perfection.   From the graphics of the cover to the vinyl design to the aural delights within the package, it's a must to obtain and enjoy.  For me, Ennio Morricone is one of the greatest composers of the 20th century.  The mixture of instruments, the haunting melodies, and the imagination that goes through his compositions is magnificence at work.   "Comandamenti per un Gangster" is basically two songs, but totally re-arranged to give it a new listening experience. It never grows old, and one is amazed at the arrangements by Bruno Nicolai.  

The music on this album is very much in one's face.  Some original soundtrack music is very ambient and there to serve the images on the screen, but Morricone is listenable without the specific images coming from the projected light.  One can tell that this is not a romantic score but tied in with elements of suspense and violence.  Beyond that, it's a landscape of sound that is one moment soothing, and then gripping in its intensity.  This album should be played loud with all the windows in the house closed. Don't have mercy for your neighbors down below or next door.  

Ennio Morricone - "Slalom" CD Album, Reissued, Remastered, 2000 (Dagored)

One of Ennio Morricone's over-the-top or borderline insane soundtracks from the 1970s.  The music sounds like it for a film that is Bond-like but even more cartoonish.  Beautifully conducted by Morricone's fellow composer Bruno Nicolai, as the great one arranged the orchestra.  It seems to me whenever Nicolai and Morricone get together for a session, it is usually a fun and wild music journey.  Here we have jazz touches that border on Rota/Mancini but with the craziest scat vocals. Dissonant strings with horns and what sounds like a bongo drum playing with the melody as if it was a cat chasing a mouse.  

It can be my imagination, but it seems on this one particular soundtrack Morricone plays homage to John Barry, Henry Mancini, and Nino Rota.   The music is light, but under Morricone's direction, it's textured in various and surprisingly turns.   Not a well-known Morricone, which is a crime. For sure it is the ultimate bachelor groove music, but I think with an additional touch of poison.  And on a side note, one can pretty much trust the taste of the people who do the Dagored record/CD label. Their packaging and of course, music, is fantastic.