Egisto Macchi - "Città Notte" (Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, Remastered, 2015/1972 (The Omni Recording Corporation)

"città notte," (Night City) the album by Egisto Macchi is a masterpiece.  A pal of Ennio Morricone, as well as both of them being part of the experimental and free-flowing Gruppo di Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza.  This is a very focused album of compositional music, but using the instrumentation in startling aural textures.  Macchi's approach is to express an urban area (a city) as a subject matter for this album.  It's abstract space, but no doubt Italian.  

From moment to moment "città notte" can change from lush strings to snarling electric guitar.  Or both.   When you have the beauty of the strings mixed in with harsh sounds of a guitar, or organ, it brings out the grandeur of the piece.  Pain and pleasure equal bliss.  Sparseness yet the aural canvas will eventually be full.  There are no specific credits in who plays what on this album, recorded in 1972, but it's more of a hunch that Morricone plays trumpet, and it's almost like the sound of someone spitting against the wind. 

On a financial level, I think this album was made for film production houses which need a certain type of music - mood pieces, or something romantic at times. Listening to it as an album project, which I suspect Macchi was playing both ends of the spectrum, is superb.  It is truly a mix of the experimental, the gorgeous melodies, and an exploration of sound, and how it can transform a space.  Playing this album in a room that is great for sound, it can't help but impress the listener. 

Ennio Morricone "Danger: Diabolik" CD, Album, Unofficial Release, 2001 (Sycodelic)

The legendary and lost soundtrack album from Ennio Morricone.  "Danger: Diabolik" is the ultimate late 1960s (or is it the 70s) hero/villain film made in Europe.  A combination of The Phantom meets James Bond mixed with Fantomas, Diabolik is the ultimate of the ultimate masked heroes, who embraced the sexual revolution with great passion.  Actually, he has a true love that is more Eros than keeping a home together.   The soundtrack is equal to the film, and the story is that the master tapes were destroyed in a fire.   So the soundtrack has never been released officially, only in the shadow world of bootlegs.  

The album is great. It does have a classic Morricone song "Deep Down," which I believe is known to all those who love Retro Lounge Culture.   The album is a mixture of electronics, sound effects, and sharp bursts of melody that runs through the entire soundtrack.  This particular package also has a lot of dialogue, which I suspect that they just recorded everything from a film print or VHS tape.  So, entirely listenable, the sound quality is not the best in the world.  Still, it's a fantastic album, and important for those like me who collect Morricone. 

Uri Caine Ensemble - "Wagner E Venezia" CD Album, Germany, 1997 (Winter & Winter)

The great Richard Wagner melodies played by a six-member band, live, in what sounds like a cafe in Venice Italy.  Uri Cane is a composer, and a jazz and classical pianist.  He has done a similar treatment to Mozart's music, but for me, Wagner is the key ingredient for this type of cultural mash-up.    What Caine did was bring Wagner back to earth, not as this insane over-the-top composer, but as a classical composer who wrote these tender sweet incredible melodies.   So in other words, Wagner stripped down.   The theater is gone, the Norse gods are zipped, and what we have here is cafe music played in front of what sounds like an audience in some outside cafe.  

It's a peculiar choice to present Wagner's music in this light, but one that is highly effective and what's more important strips the image off (at least for this recording and band) to appreciate the Wagner experience without the dramatics.  The ensemble besides Caine on piano, is two violins, an accordion, stand-up bass player, and Violoncello.  By far my favorite Wagner recording of all time. And beautifully designed package as well.