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Ma Ennio
Morricone |
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Ma Ennio
Morricone |
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As with the two previous volumes (both of which are due for re-issue this year), Molto Mondo Morricone compiles pop-oriented soundtrack cues from the prolific composer’s ‘60s and ‘70s output. Morricone’s jazz background (he was a trumpeter and arranger) assures that the disc’s twenty tracks have a firm sense of melody and rhythm, which is augmented by all manner of eclectic (but never overwhelming) flourishes: blithe, sugary female choruses, venomous fuzz guitar, even a banjo plucking out sinister blues licks on “Autostop Rosso Sangue” (from the berserk Franco Nero/David Hess road picture of the same name). However, the over-riding emotion suggested by these cuts is not ebullience but rather melancholy; as Warren Beatty (who tapped Morricone to write the scores for Bugsy and Bullworth) once aptly noted, no one surpasses the composer at creating a haunting melody. There’s an emptiness that permeates these tracks—you can hear it in the deep guitar twang on “Beat No. 3,” in the wafting, echoey vocalese on “Ninna Nanna Per Adulti,” even behind the loping bass and voice on the noirish “Ma Non Troppo Erotico.” More than any of his contemporaries—both forty years ago and today—Morricone understood both sides of the lush life—the beautiful places and faces, but also the impersonal encounters and guarded and vacant personalities. His prescience at tapping the whole of this vibe, combined with an unerring knack for memorable songwriting, is the main reason why his music continues to be sampled, compiled, and feted four decades later. —Paul Gaita |
