Rob Price
Gutbrain Records
rob + gutbrain.com = email

2009 July 20 • Monday

The seventieth Soundtrack of the Week is this CD with the soundtracks to two movies, Sharaz and Ragan, both by Nico Fidenco and Gianni Dell'Orso.

The two scores have a strong exotica flavor, very reminiscent of Les Baxter and Martin Denny. Both benefit from the participation of singer Edda Dell'Orso, famous for her work with Ennio Morricone. (Her voice is the one you hear on the Once Upon a Time in the West soundtrack.)

Sharaz has a killer main theme, a soaring and beautiful piece with a middle eastern feel to it. The instrumentation throughout is very satisfying, with lots of percussion and something that sounds like it could be a tres or an oud or some other guitar-like thing.

Ragan is more in a jazz lounge mood but manages to combine marimba, woodwinds, brass and percussion with snarling fuzz guitar. I fall for that everytime. There's also some sick organ combo stuff.