Rob Price
Gutbrain Records
rob + gutbrain.com = email

2012 January 30 • Monday

The 202nd Soundtrack of the Week is Ennio Morricone's Matchless.

This is the Japanese CD, not the recent Italian release which has three additional tracks.

First is "Donna e Amori", which begins with weird bubbling noises, then an ascending line for brass. Electric bass guitar comes gooving in and the piece takes off, with some flourishes reminiscent of Morricone's spaghetti western music.

"Tre Sogni in Uno" is a Mancini-esque lounge piece for strings. "Corsa Verso Lei" begins with tension but ends up being another lounging kind of cue, with Morricone's famous writing for wordless vocals.

"Rincorsa Prima" is distinguished by high energy jazz drumming throughout, punctuated by odd statements from horns and chorus.

"Pensiero Stupendo" is a beautiful piece featuring wordless vocals again, presumably Edda dell'Orso.

Then there's a shake, "Vocette Ostinate". Morricone wrote a lot of these great kind of pop-psych rock pieces with wailing vocals and interesting instrumentation.

After that comes "Pensiero Stupedo" again, followed by "Lei Verso Lui Sta Correndo", which is appallingly chirpy and upbeat, like music from educational films from the 1950s.

"Drammatico Grottesco" sounds like its title: suspenseful, unsettling, ominous. Then there's "Rincorsa Seconda", which is similar to "Rincorsa Prima" but has an interesting electric guitar part Like "Donna e Amori", it also echoes some of Morricone's spaghetti western work.

"Ma Non e' un Mitero" has the same bass line from "Donna e Amori" but a different, tenser atmosphere surrounding it.

After that you'll hear "Pensiero Stupendo" again and, for the last track, a reprise of "Donna e Amori".