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A fantastic album from Italian soundtrack genius Ennio Morricone – done for a film titled G-Force, and which deals with jet pilots – but one that moves at a much slinkier pace overall! The tunes here bubble and brew in that early 70s Morricone warmth that we love so much – not the tension of his horror soundtracks, but instead the spacious sounds that he opened on some of his more majestic mondo scores of the time – delivered here with very light strings, floating woodwinds, isolated instrumentation, and slow-stepping piano lines that are really beautiful! The complete charm here is the way in which Morricone can make the music still sound so striking – very different than more common sleepy or romantic modes that are usually at this pace – and instead completely rapturous throughout. There's lots of warm and subtle passages on the album – gently swelling as the tracks move on, occasionally giving way to jazzier numbers, but always retaining the charm of mellow Morricone. Titles include a number of tunes called "Forza G" and "Sospesi Fra Le Nuvole" – and this reissue features new remastering, and a total of 16 tracks in all – including the added "Sospesi Fra Le Nuvole". CD

Groovy Morricone! This excellent lost score from the mid 70s features some essential tracks for fans of Il Maestro's groovier sounds – as it's filled with nice slightly funky tracks, lots of groovy keyboards and organ, and some other excellent little tracks that have a nice bossa nova groove. This is a great place to start if you're less interested in some of Morricone's darker moments – and if you dig your Italian soundtracks on the easy/groovy side. Titles include "L'Attico Illuminato", "Gli Scatenati", "Terrazza", "Mariangela E La Seduzione", and "Samba In Tribunale". Also includes some great variations on the "Il Gatto" theme, which are more orchestral, but still nice and lovely! 15 cuts in all – with notes, pictures, and unreleased material! CD

A weird later Ennio Morricone soundtrack – and one with some surprising use of electronics and keyboards too! The maestro has used electric instrumentation on other scores, but this one has a pretty different feel – a handful of tracks that have more of a future-sounding quality, fitting for the movie's sci-fi story – mixed with a few others that are more atmospheric, and with more familiar Morricone elements at play. Overall, the whole thing's pretty great – and the sound is really more early 70s than you'd guess from the date of the movie – no clunky 80s keyboards, and still more 70s analogue elements that have a nice degree of warmth, even when they're trying to sound a bit cold. Titles include "Estasi Stellare", "Un Uomo Nello Spazio", "Robodog", "Incontri A Sei", "Informale Primo", "Infanzia Evoluzione E Ritorno", and "Trasmissione Difettosa Rotazione E Rivoluzione". CD

More than 40 tracks! CD

One of the greatest Ennio Morricone dramatic scores of the 70s – composed for Bernardo Bertolucci's epic film Novocento, and featuring some of Morricone's best serious scoring at the time! The work's got a sense of majesty and authority that befits the historical setting of the film – not nearly as groovy as some of Morricone's other work from the decade, but equally great in its own way. CD features 16 tracks in all – and titles include "Romanzo", "Estate 1908", "Regalo Di Nozze", "La Polenta", "Tema Di Ada", "Verdi E Morto", "Il Quarto Stato", and "Olmo E Alfredo". CD

A film divided up into four different parts – three of which receive some great scoring from Ennio Morricone! The music is a bit overlooked in the Morricone canon – but stands out with some of the stronger elements he brought to his music of the period – especially that understated way of using larger arrangements in more compressed qualities, often hovering below a sonic range in some spots – but augmented by stronger flourishes in others! One big highlight is the 34 minute "I Cane Blue" suite – alongside shorter tracks that include "La Neve Sul Fuocco", "Specialmente La Fisarmonica", and "La Domenica Specialmente". Andrea Guerra scored the remaining tracks, which are from the fourth section of the film – and these have a moody vibe that's not unlike Morricone – with titles that include "Le Chiese Di Legno" and "I Tamburi Della Luna". CD

Soundtracks for 2 very weird movies – both essentially caveman comedies from Italy, with a campy sex comedy sort of feel! The score to the first was written by Morricone, the score to the second by Bruno Nicolai – and they both were conducted by Nicolai. The first soundtrack features some great work by I Cantori Moderni, the vocal group led by Alessandro Alessandroni, who sung on the soundtrack to 7 Golden Men, and other hip Italian films! Given the prehistoric setting of the films, the soundtracks are surprisingly groovy – very much in a late 60s mode, with some bossa groovers, some cool electric instrumentation, and lots of silly and playful melodies that still know how to groove! Titles include "Can Can Delle Filly", "Quando Le Donne Avevano La Coda", "Preludia Alla Gioia", "Marcetta Dei Sette", and "Miss Katorcia". CD

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A surprisingly obscure soundtrack from Ennio Morricone – especially given that it was recorded at a time that's been quite well documented on record over the years! Yet the music here is also a bit different than the usual Morricone modes – just a handful of tracks, but longer too – penned by the maestro, conducted by Bruno Nicolai, and featuring some superb tenor solos by Gato Barbieri – very young at this point, and blowing with a soulfully modern edge that's wonderful, and completely evocative! Two tracks are especially long – both versions of "L'Harem Primo", with excellent work by Barbieri – and other titles include two takes on "Sei Corde", plus "L'Harem Secondo", with another great solo! CD also features an unusual bonus track – "Fermateli (boutique scene source music)" – from the film Menage All'Italiana – appearing here, we think, for the first time. A very groovy number! CD

Think that Ennio Morricone only made music for soundtracks? Guess again – because this groovy little set features a whole host of tracks that the maestro recorded with singers in the early 60s – great postwar pop numbers that already show his creative touch on the charts! Most of the music here is a bit more straightforward than Morricone's later soundtrack material, but still pretty darn sublime – Italian vocals, cool instrumentation, and lots of sweet production techniques that bring in moody, echoey, and mellow touches that definitely let you know you're in the hands of Ennio. Titles include "Corri Corri" by Gianni Morandi, "La Tua Stagione" by Tony Del Mnaco, "Queelo Che Conta" by La Cuccagna, "Faccio Finta Di Dormire" by Edoardo Vianello, "Se Fatto Tardi" by Helen Merrill, "La Donna Che Vale" by Alberto Lionello, "Arianna" by Nora Orlandi, and "Perdono" by Catherine Spaak. CD

This Morricone soundtrack features some of the strangest instrumentation we've ever heard him use – and some of the most beautiful, too! The orchestrations are pretty heavy with some wild use of a mouth harp – not making slow quiet noises, as in some of the bigger westerns, but just going crazy, and making bigger, springy noises! These are juxtaposed with haunting, dark moody instrumental passages, some with floating piano or harp – in true Morricone tradition – and others with lovely wordless vocals. Unique in the Morricone catalog to say the least, and an essential slice of his work at its most adventurous! Tracks include the original "La Moglie Piu Bella" single versions and many more variations, plus "Tema di Francesa". CD

A landmark record – not only in the history of the western, but in that of Ennio Morricone! The soundtrack, written for this hit Clint Eastwood spaghetti western, is everything you'd want in a 60s western – driving orchestral passages, twanging guitar parts, and spooky little bits that isolate the mood of a scene nicely. The work's an instant classic, and is still one of Morricone's strongest western soundtracks – even if it is one of the most familiar. This expanded Italian version features 17 tracks in all – including some rare mono and stereo mixes – and titles include "Quasi Morto", "Musica Sospesa", "Senza Pieta", "Tortura", "Alla Ricerca Dell'Evaso", "Consuelo Baxter", and "Ramon". CD

A killer Morricone soundtrack from the late 60s – filled with sweet tunes and moodier numbers – all served up with cool orchestrations, and some sweet work on electric harpsichord too! The score's lesser-known than some of the maestro's best from the time – but is equally great, and one we're very happy to discover – caught at a mode that still has Morricone using some of his best mod elements from the 60s, yet also beginning to explore the darker sounds that would unfurl even more strongly in the 70s! Bruno Nicolai conducts the group, and the set features a few great vocal moments from I Cantori Moderni – on titles that include "Scherzo Da Guerra", "Scherzo Da Baffone", "Filastrocca Per Cretini", and "Lo Sai Che Cosa Facevano Le Donne A Stalin". CD

A tremendous score from Ennio Morricone – one that has a number of links to earlier Italian soundtrack modes, but which still has some undeniable touches of the maestro! There's passages here that evoke the warmer, sometimes more romantic styles used in Italian films in the earlier part of the 60s – but these are offset by mellower passages with a really subdued sense of darkness – which are then again mixed with a few tunes that get bolder and more mod-sounding – a really complicated array of themes that may lack the subtlety of other Morricone work, but which more than makes up for that lack with a really dynamic energy! 3 tracks feature performances by The Sorrows, and others feature vocals by I Cantori Moderni – used here in a way that's a bit more traditional than their other soundtrack appearances. Titles include "La Diva", "La Donna Gattina", "Pioggia Sul Tuo Viso", "La Donna Romantica", "Pizzicato", "Alta Moda", and "Pioggia Sul Tuo Viso". CD

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A groundbreaking album, put together by Zorn and a group of downtown New York hipsters, as a fitting hommage to the genius of Ennio Morricone! The track list sticks to mostly the bigger known numbers, and the album's got a darkness that we'd actually say was a bit out of place, considering the choice of tracks – but the groups formed by Zorn do a pretty good job of breathing new life into some of the tracks, and the album was a key moment in the recognition of Morricone as one of the century's greatest composers. Players include Robert Quine, Tim Berne, Arto Lindsay, Jim Staley, Bill Frisell, Christian Marclay, Anton Fier, and even Big John Patton. Titles include "Erotico", "Once Upon A Time In The West", "Giu La Testa", "Battle Of Algiers", and "The Big Gundown". CD

Peggy March is a singer with a surprisingly varied career – an artist that most folks know for only her early little girl pop fame – but one who went onto record a very unusual range of sounds as the 60s moved on! RCA was her label, and while she never hit the heights of the charts after her early hit, the company was more than committed to allowing Peggy's sound to grow and flourish – especially on the international scene, where she not only recorded tracks in other languages, but also picked up new non-American songs, and served up very cool English-language versions! This set really does a great job of moving past the early stuff, and looking at this lost later legacy of March's music – sounds that we'd easily compare to the hipper 60s material by Jackie DeShannon, even though Peggy didn't write her own material. The range of studio talents really keeps things interesting – there's even one track arranged by Ennio Morricone – and titles include "He's Back Again", "If You Loved Me", "He Couldn't Care Less", "Watch What You Do With My Baby", "Johnny Cool", "Kilindini Docks", "Eh Bravo", "Passo Su Passo", "Too Long Away", "Wasurenaiwa", "Ne Joue Pas Les Enfants", "He Couldn't Care Less", "This Heart Wasn't Made To Kick Around", "Can't Stop Thinkin About Him", and "Fool Fool Fool". CD

Bruno Nicolai's soundtrack for the second film in the Sabata trilogy from the early 70s – noteworthy for the fact that Yul Brynner took over the starring role, and that Nicolai handled the scoring of the film! Nicolai's style here borrows a lot from frequent partner Ennio Morricone – and the overall feel of the work is extremely powerful – with the sort of broad, bold Morricone themes that we love so much – often done with unusual touches that include floating vocals, trilling flute, echoey guitar, and even a bit of whistling by Alessandro Alessandroni! The CD brings together a total of 24 tracks in all – and features 11 tracks of the score in mono, 11 more in stereo, and 2 more from the original 45 of the soundtrack! CD

A wonderfully mellow soundtrack from Riz Ortolani – a bit different than most of his other work, and handled with this spacious style that often has a lead instrumental solo sliding out in front of soft orchestrations! The mood is sometimes somber – maybe not as sexy as you'd guess from the image on the cover – and the style's a bit like some of those soundtracks that Ennio Morricone was doing around the same time, especially as his work took him into more of a global cinematic scale! Some of our favorite tracks have a lead trumpet or woodwind – and titles include "Amnesia", "Uno Scandalo Perbene", "Interrogatorio", "Momenti Felici", "Meditazione", and "Ritrovarsi Ancora". CD also features 11 previously unissued bonus tracks! CD

Life! Liberty! Vengeance! A wild and very cool soundtrack for Tarantino's dual Blacksploitation/Spaghetti Western homage Django Unchained – featuring bits from some of our favorite Italian western composers mixed up with classic and contemporary funky soul and hip hop! It's the kind of soundtrack that could only happen for Quentin Tarantino – with rare and hard-to-find compositions by Luis Bacalov, Ennio Morricone, Riz Ortolani and Jerry Goldsmith on one hand – along with a few seemingly antithetical new compositions on the other – including a track penned by star Jamie Foxx for Rick Ross, a James Brown "Payback" remix with a vocal from the 2Pac archive, plus ones by Anthony Hamilton, John Legend and others! Last but not least, it's got some great bits of film dialogue by Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Samuel L. Jackson and Leonardo DiCaprio. Titles include "Django" by Luis Bacalov, "The Braying Mule" by Ennio Morricone, "Nicaragua" by Jerry Goldsmith with Pat Metheny, "Day Of Anger" by Riz Ortolani, "Unchained (The Payback/Untouchable)" by James Brown with 2Pac, "Who Did That To You?" by John Legend, "100 Black Coffins" by Rick Ross, "Trinity (Titoli)" by Annibale E I Cantori Moderni and many more. CD

Soundtrack funk doesn't get any better than this – thanks to a head-expanding of tracks from the Italian scene of the 60s and 70s – served up with the usual ear for a great cut by the folks at Easy Tempo! The groove here is far from the "easy" you might expect – and most numbers have tight drums, funky basslines, and other heavy elements – all put together with an approach to the music that's far different than anything happening in the US at the time, especially in the way the instruments sound in the end – and in the way that the production techniques make them do really crazy things! Titles include "Parangua" by Luiz Bacalov, "Flirt a Rio" by Piero Umiliani, "Side Sleep" by Berto Pisano, "Little Shakie Girl" by Armando Trovajoli, "Tremendous Stars" by Piero Piccioni, "Under Drama" by Giancarlo Gazzani, "Realta No 5" by Stelvio Cipriani, "So" by Lara Saint Paul, "Israelites" by Capuano, and "Citta Viva" by Ennio Morricone. CD

Movie themes from Ennio Morricone, Chen Min, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Kiyoshi Shomura, John Williams, Nina Rota, James Horner, Francis Lai, and more – 19 tracks total. CD

Features tracks by Ennio Morricone, Nick Perito, Lalo Schifrin, Billy Preston, David Bowie, and others! CD

23 songs from John Barry, Ennio Morricone, Hugo Montenegro, Henry Mancini, Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe, Yves Simon, Harry Nilsson, Francis Lai & more. CD

Some of the most striking work we've ever heard from this legendary Italian group – and that's saying a heck of a lot, given the power of their work in the 60s and 70s! The assemblage features important avant garde sounds from Ennio Morricone – and offers up a real look at the roots of the atonal and offbeat musical elements that he'd explore on his famous horror soundtracks – but in a setting that's right out there with the farthest reaches of the experimental scene at the time! As the group's name implies, there's a lot of improvisation going on here – played by musicians who include Morricone on trumpet, Frederic Rzewski on piano, Mario Bertoncini on percussion, John Heineman on trombone, Roland Kayn on Hammond and vibes, Franco Evangelisti on piano and percussion, and Ivan Vandor on tenor sax. Yet the sound is hardly free jazz, either – as there's more of a avant compositional vibe going on – a bit like the sense of chance in the music of John Cage, especially as the instruments and players shift from track to track. Titles include "Quartetto", "Trio Di Fiati", "Improvvisazione Per Cinque", "Improvvisazione Per Otto", "RKBA 1675/1", and the haunting "Cantata", which just features voices processed through filters and reverb! CD

Amazing sounds from Alvarius B – aka Alan Bishop, who you'll know from his long legacy of music as part of the Sun City Girls – but who's definitely blowing us away here as a solo artist on his own! The album's a triple-length set – and it's got this really unusual blend of elements that spin out over the extended space of the set – sounds that often just come from the interplay of acoustic and electric guitar, bass, and keyboards – but which often have all these exotic elements in the mix, and these compelling currents of magick that feel like they're echoing Kenneth Anger, Current 93, and a universe of other musical influences too. Most songs are these really compelling originals – but along the way, the project also references Ennio Morricone, Lee Hazlewood, Gene Clark, and other musical heroes of ours. Titles include "Zion The Rocket Ship", "Yellow Dog Prairie", "Their Words Disappear", "Smokin To Live", "Central California Nightmare", "Mark Twain August", "Dark In My Heart", "Obelisk", "Locust Rain", "Fine Line", "The Devil's Spine", "I'll Carry Your Dwarf", "Green Thumb", "Crackled Witch", "Icicle Pillar", "Cantaloupe Brain", and "Take The Veil Down". CD

Great jazzy moments from the best years of European cinema – a collection that starts out with the French New Wave, then moves into a range of great sounds from the Italian and French scene of the 60s and early 70s! Most of the music here isn't straight jazz – and instead, the cuts mix some strong instrumental solos with groovy, swinging, and upbeat arrangements – that fantastic use of jazz in film scores that the European scene of the 60s really took up and ran with – into places that were often much cooler, much more interesting than American soundtracks of the time! The collection's filled with great little gems that really work well in each others' company – and titles include "Those Lazy Days" by Armando Trovajoli, "Number One Superman" by Piero Piccioni, "Jazz Interludio" by Giorgio Gaslini, "La Preda" by Vince Tempera & Franco Bixio, "Astaroth" by Stelvio Cipriani, "Eva" by Michel Legrand, "Una Gita Mancata" by Ennio Morricone, and "Fiacre" by Georges Delerue. CD