The Group: The Feed-back (RCA, 1970)

Just as the first "krautrock" lp's were coming out in Germany, in Italy we had a surprisingly similar counterpart: this album. It consists of three long instrumental tracks, somewhere in between psych-rock, avantgarde jazz and funky jams.
The sound is definitely experimental and ostentatiously "underground". None of the instruments involved tries to be reassuring: the guitar is scratchy, the trumpet sounds choked, piano and keyboards are always dissonant and a background of "proto-industrial" noises is present all along the record. The music, anyway, is thrilling. The drum patterns, in particular, are extraordinary: regular, tight, groovy, and incredibly close to the "motorik" beat of Can and Neu!.

"The Group" was not a band of young beatniks. As a matter of fact, it's just a pseudonym for Gruppo d'Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza, a project of renown soundtrack composer Ennio Morricone along with other important experimental musicians. The rock-focused attitude of the record is quite surprising for  such a team of classically-trained men already in their forties!

Tracklist:

1. The Feed-back
2. Quasar
3. Kumalo

Credits:

• Franco Evangelisti: keyboard, percussion
• Ennio Morricone: trumpet
• Mario Bertoncini: piano, percussion
• Walter Branchi: double bass
• Bruno Battisti D'Amario: guitar
• Egisto Macchi: percussion
• Renzo Restuccia: drums
• John Heineman: trombone, piano, cello

Download (224 kbps)


Similar music on the blog:
Ennio Morricone: Crime and Dissonance (Ipecac, 2005)
La 1919: Jouer, Spielen, To Play (Materiali sonori, 1994)

Calibro 35: s/t (Cinedelic/Self, 2008)

"Poliziotteschi" of the 70s are among the most appreciated Italian movies abroad. Longly dismissed as "trash", they've been promoted recently to near-masterpieces. Their soundtracks were probably the first to be reconsidered: the international stardom of Ennio Morricone and Quentin Tarantino's B-movie fetishism surely contributed to the process.
Calibro 35 tries to revieve some of the key pieces of the genre with a more "rock" spirit. Where the original tracks featured extended instrumentations and privileged groove and atmosphere over impulse, their updated versions have a more aggressive sound and a more compact sonic palette. The edginess of the compositions remains the same though, and is still impressive.
A well-conceived and respectful tribute to the less pretentious and less ingenuous - but most daring - form of progressive which ever came from Italy.

Calibro 35 are a supergroup formed by Enrico Gabrielli, Fabio Rondanini, Luca Cavina, Massimo Martellotta, Tommaso Colliva, well-credited collaborators of Mariposa, Afterhours, Transgender, Mauro Pagani and many more. They're united by the passion for obscure Italian movie themes and excellent instrumental skills.
Their second LP, "Ritornano quelli di Calibro 35", is out now.

Tracklist:

1. Italia a mano armata, dal film “Italia A Mano Armata” (F. Micalizzi)
2. Summertime Killer, dal film “Ricatto alla Mala” (L. Bacalov)
3. Notte in Bovisa (M. Martellotta, E. Gabrielli, F.  Rondanini, L. Cavina , T. Colliva)
4. Titoli, dal film “Indagine su un cittadino al di sopra di ogni sospetto” (E. Morricone)
5. Milano Calibro 9 (Bouchet Funk), dal film “Milano Calibro 9” (L. Bacalov)
6. Trafelato, dal film “Giornata Nera per l’Ariete” (E. Morricone)
7. Una stanza vuota, dal film “Svegliati e Uccidi” (E. Morricone)
8. La mala ordina, dal film “ La Mala Ordina” (A. Trovajoli)
9. La polizia s’incazza (M. Martellotta, E. Gabrielli, F. Rondanini, L. Cavina , T. Colliva)
10. Preludio dal film “Milano Calibro 9” (L. Bacalov)
11. Gangster Story, dal film “La Polizia incrimina, La Legge Assolve” (G. & M. DeAngelis)
12. Spiralys, soundlibrary (D. Casa)
13. Shake Balera, dal film “La Ragazza Con La Pistola” (P. De Luca, V. Tommaso)

Download (192 kbps)


Similar albums on the blog:
Braen's Machine: Temi ritmici e dinamici (Liuto LRS, 1973)
Ennio Morricone: Crime and Dissonance (Ipecac, 2005) 

Ennio Morricone: Crime and Dissonance (Ipecac, 2005)

This monumental 2-CD compilation was drawn up by metal buffoon and Morricone fanatic Mike Patton as a way to rediscover the most experimental episodes of Morricone's career as a film music composer. The tracks included are not in the vein of Morricone's most melodic and renown work: the selection's mainly devoted to ill-sounding, disturbing pieces, tension-tinged hustles or chaotic murder scenes from half-forgotten Italian B-movies. Dissonance, unusual instrumental techniques and the radical avantgarde leanings of Morricone's Gruppo di improvvisazione nuova consonanza merge with classical music, electric jazz and experimental rock elements to create a kaleidoscopic range of tones which still today preserve both their original charm and innovative charge.

Liner notes are available on the Ipecac Records website.


Tracklist:
CD1:

1. Giorno di notte
2. Astratto 3
3. Corsa sui tetti
4. Ric Happening
5. Memento
6. Ricreazione divertita
7. Studio di colore
8. Forza G (Quella donna)
9. Placcaggio
10. Seguita
11. Postludio alla terza moglie
12. L'uccello con le piume di cristallo (Titoli)
13. Il buio
14. Rapimento in campo aperto
15. Le fotografie
16. Spiriti
17. Ninna nanna per adulteri
18. Astrazione

CD 2:

1. Trafelato
2. Sensi
3. Gil intoccabili
4. Fondate paure
5. L'attentato [Alternate Version 1]
6. Fumeria d'oppio
7. 1970
8. Esplicitamente sospeso
9. Sequenza 10 (stream it!)
   
10. Paura e aggressione [Short Version]
11. Folle folle
12. Un uomo da rispettare (Titoli)

Download:
Part 1 | Part 2 (192 kbps)