VARIOUS ARTISTS – OUR MAN FROM R.O.M.E. (CD by Ceraton Lifestyle Original
Soundtracks)
ANTHONY BURR & SKULI SVERRISSON – DESIST (CD by Fire Inc.)
IOS SMOLDERS – A2Z BLENDER (Web publication by Earlabs)
LEIF ELGGREN – PLURALIS MAJESTATIS (CD by Firework Edition)
THE SONS OF GOD – THE OBJECT (CD by Firework Edition)
LEIF ELGGREN & THOMAS LILJENBERG – 9.11 (CD by Firework Edition)
PHINNEY/MCGEE – ANCIENT ASTRONAUTS (CD by HalTapes)
VARIOUS ARTISTS – OUR MAN FROM R.O.M.E. (CD by Ceraton Lifestyle Original
Soundtracks)
Here’s a very recent release which I at first assumed to be out on a
sub-label of Crippled Dick (http://www.crippled.com), the German label
responsible for the Vampyros Lesbos revival, the Beat at Cinecitta Vols. 1,
2 (and soon) 3 compilations of Italian B-movie soundtracks and the
re-discovery of the music of Gert Wilden and Peter Thomas. This latter has
been very much in the public eye lately partly due to the remix CD ‘Warp
Back To Earth 66/99′ released by Bungalow Records
(http://www.snafu.de/lhi/bungalow) a short while ago. Regulars will by now
no doubt be aware of my affinity with most of the material Bungalow put
out.
The reason for my initial assumption was due to the fact that a limited
edition, low-price promotional compilation which came out on Crippled Dick
sometime last year, ‘Crippled Champions – The Crippled Bargain’ included
the track ‘Kill Them All’, with vocals by Doris Troy, as a foretaste of the
long overdue ‘Beat at Cinecitta Vol. 3’. This cheap compilation also
included some other excellent selections from their catalogue, as well as a
few, short unreleased tracks by Jerry van Rooyen. Additionally it provided
a glimpse of some of their ‘modern’ bands, which include Earthlings, The
Valentine 6 and Plainfield, whose short CD ‘She’s Not My Daughter, She’s My
Wife’ is a prime example of all that’s filthy in the muddy waters of
‘Deliverance’.
Well, it appears that there are more than a few versions of ‘Kill…’ doing
the rounds; there are two of them included on ‘Our Man From R.O.M.E.’, one
of which is an instrumental rendition. A recent CD titled ‘Easy Tempo Vol.
9′ out on a sub-label of Right Tempo (easytempo@gpa.it) features a special,
previously unreleased edit by Gak Sato taken from the Easy Tempo/
Temposhere ‘Kill Them All Remixes’ CD.
[My interest in Italian B-movie soundtracks was triggered by the Crippled
Dick releases, and I try to be selective in my acquisitions as there is an
awful lot of material being made available for a new generation of
listening (and buying) public. Other Italian labels busy with this genre
are Plastic Records (http://www.plastic.it) and La Douce (Fax:
+51.253.787).]
Some influential Italian composers like Alessandro Alessandroni and Ennio
Morricone went on to achieve international fame once they started working
with Hollywood producers, but they too have a long list of Italian film
scores to their early credit. (I was so intrigued to discover what
Morricone composed as a soundtrack for the horror movie ‘The Thing’ – 1982
– that I went out and bought it- and paid money too ! – a few months ago.
Needless to say, it’s spooking brilliant !). Others, however remained in
Italy and created some of the most groovy music of their time, which brings
me back to the matter in hand…
Italian special agent adventure films date from shortly after 1962, when
James Bond and ‘Dr. No’ first made their appearance on movie screens
(almost) worldwide (the Russkies would have nothing of it, of course !)
They were made with comparatively low budgets and were often only realised
through the undaunting enthusiasm of the cast and crew, whose enjoyment
literally radiates off the screen. The soundtrack composers also willingly
contributed their best, creating innovative, melodic music in the vein of
Burt Bacharach, replete with pulsating rhythms and devastatingly sexy (and
equally pulsating) female/ kitten voices.
‘Our Man In R.O.M.E.’ contains some wonderful selections from several of
the acknowledged masters in this field, who became household names in Italy
in the 60’s and 70’s; Bruno Nicolai, Piero Umiliani (original composer of
the much loved ‘Mah Na, Mah Na’ by the way. Check out his soundtrack for
the film ‘La Ragazza Dalla Pelle Di Luna’ released on Easy Tempo), Piero
Piccioni and Nico Fidenco to name but a few.
It opens with the track ‘Upperseven’ with new vocals recorded in 1998 by
Sabina Montes, famous in Germany for her wordless yodeling with the
ethno/rock group ‘Hubert von Goisern und die Original Alpinkatzen’.
Apparently the original vocals by Betty Curtis were somehow mislaid.
Needless to say, Sabina’s vocals are sheer delight and this track is a
fabulous prelude to the rest of the music on this CD, which includes
selections from the films ‘Kiss Kiss Bang Bang’, ‘Agente 077 – Dall’Oriente
Con Furore’ and ‘Missione Morte Molo 83’. This compilation is absolutely
excellent, running – as indeed every special agent should do – an entire
gamut of high speed twists and dangerous curves. A must for collectors,
and a perfect launch pad for first-timers, who might like to compliment
this purchase with the CD ‘Bistro – Erotica Italia’ a ‘Kama Sutra’ of
Italian erotic movie music from the 60’s and 70’s compiled by Patrick
Whitaker and Martin Green and released on their own Bistro label in 1997
(check out Arista dealers for this one).
Other tips at this moment, apart from the ones I’ve already mentioned,
include titles on Lucertola Media, a label connected to Crippled Dick,
mentioned above; check out Bruno Nicolai’s soundtrack for ‘Il Trono Di
Fuoco’ directed by Jess Franco in 1969 or Stelvio Cipriani’s music for the
film ‘Incubo – Sulla Citta Contaminata’ directed by Umberto Lenzi, perhaps
more famous for his ‘cannibal munchers’ ‘Cannibal Ferox’ and ‘Mangiati
Vivi’. Giorgio Gaslini created some extremely odd music for an early Dario
Argento non-horror film titled ‘Le Cinque Giornate’. This limited edition
series was launched with the now unobtainable CD featuring compositions by
Manfred Huber and Siegfried Schwab for ‘3 Films by Jess Franco’.
There is no website/ email address provided for Ceraton Lifestyle, but you
can try faxing them at +49(0)40.659.996.32. (MP)
ANTHONY BURR & SKULI SVERRISSON – DESIST (CD by Fire Inc.)
First time I’ve come across these names (forgive my ignorance) and I hope
to hear more from them. Seven tracks on this one, all drony, but not in the
usual sense. There is something very subtle about these pieces. Different
sounds have been mixed together to form one dense layer, which then shifts
from one part of the sound to another. In this sense the sound itself is
being composed as we go along. Sometimes a very deep bass is not so much
heard as felt and I wouldn’t have really heard it if I hadn’t cranked up
the volume. This is also true for some of the high pitched sounds: one is
aware of their presence but only after turning up the volume is it possible
to hear them. Basically most of the sounds appear to be sine waves and
differently coloured noises (some remind me of random radio waves), which
are used to create the (dis)harmonics in the pieces. The interplay between
harmonics and disharmonics is very well done indeed and gives this record
its paradoxical atmosphere: it’s chilly and warm at the same time. The
record as a whole is very well balanced and guarantees excellent listening.
(MR)
Adress: <fire@fire-inc.demon.nl>
IOS SMOLDERS – A2Z BLENDER (Web publication by Earlabs)
It seems that web only music is becoming somewhat of a trend, which creates
quite a lot of difficulties for the music indusrty to cope with, protection
of copyright being the main source of worry. Now I am the last person to
deny artists their rightful incomings, but I am very happy with these
recent developments, because it also creates giant opportunities for the
less fortunate artists to get their work published on a large scale. OK, so
much for politics, on to the task at hand. A2Z Blender is an album,
although it is not presented in that format. All tracks are based on the
human voice and all its different expressive qualities. In that sense one
could say that Smolders is returning to his ‘roots’: one of his first solo
releases was a tape called Mama and featured the same sound source. A long
time has passed since and the skills of Mr. Smolders have gradually
improved over the years. A2Z Blender is an excellent work, giving us the
full range of his capacity as a composer. The first track is a very gentle
piece with some females singing now and then, whereas the second one gives
us broken and cut up voices. The piece itself is also cut up and pretty
ruthless in its atmosphere. The third track deals more with language and
its theatrical or pathetic aspects. There is a lot of reverb added to
(stretched) words as ‘liefde’ (love), ‘gevoel’ (emotion) and ‘verlangen’
(desire). I cannot escape from the impression that Smolders is playing some
ironic tricks on us here. Tracks four and five are kind of interludes,
followed by six featuring radio and telephone voices getting into a frenzy
halfway through before turning into a very dreamy and atmospheric piece
with an occasional small outburst. Track seven is a real beauty: words have
gone through extensive surgery here, having either the vowels or the
consonants cut out, creating the drones and cuts with which the piece is
constructed. Wonderful indeed. Track eight is a typical Smolders work: lots
of cuts and silences and subtle tones leading us to the end. Not the
strongest one on the album though. Track nine is basically a remix of sound
material of The Institute of Screamscape Studies. Not surprising, since its
‘director’, Gregory Whitehead, is well known for the use of the human
voicein his work. The piece starts off quite subdued with faint screams and
quiet noises and doesn’t release its full potential until halfway through.
But then it starts to get going: screams get louder and more frequent and a
high pitched whining sounds takes care of the rest. Still, everything is
more or less under control, it seems. The albums ends with track ten, which
is sort of a short extra of track number nine. All in all this is really
worth downloading. At the website you can listen to real audio ‘previews’
(it’s about time to come up with an equivalent for this visual statement)
and if you like them you can contact Ios Smolders personally for downloads.
This way you can also have a chat with him……(MR)
Address: http://www.earlabs.org
LEIF ELGGREN – PLURALIS MAJESTATIS (CD by Firework Edition)
THE SONS OF GOD – THE OBJECT (CD by Firework Edition)
LEIF ELGGREN & THOMAS LILJENBERG – 9.11 (CD by Firework Edition)
King Leif concludes his royal trio with this CD (after ‘Flown Over By An
Old King’ and ‘Talking To A Dead Queen’), and the royal family is united.
The marriage of the king and queen is celebrated, of course, in a bed. An
old metal bed is used as a soundsource, along with 102 tin cans cut into
crowns and some contactmicrophones and a p.a. system). The composition
follows the same course as the previous two CD’s: a short introductionairy
sound (in these case metallic sounds) and then a long motorized drone, like
a propeller playing the bed. One long stretched out sound. As beautiful and
radical as you can get. The sound doesn’t move or change – a composition is
lacking. Maybe you should play all three CD’s at the same time and do your
mixing? Like always Elggren’s work is filled with meaning, ideas and
concepts, but it’s warped beyond recognition. That is what makes it as good
as mysterious as hermetical closed as you can get.
The Sons Of God is the ongoing collaboration between Leif Elggren and Kent
Tankred. Their new CD is about boats used by the former German Democratic
Republic to patrol the Baltic Sea (during the cold war an important sea
used for spionage et al). They research the boat with ‘a 130 by 200
milimetre piece of iron sheet and microphones taken from the mouthpieces of
Swedish Army telephones’. They could have fooled me – and they did. For
over an hour there is a tension audible: a long sort of drone sound that
pierces your ear if you turn it on loud. If played softly it seems like a
car running stationary five blocks away.
The most puzzling of the three new cd’s from Firework Inc. is one by
Elggren and Thomas Liljenberg. The subtitle is ‘desperation is the mother
of laughter’ and runs short when it comes to a description. Just under an
hour there is the sound of laughter. That’s it. Sampled? I don’t know?
Real(-time) laughter? Again, I don’t know. The best actors around? Maybe.
The concept of sound poetry gets a true kick in the ass here. Strange one!
(FdW)
Address: http://www.algonet.se/~tankred/fer.htlm
PHINNEY/MCGEE – ANCIENT ASTRONAUTS (CD by HalTapes)
Although their names may not ring many bells with the younger generation of
music lovers, Chris Phinney (Harsh Reality Music, Mental Anguish) and Hal
MacGee (Hal Tapes, Electronic Music Cottage, Dog As Master) have been at
the forefront of the big cassette movement of the 80s. I kinda lost track
on their activities, but all of sudden, I get this CD and comic book. The
comic book is nice, yet very american (or at least that’s what I think with
my untrained comic eye) of the two composers on a spaceship, discovering
new territories, which by return seem old. I guess you can call it a
perfect outline for the music itself. The ten lengthy tracks are put
together by all those yummie analogue machines all you house kids starve
for (in case you don’t belong to the next laptop generation). Once out of
place, the machines returned in new musical contexts. However Phinney and
McGee do play the old space is the place territory here. Long, extended
tracks of layered washes of those humming keyboards, cuetly mixed with the
broad band of FM and AM. Probably a bit too noisy to be called New Age
(and I totally intend this as a positive thing), it harks back to the early
seventies in Germany. Since I missed that out, I have a nice (and probably
better affordable) subsitute. (FdW)
Address: Hal Tapes – 1909E SW 42 Way – Gainesville, FL 32607-5407 – USA