FORMAT: VINYL / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
For the third instalment in their Morricone Themes collection, At the Movies leans into Il Masetro’s rather more easy-listening selections. Call it exotica, lounge, cocktail music, or what have you – this is music for leaning back with a drink in hand while the music washes over. The music on display here manages to create a convivial atmosphere, with each piece feeling right in tune with all the others.
It’s an intriguing selection from which the double LP draws its music, to be sure: gialli such as Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion, Commedia all’italiana like Listen, Let’s Make Love, or even television programs, as in the case of Man and Magic. However, the disparate sourcing only shows once again how varied the work of Ennio Morricone could be, able to fit into any situation.
There are three tracks each from The Invisible Woman, The Alibi, and Slalom, however, resulting in almost half the album being drawn from just three films, but they’re placed in such a manner as to give the Lounge collection a sense of cohesiveness. Also, the ‘Shake’ pieces from The Alibi are genuine movers, only topped by Svolta Definitiva, from the 1970 crime film Violent City, with its fuzzed-out, psychedelic guitars, and Hammond organ.
As with prior instalments, this is a limited edition of 3000 numbered vinyl copies in a gatefold sleeve. The 180-gram LPs are pressed in this case on solid orange vinyl, and they sound smooth as good whiskey on the rocks. The gatefold again features a selection of vintage poster imagery, and there’s an attendant insert with liner notes by Claudio Fuiano, who offers up a summary of each film and its attendant music.
