Motion Picture Soundtrack

Max Steiner, Jerry Goldsmith, Bernard Herrmann and Ennio Morricone. The four horsemen of 20th century film music, these are the ones that stand out above the rest as the standard setters. The latter currently survives the lot and is still writing music to add to his already prolific career of film scores.
















Morricone is the master of melody and atmosphere, and is undoubtedly one of 20th century's greatest sound conjurors. The way he could grab your attention with the most evocative, unconventional, and simplest effects was extraordinary. His music wasn't always ground-breaking, or challenging, but the key to his appeal was finding the right mood, which was like hitting a nerve that lay hidden in the space between the screen and audience.

His best work came in the sixties... Morricone pinoeered the Western Film score with ferocious soundtracks for Sergio Leone's films, and the sensual Italian jazz-lounge grooves that painted a sparkling picture of life in a time of social revolution and thriving artistic creativity.

Into the eighties and nineties, he continued to write memorable scores, that more often catapulted a film's success. His knowledge and awareness of the orchestra as a tool, as you would expect from any contemporary film composer, is highly competent, but Morricone steered clear of the big-budget blockbusters in favour of low-budget European art-house pictures, in which he could experiment with his rich sound palette.

Composer of over 500 scores; his influence defines his legacy. I beg you to listen.

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=7ZGOIHH4
86.3mb
1hr 20mins

01. Ennio Morricone - Harmonica Intro/Il Buono, Il Brutto, Il Cattivo (Titoli) (3:25)
02. Ennio Morricone - A Lydia ('scusi, Facciamo L'amore') (3:19)
03. Ennio Morricone - Metti, Una Sera A Cena (4:30)
04. Ennio Morricone - L'estasi Dell'oro ('il Buono, Il Brutto, Il Cattivo) (3:22)
05. Ennio Morricone - Astrtto 3 (1:48)
06. Ennio Morricone - Piume Di Cristallo (5:15)
07. Ennio Morricone - Tema Per Oria (2:05)
08. Ennio Morricone - Lontano ('gott Mit Uns') (4:30)
09. Ennio Morricone - Four Friends (2:52)
10. Ennio Morricone - Giu' la testa (4:17)
11. Ennio Morricone - La Lucertola ('una Lucertola Con La Pelle Di Donna') (6:33)
12. Ennio Morricone - Ii Dolore Sulla Casbah (0:54)
13. Ennio Morricone - Ness And His Family (2:46)
14. Ennio Morricone - River (1:27)
15. Ennio Morricone - Il Buio ('l'anticristo') (4:00)
16. Ennio Morricone - The Mission (3:02)
17. Ennio Morricone - H2s ('h2s') (4:22)
18. Ennio Morricone - Le Foto Proibite Di Una Signora Per Bene (4:45)
19. Ennio Morricone - Poesia Di Una Donna (3:15)
20. Ennio Morricone - Ricordo Rosa ('le Ruffian') (2:57)
21. Ennio Morricone - Il Mercenario (I'arena) (4:45)
22. Ennio Morricone - Oceano (6:17)

mothface

this would make a good mask for a superhero

















Mothman - the legend who fights crime but is susceptible to candlelight

You say say it's your birthday...

It's my birthday too, yeah!

















24 years of existence repays me with Joanna Newsom's splendid new album 'Have One On Me', a b/w check shirt, a black waistcoat (which i'm currently sporting), a Bonsai tree, and a shiny Canon Ixus 110.

Also saw Toy Story 3 last night... great film... my heartstrings were well and truly yanked, quoquoversus.

sound & vision

I watched Up in the Air (2009) last night, it was a good film, it wasn't life-affirming, but gives you something to think about.


Brief glimpses into the personal lives of unsuspecting employees losing their jobs, at times emotional and entertaining, are the best moments of the film. Another strong hold in the film is the relationships concerning the three main characters, and their different perspectives and experiences of love and life in the bubble of career politics. The witty script and sharp-edged direction does at times become clouded by a suffocating smugness, caused largely by the form of George Clooney. The inclusion of Elliott Smith’s Angel in the Snow in the soundtrack was pleasantly apt… but the film went a bit too schmaltzy for my liking by then.

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I've also been watching most of Charlie Chaplin's films in the past two months.


I've been enthalled by his talent, his gift of slapstick was pure art.
Every action he gave to the camera was magic... he was a genius. He wrote all his scripts, directed all his films, wrote all the music.

My favourites were The Kid, City Lights and A King in New York.

His earliest are the best, especially when he mixes comedy with emotion. The value of selflessness for the common good is captured in one of the most moving final scenes ever... The scene at the end of City Lights. And his awareness of the current times is needlelike... Modern Times, The Great Dictator.

It's a pity that he began to speak in his later films... this brought out an arrogance/outspokenness that was suitably missing from his silent films... despite all that, a A King in New York is still a classic.

I was moved to tears when I saw this clip (chaplin receiving an honourary oscar in 1972)...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3Pl-qvA1X8

he doesn't need to speak at all... his expression, as always, says it all.

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Current song on the speakers:
http://open.spotify.com/track/4uvKHRmLMlteVh1N4Sxut3
'Range Life'
by Pavement
from, Quarantine the Past (2010)