Ennio Morricone
Crime And Dissonance

Reviewing a work by Maestro Ennio Morricone with due dignity is always a daunting task, but I'll give it a try. The album in question is the anthology "Crime And Dissonance," which presents the most "off" and dark side of Morricone in horror b-movie and crime thriller soundtracks. The period covered by this double CD (pay attention to the fantastic cover and the superb booklet featuring reproductions of the movie posters in question!) spans from 1969 to 1974.

What astonishes about this selection, released by Mike Patton’s Ipecac (the only one who could embark on such an endeavor...) and curated by Alan Bishop of Sun City Girls (another demented mind...), is the heterogeneity of the material offered. The solutions proposed are manifold and endless, ranging from free jazz to psychedelia, from exotica to chamber music, but what characterizes them is their visionary nature, their disregard for conventions and the already-heard, their taking full advantage of the freedom offered by the context of use to manage to surprise the listener. Titles like "Giorno Di Notte," "Un Uomo Da Rispettare" (the real hidden gem of the album), "Trafelato," "Paura E Aggressione" in my opinion are worth the album alone, but it would be reductive to stop there, as all the material contained is from another planet and sounds extremely daring even thirty years later.

Speaking of Maestro Ennio Morricone, this should not surprise anyone and the 5-star rating is triggered by default, but if it were possible it would deserve at least a couple more points...