Soaring choral evocation of a cold bright day on a busy river. From Piero Piccioni�s soundtrack to a Swinging London exploitation film in which an Italian eccentric encounters bikers, fox hunters and a haunted castle.
Morricone seems to have taken quite a few pages from Komeda's score for "Rosemary's Baby" here for the soundtrack to this Dario Argento serial killer movie. This track features some creepy heavy breathing, cascading dissonant piano notes, and some of the scariest "la-la-la"-ing ever committed to wax. I've never seen the movie, but based on the record, I'm pretty certain that it would scare the hell out of me.
from The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (Capitol ST-642)
I don't care much for the rest of the soundtrack, but the title theme for this dario Argento horror film is top rate. Underpinnig the whole thing is a continuous ominous rhythm played on what sounds like a hammered dulcimer, on top of this there doesn't appear to be much actually going on. Apart from the sound effects. Screams, bells. All very, very intense. I have a vinyl version of teh OST (plus a 7 of the theme from Il Giaguaro magazine [quick brag]), but the cd looks good with a couple of extra versions.
from Suspiria (Dagored) available on CD - suspiria
29 Oct 03 ·eftimihn: Oh yeah, this is one of the creepiest tracks ever recorded with it's hypnotically repetitive style building up slowly in the first half and then turning into a faster paced prog-rockish second half with a kind of gothic sounding, massive organ and furious synths. 30 Oct 03 ·n-jeff: I also forgot the chanting. And theres some kind of bassy dijeridoo thing going on in there too.
This bizarre Morricone pop tune sounds as if it came from a parallel universe. With an instrumental mix of guitar, harpsichord, bass and drums, it achieves the same kind of spooky, melancholic atmosphere as 'Deep Down', another Morricone film song from the same year. But in contrast to Christy's passionate vocal in 'Deep Down', Peter Bloom's delivery is light-hearted and much more low-key. Both tracks feature classic Morricone wordless vocal effects and some truly ridiculous lyrics. I haven't seen Partner, but I'd be interested to see how this song fits in to the story:
"I want to be your dazzling white knight
I'll splash you sizzling cool with bright light
I'll kiss your cleanliness
...Your soft, silkiness
Oh what happiness:
It's biological...
SPLASH
DASH
FLASH"
Ridiculous words, but the arrangement makes the track genuinely powerful. Shame Ennio didn't bring this one out for the crowd at the Royal Albert Hall last year.
from Partner OST (Cam) available on CD - Morricone a Go-Go
18 Jan 04 ·bobbyspacetroup: I love this song! I haven't seen Partner either but have heard it's pretty awful. 06 Oct 04 ·eftimihn: It's absolutely superb, that harpsicord sound is especially lovely and the lyrics are really weird throughout with Peter singing something with "my super-duper-baby/ we're goin' whoops-a-daisy" in the bridge part of the song... 23 Oct 04 ·megaphonerecords: i can't beleive it!!!!!!!! i first heard this song while i was living in australia. it shot right into my being & resonated hard. since i've been back in the states i've been trying to find this song with no luck. it's been 5 years now & this is the first time i've seen a sign that this song really exists & wasn't just a magical dream i had. maybe i'll be fortunate enough to actually hear this song again before i die! 02 Jul 06 ·dominb: I saw "Partner" at a revival at a cinema in Madrid and although Morricone does the whole s/track this song is the only pop number so it really stands out,the scene which accompanies it features the main character played by Pierre Clementi romping with his girlfriend in soap suds pouring out of a washing machine,he then jams her head in the washer's door and kills her!...Partner is a pretty pretentious film but it's odd enough to be enjoyable.When I saw it,this song was the high point for me,even though it only lasts a few mins....Where did you get this from? 02 Jul 06 ·dominb: ah..."morricone a go go"...I'll look out for it,must be a million morricone compilations,finding new morricone music is a hobby of mine! 03 Jan 13 ·delicado: To see the film clip with the music (dominb\'s description above is pretty accurate), visit http://youtu.be/ftueIAmdwBw
