This is a beautiful bossa-tinged theme with a great blend of strings and brass. The flute/trombone melody is accompanied by an incredibly rich and airy string sound, which swells as the melody builds. The strings alone compel me to listen to this track repeatedly – their remarkably thick, drenched sound recalls some of my favorite Ennio Morricone pieces (particularly those on the fantastic ‘Mondo Morricone’ compilation). Musically, the entire ‘Hammerhead’ score seems to have been influenced by John Barry's Bond scores, and by the less goofy parts of Burt Bacharach's ‘Casino Royale’ score. As well as being a haunting movie theme, this track has elements of that classic loungey film score sound from the mid-sixties.
27 May 05 ·nighteye: This song is excellent! Haven't seen the movie starring Peter Vaughan yet, but the bossa sound reminds me of the early John Barry pieces. I can't stop listening to it! Thank you Jonny!
This entertaining track opens with Astrud talking over a groovy guitar and piano background. As she starts to sing the words, the percussion becomes more pronounced, producing a nice bossa/funk hybrid. The production is very different to a lot Astrud’s work, probably because this album was from an obscure label (Perception) with contributions from different personnel than on many of her Verve recordings (e.g. Airto Moreira, Maria Toledo and Eumir Deodato).
This track opens with a twinkling sound, and a thick chord carried by harmonized vocals. It quickly builds into a ‘Mission Impossible’–like jazzy groover, with piano and bongos. Although this seems to owe a great debt to Lalo Schifrin, the overall sound is somehow very different and refreshing.
available on CD - Up! The Psycho Mellow (Schema)
27 Feb 06 ·jezandliz1: Not sure why this has been listed in the French section as Barbara Moore is, I think, English.
The whole album is fantastic though for fans of wordless female voices like Edda Dell'Orsa and a dreamy long-forgotten-summer vibe. Worth every penny of the steep import(Japanese_)cost. 28 Feb 06 ·n-jeff: Barbara Moore was the go-to gal for wordless vocals on the UK session scene, she did soem great work on things like "Sort of Soul" by Birds and Brass etc.
A slow number from Gainsbourg�s classic concept album, �Ah melody� opens with that picked acoustic guitar sound which the group Air have now imitated and made one of their trademark sounds. The arrangement is very bare, with the guitar accompanied by just a vocal, bass, and a spikey, funky drum beat. Later in this short track, strings and Bacharach-style horns slip in and out of the mix, before everything stops abruptly. It�s a great track from what I find otherwise to be a slightly disappointing album.
from Histoire de Melody Nelson, available on CD ()
09 Dec 01 ·e: ah delicado.... 03 Jan 02 ·Mike: Wonderful track; absolutely magic, and second only to "Manon" in Gainsbourg's output for me. In the context of the album, it's a kind of foil to the more vigourous remainder, an all-too-short lyrical interlude. 05 Sep 02 ·Liv: Stellar. "Histoire de Melody Nelson" is one of THE best concept records of all time..period.(But you don't have to understand French to appreciate this wicked album..) The lush string arrangements, interweaving deep&funky bass, Gainsborough's sleazily "seductive" voice:sometimes whispering,sometimes "singing"..all adds to the perfection. I will always treasure this album..
("Ah!Melody" is one of the "lighter" songs from the album as the overall atmosphere of the album is darker,creepier:a feeling of perversion, death & doomed love..) One of his best. Pure magic. 12 Mar 04 ·olli: got to love that. one of the definite highlights in his amazingly diverse output for me.
This is a rather ridiculous but super–catchy take on this theme to the 1967 spoof Bond movie. Performed by German session musicians, it ends up being a rather groovy mix, with viola d’amore, flute, female wordless vocals, harpsichord, and that other staple of the Baroque era, funky drums. It’s short and sweet and really very cool. The late sixties were cool for many reasons, but one of them is that they could accomodate TWO albums called 'Bacharach Baroque' - this one, and the other great Snuff Garrett-produced one by 'The Renaissance'. Both are superb.
21 Feb 08 ·leonthedog: I found the entire "Bacharach Baroque" album superb!
The "baroque" is not overdone. The arrangements are very pleasing - better than most of the hundreds of instrumental takes on Bacharach that surfaced in the 60's and early 70's. So where can I find more by the ephemeral "18th Century Corporation"?
