Various Artists - Beat at Cinecitta (Crippled Dick Records)
It's just a record, but for Jamie Rave it provokes images of pop-art decor, comic book violence, jet-set hedonism, Riviera beaches, Alpine ski-resorts, penthouse apartments and growling Alfa Spyders
Of course the 60's were a brilliant decade for the expression of so many art forms, just two of which were films and music. When the two came together, (and came together well) we got some damn fine movie scores. And when the two met up in Italy, land of style, fine food, sensuous women, breathtaking scenery and elegant design the sounds were even more expressive. Pop-art decor, comic book violence, jet-set hedonism, Riviera beaches, Alpine ski-resorts, penthouse apartments, growling Alfa Spyders.
Trekkies may need a holodeck, but we've got Beat At Cinecitta to turn on, tune in and travel through our imagination with. This album is a compilation of some of Italian movies finest 60's film scores. Sexy, warm, wild and serene. Thank you Crippled Dick Records for bringing us these compositions! Riz Ortolani composed "Beat Fuga Shake", his crazy horns and finger clickin' bass is somewhat reminiscent of the Pink Panther intro, but with a much more continental jazz feel to it. From the 1968 film "Colpo Maestro Al Servizio Di Sua Maesta Britannica" (starring the beautiful Marisa Mell, Diabolik's sidekick) we have "Una Sull'Altra". Francesco De Masi's contributions from "Tiffany Memorandum" (1966) fuses funky Go-Go sounds with the undertone of international espionage, I do like a bit of international espionage, even the phrase sounds good... international espionage... hmmm. Pierre Piccioni's "Traffic Boom" is highly reminiscent of the ‘accident scene' from "Up The Junction", haunting bass and a rhythm that keeps you wriggling. "Tema Di Londra", psychedelic or what? OK, pretty beat-pop stuff but I'd love to see the movie this score is from, tracks 2 and 3 take you from a scene at a longhairs Riki-Tik night then it's cruising through the Soho night to a diva jazz bar.
All the sounds herein are nice, yes it's a crappy word, and I don't use nice very often, but if it annoys you I can include it a bit more. If you dig this genre you will be utterly smiley when you get Beat At Cinecitta on your deck! We're promised two further volumes to look forward to. This is a blinder of an album, hey, do we ever review duds here? NFW!
[Published 15 August 1997]
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| Antonio Amabile | feb 14 2003 10:02AM |
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| Great. It´s the kind of album I can listen to just lying on a carpet all by myself, playing with plastic fruits - in a truly narcissistic manner... | |
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