10 Ennio Morricone Soundtrack Masterpieces

I read in The Guardian this morning that Ennio Morricone played at The O2 Arena - yes, it would have been good...perhaps...except I'm not one of those who'd be dying to hear the theme from The Mission...or any of his other big mainstream romantic hits - nah - I'm so hardcore - heh-heh - I doubt that he'd have played one of the selection below (Algiers, maybe).

Anyway, the review inspired me to get digging for my favourite Morricone masterpieces and, as you can tell, it turns out the key period was the early-to-mid 70s. The Spaghetti Western theme's are brilliant, of course, but for this post I wanted something less obvious (to all but Giallo/horror fans).

Notte e bambole from La Corte Notte Delle Bambole Di Vetro (1971)...dissonant strings, breathy female vocals, heartbeat horror s/t cliché, it's all hear and Ennio did it better than anyone else...

Algiers, November 1, 1954 from The Battle of Algiers (1966)...that piano, militaristic drumming and battle cry brass best evokes the triumphalism/chaos of war...

Placcaggio from Il Gatto A Nove Code (1971)...bass, brushes, snarling vocal and Ennio's trademark trumpet squawk dissolving into stalking menace before psychic breakdown...genius...

Giorno Di Notte from Una  Lucertola Con La Pelle Di Donna (1971)...Ennio gets his groove on...wah-wah psychedelia with kaleidoscopic backdrop and a bass that hints at I Hear It Through The Grapevine...then it changes again into something even more amazing..

Peur Sur La Ville, (1975)...one of the tracks covered on John Zorn's brilliant tribute, The Big Gundown, the whistled tune, string progression ripped into midway by the sonic equivalent of nails scraping down a blackboard...yes!...

Astratto 1 from, Veruschka (1971)...right from the cascading piano The Maestro proves his chops when it comes to the kind of creeping horror atmosphere others can only dream of achieving...

Marinella from Le Casse (1971)...my upload, that's how much I love it...Ennio's sexiest moment (?)... whatever, the vocals, horns, swagger towards 'blam!' punctuation and that bass line...

Urla nel nulla from Gli Occhi Freddi Della Paura (1971)...one of his best soundtracks...all the things I love are here, yes, that psyched guitar amid trippiness before pelting off with then walking the Jazz bass...perfect...

Cosa Avete Fatto A Solange (1972)...the track I wanted to post wasn't available but the whole thing is another consistently superb Morricone production...so here it is...(leave it playing whilst you go exploring this site, preferably, but if you must go elsewhere, then clear off)...

Esplicitamente Sospeso from Le Serpent (1973)...finally, this...which puts nearly every young gun in her/his place regarding electro-acoustic atmosphere...Ennio did it better years ago...so there...