The New LoFi

A medley to remember the greatest film composers of all time: Ennio Morricone

Earlier this month we lost the Italian film composer Ennio Morricone at the age of 91. Many people agree that Morricone was the greatest film composer of our time. Many of his scores are inseparable from the films they accompany. His vast body of work spanned over 500 movies, and his singular take on music helped to shape each story through sound.

The movies that Morricone has worked on have been given a sort of immortal status with many people recognizing the film score before having seen the film. He has created memorable scores for movies like The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Once upon a Time in the West, Le Professionel, The Mercenary — each soundtrack written into our cultural memory. When you put one of Morricone’s compositions on you immediately bring a sense of gravitas to any setting.

To honor the man’s legacy, musician and writer James Balmont teamed up with Crack Magazine in order to arrange a small selection of Morricone’s catalogue.

“As a kid, I was spellbound by Morricone’s scores to Sergio Leone’s epic spaghetti westerns,” explain Balmont. “It was these works that opened the door for me to a whole world of cinematic music. By mixing classic themes and well-known motifs with obscure moments of magic (check out the psychedelic ’60s number from Diabolik) I’ve attempted to paint as broad a picture as possible of Ennio Morricone.”

Tracklist

• Watch Chimes (Carillon) – For A Few Dollars More (Sergio Leone, 1965)
• Chi Mai – Le Professionel (Georges Lautner, 1981)
• Giu La Testa – A Fistful of Dynamite (Sergio Leone, 1971)
• Harvest – Days of Heaven (Terence Malick, 1978)
• Ad Ogni Costo – Grand Slam (Giuliano Montaldo, 1967)
• Money – Money (Steven Hilliard Stern, 1991)
• Il Diavolo Nel Cervello – Il Diavolo Nel Cervello (Sergio Sollima, 1972)
• The Strength of the Righteous – The Untouchables (Brian de Palma, 1987)
• In un Bar – Revolver (Sergio Sollima, 1973)
• Un Amico – Revolver (Sergio Sollima, 1973)
• Cockeye’s Song – Once Upon A Time In America (Sergio Leone, 1984)
• Piume di Cristallo – Piume di Cristallo (Dario Argento, 1970)
• Main Theme – The Thing (John Carpenter, 1980)
• L’ultima diligenza di Red Rock – The Hateful Eight (Quentin Tarantino, 2015)
• L’Arena – Il Mercenario (Sergio Corbucci, 1968)
• Gabriel’s Oboe – The Mission (Roland Joffe, 1986
• Cinema Paradiso – Cinema Paradiso (Giuseppe Tornatore 1988)
• Theme – The Battle of Algiers (Gillo Pontecorvo, 1966)
• Magic and Ecstasy – Exorcist II: The Heretic (John Boorman, 1977)
• The Sicilian Clan – Le clan des Siciliens (Henri Verneuil, 1969)
• Giorno Di Notte – Una Lucertola Con La Pelle Di Donna (Lucio Fulci, 1971)
• Valmont’s Nightclub – Diabolik (Mario Bava, 1968)
• L’uomo dell’armonica – Once Upon a Time In The West (Sergio Leone, 1968)
• Per un Pugno di Dollari – A Fistful of Dollars (Sergio Leone, 1964)
• L’estasi Dell’oro – The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (Sergio Leone, 1966)