...is an album conceived and put together by American producer extraordinaire, Brian Burton (more commonly known as Danger Mouse), and Italian composer, Daniele Luppi, and took a period of five years to complete...contains all original songs, but it is clearly inspired by and pays homage to the classic Italian film music by composers such as Ennio Morricone, Armando Trovaioli, Pierro Piccoli and Alessandro Alessandroni. Hence the album title.
...was recorded in the capital's Forum Studios, originally founded by Ennio Morricone, and it was only appropriate the producers use (hard to find) vintage recording equipment and record the music live to tape, like it was done in the '60s and '70s, without any fancy computerized bells and whistles.
...acts almost like a soundtrack to an imaginary movie, as such, it brings out the filmmaker in all of us.
...is surprisingly short for an album of this magnitude (only 35 mins), but listen to it and you'll know why -- the producers knew exactly what they wanted and the result is an incredibly tight and concise record; every second counts.
...has a modernly retro sound and boasts a slick production, with hauntingly gorgeous orchestral arrangements and whatnot, and I must also stress, one of THE MOST remarkable sounding bass and drums you'll ever hear on any album.
...is best way appreciated when listened to in one sitting, with the correct medium being CD (with a good hi-fi and played loud) or even better, vinyl.
...flows perfectly; the sequencing of the songs is pretty much flawless.
...can be described as sublime, a word not to be used lightly.
...reunites some of the old musicians who used to play on the classic film scores (like Sergio Leone's The Good, The Bad & The Ugly and Once Upon A Time In The West), including the legendary choir known as The I Cantori Moderni, and of course, soprano Edda Dell'Orso, who sings on the opening track.
...features Jack White and Norah Jones contributing vocals on three songs each, Jack (who wrote his own lyrics) effortlessly crooning his way through, and Norah singing in her most seductive voice yet.
...is so far the best album of 2011.
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