Listen up: Ennio Morricone

As if his movies in themselves weren't enough reason to like him, I give props to Quentin Tarantino for using Ennio Morricone's music. Part of what made Inglourious Basterds so special was the excellent use of Morricone's music (my personal favorite is probably "Un Amico").

Inspired by this, I recently tracked down A Fistful of Film Music, a compilation of Morricone's scores that covers several decades. The compilation's out of print but used copies are available online and it's an excellent introduction to his work. There's classic spaghetti Western music such as "Una Pistola Per Ringo" and the lovely "The Ecstasy of Gold" (this latter one bridges nicely Morricone's Western scores and his more lyrical works such as the score for The Mission).

But Morricone's got his fun side as well with "Ad Ogni Costo" - if I ever get published and use the advance to buy one of these, I'll put "Ad Ogni Costo" on a continuous loop and play it as I drive about town. Or if I'm in a bad mood I'll play "Il Giardino Delle Delizie" and its half surf guitar, half progressive rock sound. Then for the drive home, "Regan's Theme" from Morricone's score for Exorcist 2: The Heretic (ignore the movie clips, I'll tackle that film in a future review).

And guess what? On Sunday, October 25 I'll be seeing Morricone at the Hollywood Bowl. I cannot wait!