Ennio Morricone might be best known for his spaghetti western soundtracks for directors like as Sergio Leone and Duccio Tessari, but his experimental work deserves some attention as well. His 1971 soundtrack for Enzo Castellari's Gli Occhi Freddi della Paura brought him back together with the Gruppo d'Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza, the legendary avant garde and improvisational combo of which he was a founding member. The collective, originally formed by Italian composer Franco Evangelisti in Rome in 1964, drew on jazz, serialism, musique concrete, and other avant-garde techniques developed by contemporary classical music composers such as Luigi Nono and Giacinto Scelsi. Their soundtrack for the film, a classic Italian Giallo thriller, adds suspense and tension to the atmosphere. The music is slightly uncharacteristic for Morricone while still adding a lot to the film. Long tones, interrupted by quick spikes of sound, stand in for the usual catchy themes. Dagored, the Italian record label that specialized in soundtracks from composers like Morricone, has recently resurrected itself with this latest batch of soundtracks. Limited edition pressing with reinterpreted cover on the front and original cover on the back.

• music label: Dagored 2000 / 2014

reviewed by Hank Ohs 08/2014