Children of Morricone - A 69-song Frankenstein influenced by the Spaghetti Maestro

Some days ago, I read an article about the influence of composer Ennio Morricone on rock artists like Air, Portishead, Sebastien Tellier, Calexico, Danger Mouse & Daniele Luppi. I like all of them. Morricone, too. So I googled a little (finding this page, this YouTube collection, and especially these extraordinary mega playlists), I checked my iPod and my mental database, and - mixing all these sources and exploring Spotify database - I started building a playlist. The result is below. I titled it Children of Morricone, but maybe a more accurate choice would have been Spaghetti Frankenstein: indeed, it includes original Morricone tunes, many covers, Bud Spencer & Terence Hill movie soundtracks, rock from the prehistoric age (Love, Cream) and from more modern times (Calexico, Pixies), heavyweights (Neil Young, Johnny Cash, Elvis, R.E.M.) and obscure italian youngsters (Calibro 35) or traditional ballroom orchestras (Castellina-Pasi accordion Italian theme for Lupin III tv animated series), trip hop, Alejandro Jodorowski, videogame themes, tango, hindi folk, french touch, krautrock and pan flutes. Some extatic Metallica and a couple of Mike Patton incarnations, too. Sometimes the link with Morricone's music (spaghetti western and beyond) is very tight. Sometimes it's more, well, imaginative. Enjoy!

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CHILDREN OF MORRICONE
A 69-song Frankenstein influenced by the Spaghetti Maestro
Sources: me, myself and some good lists found on Google (see above).

1. Franco Micalizzi/Orchestra diretta da Gianfranco Plenizio – Trinity: Titoli (from Lo chiamavano Trinità movie soundtrack)
2. Love – Alone Again Or
3. Cream – White Room
4. Pixies – Cecilia Ann
5. Neil Young – Cortez The Killer
6. Heroes Del Silencio – Z
7. The Gun Club – Mother Of Earth
8. Adam & The Ants – Los Rancheros
9. Booker T. & The MG's – Hang 'Em High
10. Can – Deadlock
11. Magazine – The Light Pours Out Of Me
12. Young Marble Giants – Choci Loni
13. Danger Mouse & Daniele Luppi  – Black (feat. Norah Jones)
14. Air – The Vagabond (feat. Beck)
15. Portishead – Cowboys
16. Stereolab – Whisper Pitch
17. Hooverphonic – Jackie Cane
18. Goldfrapp – Lovely Head
19. Zamfir – The Lonely Shepherd
20. Neil Diamond – Girl, You'll Be A Woman Soon
21. Danger Mouse  – Little Girl (Feat. Julian Casablancas)
22. Mauro Ermanno Giovanardi feat. Violante Placido – Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)
23. Mike Patton – Quello Che Conta
24. Daniele Luppi – Fetish Quartet
25. Calibro 35 – Convergere in giambellino
26. Fantomas – Investigation Of A Citizen Above Suspicion
27. Castellina-Pasi – Lupin
28. The Tango Saloon – Libertango
29. Los Fabulosos Cadillacs – Howen
30. Kishore Kumar – Yeh Dosti Hum Nahin (Happy) (from Sholay movie soundtrack)
31. Kishore Kumar – Yeh Dosti Hum Nahin (Sad) (from Sholay movie soundtrack)
32. Los Lobos – Rango Theme Song
33. Alejandro Jodorowsky – Bajo Tierra (Under the Earth) (from El Topo movie soundtrack)
34. The Stylistics – Only for the Children
35. Serge Gainsbourg & Brigitte Bardot – Bonnie And Clyde
36. Gnarls Barkley – Crazy
37. Gorillaz – O Green World
38. The Good The Bad And The Queen – History Song
39. Fucking Champs, The – The Legend of Zelda (Overworld Theme)
40. Metallica – The Ecstasy Of Gold
41. Julee Cruise – Falling
42. Mazzy Star – Five String Serenade
43. Aimee Mann – Little Tornado
44. Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan – The Raven
45. Soulsavers – Some Misunderstanding (feat. Mark Lanegan)
46. Tom Waits – Yesterday Is Here
47. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – The Weeping Song
48. PJ Harvey – The Glorious Land
49. Tindersticks – Her
50. Neil Innes – Spaghetti Western
51. Elvis Presley – Charro!
52. Johnny Cash – (Ghost) Riders In The Sky
53. Dire Straits – Once Upon A Time In The West
54. Lloyd Charmers – Dollars And Bonds
55. Les Anarchistes – The Ballad of Sacco and Vanzetti
56. John Zorn – The Ballad Of Hank McCain (vocal version)
57. Tortoise – The Fall Of Seven Diamonds Plus One
58. The Heavy – Short Change Hero
59. Baby Woodrose – Emily
60. Mark Leen – Volonte
61. Alexandre Desplat – Just Another Dead Rat in a Garbage Pail (behind a Chinese Restaurant) (from Fantastic Mr.Fox movie soundtrack)
62. El Mariachi (from Once Upon a Time in Mexico movie soundtrack)
63. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – Beat The Devil's Tattoo
64. Calexico – Ballad Of Cable Hogue
65. R.E.M. – How The West Was Won And Where It Got Us
66. The Last Shadow Puppets – The Age Of The Understatement
67. Muse – Knights Of Cydonia
68. Arcade Fire – My Body Is A Cage (for a Morricone/Arcade Fire video-connection, look here)
69. Ennio Morricone – Il Buono, Il Cattivo, Il Brutto (The Good, The Bad And The Ugly) (Main Title)

Listen to it on Spotify: HTTP, URI.

Pitchfork Overlooked Records 2011

Are you sure you've listened to all the worthy records of the first half of 2011?
Pitchfork is testing you with a list of 20 albums:

"As we move onto the second half of 2011, we'd like to take a moment to step back and highlight some the year's worthy records that you might have missed on the first go-around. So what exactly do we mean by "overlooked" here? It's mostly a feeling. Some of these records have been celebrated in their sphere but didn't really cross over. Some received a low-key release. Some are cherished by one or two of our contributors but haven't been listened to by many of the others. And some are just excellent records that deserve more than to be lost amidst the endless deluge of new music."

I made the usual Spotify double bill: a big playlist with full albums and a little one with three tracks each album. Enjoy!

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PITCHFORK OVERLOOKED RECORDS 2011
Source: Pitchfork.
Albums available on Spotify: 13 out of 20 (65%)

Africa Hitech - 93 Million Miles [Warp]
The Caretaker - An Empty Bliss Beyond This World [History Always Favours the Winners]
Cities Aviv - Digital Lows [Fat Sandwich]
Clams Casino - Instrumental Mixtape [self-released] 
Colin Stetson - New History Warfare Vol. 2: Judges
E-40 - Revenue Retrievin': Graveyard Shift / Revenue Retrievin': Overtime Shift [EMI/Heavy on the Grind]
Ford & Lopatin - Channel Pressure [Software]
G-Side - The ONE... COHESIVE [Slow Motion Soundz] 
Gil Scott-Heron / Jamie xx - We're New Here [XL/Young Turks]
Grouper - A I A: Alien Observer / A I A: Dream Loss [Yellowelectric]
Holy Ghost! - Holy Ghost! [DFA]
Liturgy - Aesthethica [Thrill Jockey]
Marissa Nadler - Marissa Nadler [Box of Cedar]
Peaking Lights - 936 [Not Not Fun]
Ponytail - Do Whatever You Want All the Time [We Are Free]
The Psychic Paramount - II [No Quarter] 
Snowman - Absence [Dot Dash]
Ty Segall - Goodbye Bread [Drag City] 
Unknown Mortal Orchestra - Unknown Mortal Orchestra [Fat Possum/True Panther]
Wild Beasts - Smother [Domino]

Listen to it on Spotify:
Mammoth (full albums): HTTP, URI. (SR0711)
Lite (three tracks each album): HTTP, URI. (SR0712)

Mercury Prize on Spotify (2011 Shortlisted + historical playlists)

Bookmakers say it will be a female fight, with Adele and PJ Harvey being the great favourites for winning 2011 Mercury Prize (the music-lovers approved alternative to Brit Awards for best UK and Irish albums of the year). The shortlist include 12 albums, and I built a couple of Spotify playlists on it. The mammoth one is for you avid 21st century listeners who want to have a complete collection of full albums. The lite one (three tracks each album) is for you busy 21st century listeners who wanna get a general idea of the music of the shortlist, but don't have nine hours free to get it.

The other playlists come from the past (from 500 Spotirama playlists ago!) and require many many many hours more. One is about Mercury Prize 2010 (won by The XX), one is made with winning albums since 1992 to 2010 (I will update it when the 2011 winner will be announced), two are made with shortlisted albums since 1992 to 2011 (one full, one lite) and the final one is made with my personal 69 favorite songs since 1992 to 2010 (amongst shortlisted and winning albums). I just checked and updated them! Mercurialy enjoy!

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MERCURY PRIZE 2011 (SHORTLISTED ALBUMS)
Source: Mercury Prize.
Albums available on Spotify: apparently, 12 out of 12 (bingo!).

Adele - 21
Anna Calvi - Anna Calvi
Elbow - Build a Rocket Boys!
Everything Everything - Man Alive
Ghostpoet - Peanut Butter Blues and Melancholy Jam
Gwilym Simcock - Good Days at Schloss Elmau
James Blake - James Blake
Katy B - On A Mission
King Creosote & John Hopkins - Diamond Mine
Metronomy - The English Riviera
PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
Tinie Tempah - Discovery

Listen to it on Spotify:
Mammoth (full albums): HTTP, URI. (SR0709)
Lite (3 tracks each album): HTTP, URI. (SR0710)


THE GOOD OL' MERCURY PACK
(full lists of albums included in the playlists are available here)

Mercury Prize 2010 (shortlisted and winners) 
(XX, I Am Kloot, Paul Weller, Villagers, Laura Marling...)
Listen to it on Spotify: HTTP, URI. (SR0207)

Mercury Prize Winners (1992-2010, full albums)
(Primal Scream, Suede, Pulp, Badly Drawn Boy, Arctic Monkeys...)
Listen to it on Spotify: HTTP, URI. (SR0208)

The Complete Mercury Prize (winners + shortlisted, 1992-2010)
(U2, PJ Harvey, Prodigy, Blur, Oasis, Manic Street Preachers, Radiohead, Massive Attack, Beth Orton, Coldplay, Goldfrapp, Doves, Dizzee Rascal, Franz Ferdinand, Kaiser Chiefs, Muse, Amy Winehouse (R.I.P.), British Sea Power, Bat For Lashes, Biffy Clyro...)
Listen to it on Spotify: 
Mammoth (full albums): HTTP, URI (SR0209)
Lite (3 tracks each album): HTTP, URI (SR0210)

The Mercury Prize 69 
 (my personal 69 songs collection from shortlisted and winning albums since 1992 to 2010; soon I will update with 2011 inclusions; Primal Scream, Gomez, Paul Weller, Gorillaz, The Coral...)
Listen to it on Spotify: HTTP, URI (SR0211).

Norwegian Mood.

When something happens in a foreign country, especially if it's something dramatic like what's happening right now in Norway, often I start thinking about which good things and feelings that country and its people gave me. Sometimes it's just a postcard memory from a holiday. Sometimes it's food. Sometimes it's something more romantic. Most time, it's a mix of emotions strictly related with music, movies, books, creativity. Don't know if this is a good habit or something sick. But today it happened again. So, this is a very personal selection of 20 norwegian songs/artists that I like (sometimes, that I do love). Mostly alternative, indie rock and electronica. A bit of jazz. A little of classical music, too. No metal. I know scandinavian metal rocks over the world, but - honestly - I'm not a great aficionado of Dimmu Borgir or Burzum. Yet.

A tiny little message of solidarity (and thanks) from Spotirama to Norway people.
Hope you enjoy.

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NORWEGIAN MOOD
Source: myself, plus some little fact-checking on Wikipedia and Last.fm

1. Jaga Jazzist – Oslo Skyline
2. Datarock – FaFaFa
3. Sondre Lerche – Private Caller
4. Kaizers Orchestra – Philemon Arthur & the Dung
5. Anja Garbarek – I Won't Hurt You
6. Motorpsycho – Feel
7. Madrugada – Majesty
8. Thomas Dybdahl – Just Can't Seem To Give A Shit (avec Melanie Laurent)
9. Ane Brun – Do You Remember
10. Kings Of Convenience – I'd Rather Dance With You
11. The Whitest Boy Alive – Burning (actually they're almost all from Berlin, except the singer, who is the same of the previous and of the following song)
12. Erlend Oye – Ghost Trains
13. Turbonegro – Get It On
14. Bugge Wesseltoft – Mitt Hjerte Alltid Vanker
15. Lene Marlin – Unforgivable Sinner
16. Annie – Heartbeat
17. Röyksopp – Poor Leno
18. a-ha – The Living Daylights
19. Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross – In the Hall of the Mountain King (modern socialnetworkish take of a classic by norwegian composer Edvard Grieg)
20. Arve Tellefsen – Le Melancolie - In Moments Of Solitude (a piece by 19th century norwegian violinist and composer Ole Bull)

Listen to it on Spotify: NOT AVAILABLE ANYMORE (SR0708)

Super Bock Super Rock 2011 - The 29 songs I do hope to hear

Maybe, this will be a very important week for Spotify, with the discovery of the U.S. market.  

For me, it will be a very important week, too. After forty days of hard hard hard hard work, that kept me away from Spotirama, social life, and many other pleasant things, I will spend a holiday week in Lisbon. Well, actually, three days in Lisbon and three at the Super Bock Super Rock, a music festival in the region of Sesimbra, close to the ocean. This is a playlist of the songs I'd really like to hear in the Portuguese nights. Enjoy!

P.S. I included Arcade Fire, too. I have them on my pc, maybe you have them too... and they're definitely my most-awaited band in the line up.

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SUPER BOCK SUPER ROCK 2011 - 29 SONGS
Source: my taste.

Arcade Fire – Ready to Start
The Walkmen – The Rat
Elbow – Leaders Of The Free World
Portishead – Cowboys
Arctic Monkeys – Fluorescent Adolescent
The Strokes – Trying Your Luck
Arcade Fire – The Suburbs
Arctic Monkeys – Don't Sit Down 'Cause I've Moved Your Chair
Beirut – The Gulag Orkestar
Rodrigo Leão – Vida Tão Estranha
Elbow – red
The Strokes – Electricityscape
Lykke Li – Youth Knows No Pain
Arcade Fire – Neighborhood #2 (Laika)
Portishead – Magic Doors
The Strokes – Ize Of The World
Arcade Fire – Modern Man
Arctic Monkeys – Crying Lightning
Elbow – Not A Job
Portishead – The Rip
Lykke Li – Sadness Is A Blessing
Tame Impala – Solitude Is Bliss
Rodrigo Leão – A Corda
Arctic Monkeys – A Certain Romance
Elbow – Grounds For Divorce
The Vaccines – Post Break-Up Sex
The Strokes – Machu Picchu
Portishead – Roads
Arcade Fire – Wake Up

Listen to it on Spotify: HTTP, URI.