Well, that’s a title: »Kill the fatted calf and roast it«. Since the accompanying film from 1970 is an Italian Giallo, it is to be assumed that the calf could possibly not be an animal. The fact that the soundtrack for this film by Ennio Morricone was previously largely unknown has to do with the circumstance that it is now apparently being released on record for the first time ever. But perhaps also because Morricone has set music to over 500 films. »Uccidete il vitello grasso e arrostitelo« does not have large orchestral areas, rather restricting itself to a chamber music instrumentation in which bass, guitar, drums, keyboards and flutes dominate. Hammond organ sounds provide a psychedelic impact, whereby Morricone always reveals himself as a studied composer in small details, preferably in his melodies. Surprising is the almost minimalistic character of the music, which especially in the title track works with stubbornly repetitive figures, more krautrock than Italian beat. Not all of these repetitions can make you forget that this is music that should rather play in the background when needed, »Ricordo tanti fiori« for example hangs a little bit. It becomes more interesting where Ennio Morricone gives his imagination free rein, as in »Ai confini della follia«, in which dissonant flutes alternate with impressionistic piano, overlaid by chirpy harpsichord notes, followed by clusters of woodwinds. A kind of sound collage in which even a synthesizer (or a slightly alienated organ?) provides effectively diffuse disturbance. Not a very big hit, if you compare it with the soundtrack to the »Indagine su un cittadino al di sopra di ogni sospetto« released in the same year, but a small discovery in any case.
Tim Hecker
Shards
Kranky