My Film World: Rome

I missed the chance to offer a My Film World excerpt last week, but have come back with a rather spectacular offering.  I am taking this Monday to note the wonderful bit of musicianship that is Danger Mouse and Daniele Luppi's Rome.  You are most likely familiar with Danger Mouse for his famous mash-up of Jay-Z's Black Album with The Beatles White Album to create the Grey Album.  If not, you are definitely familiar with him as one-half of Gnarls Barkley which brought us the ever so catchy song "Crazy."  Perhaps, however, you are less familiar with Daniel Luppi...don't worry so is wikipedia.  However, Luppi is certainly an accomplished composer, making music for many notable films, including Nine and Under The Tuscan Sun.  The duo has combined together to create the previously mentioned Rome as an homage to Spaghetti Westerns.

Their homage is nothing less than cinematic.  Each song on the album hearkens back to Sergio Leone's finest films and one cannot help but prepare for an epic shootout.  What makes the album even better though is the dedication to create a western narrative.  Each song whether instrumental or lyric driven borrows heavily of some element of the western genre.  Incorporating the artistic help of Norah Jones and Jack White, Rome makes listeners nostalgic for their favorite Wild West characters, both good and bad.  Not to mention with track names like "The Gambling Priest" and "Two Against One" it is easy to think of a variety of other famous westerns, made outside the works of Italian directors.  The standout track on this album is definitively track ten entitled "Black" which will inevitably have you rearing to hitch up a horse and saddle off into the sunset.  This is an obvious vinyl purchase for audiophiles, but for non-musical purists out there a quick ITunes download is well worth the investment.

 

( Rome may as well have been the original soundtrack for The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, it's that good.)