★Schema Records
B85 - Ballabili “Anni ’70” Pop Country
**CD version** Although library music has always had the purpose of accompanying TV and radio shows, documen- taries and TV news, it is difficult to track down most of these masterpieces composed by some of the greatest composers of those years. Anonymity is one of the distinctive traits of this music genre, being in most cases difficult, if not impossible, to find out where these tracks had been used. The liner notes of these works often spark the reader’s curiosity: the notes are in fact detai…
B81 Ballabili Anni 70 Underground
**CD version** Due to an overwhelming number of reissues and to the steady and meticulous work of collectors and passionate music lovers who have been spreading the word about it, the realm of Italian library music has moved from being some kind of hidden cult to becoming a well defined niche. Authors such as Alessandroni, Umiliani, Sciascia, Tommasi and Sorgini have become more accessible to the uninitiated, while prices of the original presses of their records keep surging.Among the multitude …
B82 Ballabili Anni 70 Underground
**CD version** Due to an overwhelming number of reissues and to the steady and meticulous work of collectors and passionate music lovers who have been spreading the word about it, the realm of Italian library music has moved from being some kind of hidden cult to becoming a well defined niche. Authors such as Alessandroni, Umiliani, Sciascia, Tommasi and Sorgini have become more accessible to the uninitiated, while prices of the original presses of their records keep surging.Among the multitude …
Codice d’amore orientale
**CD version** “Codice d’amore orientale” had been often labelled as one of the lowest points reached by the b-movies from the ’70s. Essentially, it is just a genuine attempt to exploit the success of the erotic genre, very popular at the time: the movie tells the story of two young lovers, running away from their families that were against their union. The two are given shelter by a minister of love, who introduces them to the secrets of Kamasutra.Definitely not an art-house film, and surely di…
Sway
**CD version** Sante Palumbo was born in 1932 in Cerignola, a small village near the city of Foggia, in southern Italy. After studying at Foggia’s conservatory, he moved to Milan in 1954. Unlike other musicians who were rapidly recognised by the local jazz scene, Palumbo started to be noticed only at the end of the 60s. At the beginning of his career he was one of the most in-demand pianist for studio sessions. When in 1969 he became part of Giorgio Buratti’s trio, the critics praised him as one…
Percussioni ed Effetti Speciali
**CD version** The long and prolific career of Piero Umiliani, also consisting of dozens of collaborations for television and cinema, has given (and is still delivering, given the amount of material that is finally coming back to light) a long series of experimental albums and music libraries that showcase his songwriting skills, as well as a natural curiosity towards avant-garde and more ‘difficult’ sounds. We can attribute to the second category this “Percussioni ed effetti speciali”, a title …
La Conquista di Luna
**CD version** A journey into space with a wonderful sound – served up here as a set of cosmic instrumentals from Luciano Michelini, most of which have a pretty groovy vibe! The mix of 60s instrumentation, spacey touches, and light electric moments peppered with cool keyboards or woodwinds, and occasional wordless vocals – all in this way that provides a wonderful 60s fantasy of the moon, and one that's actually a lot more exciting than any of the real moon landing records out there. There is on…
Suspense
**CD version** Among all the aliases used by the great Piero Umiliani, M. Zalla is perhaps his richest and surprising: mainly used to produce experimental records that had little commercial appeal, this ‘nom de plume’ (along with Moggi) is tied to memorable episodes of his career, releases such as “Problemi d’oggi” (literally “Today’s Problems”), “Mondo inquieto” (i.e. “An Unsettling World”), and also “Suspense”, now reissued by Schema Records.
And if titles such as those mentioned above may som…
Gruppo di Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza
First CD reissue of the landmark 1966 debut album by Gruppo di Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza. Coinciding with the 50th anniversary of its recording in 1966, this reissue makes one of the cornerstones of the experimental music tradition available again in its original form. A testament to the interaction between the experimental avant-garde and the free improvisation, the album was originally released on Rca, and played by musicians who include Ennio Morricone on trumpet, Frederic Rzewski on p…
Due Temi con Variazioni
Many words were spent on the long and fruitful collaboration between Piero Umiliani and the director Luigi Scattini: new light has been shed recently on some of their works, in lieu of the reissue of soundtracks such as “Angeli bianchi... angeli neri”, “Questo sporco mondo meraviglioso” along with “La ragazza fuoristrada”, “Il corpo” and “La ragazza dalla pelle di luna” (the famous trilogy starring Zeudi Araya as a main character).In 1977 Scattini, a world famous Mondo Movie author, directed “Bl…
The Folk Group
**CD version** Piero Umiliani’s rich and diverse discography got us used to bold experimentalism, to excursions into popular music as into avantgarde. Nonetheless, while “The Folk Group” makes no surprise, it still represents a peculiar work within Umiliani’s seemingly endless career. Originally published under the name of M. Zalla, an alias he especially used for those albums that were difficult to classify – and among which we must mention the extraordinary “Mondo Inquieto” and “Problemi d’ogg…
Questo Sporco Mondo Meraviglioso
**CD version** “Questo sporco mondo meraviglioso” is one of the numerous collaborations between the director Luigi Scattini and Piero Umiliani, and one of the most interesting and varied soundtracks within the composer’s repertoire. Produced in collaboration with Piero Loy, the picture falls into the Mondo Movies genre, documentaries dedicated to controversial and shocking topics (without aspiring to be journalistic or adhering to scientific evidence). In this case, Scattini’s direction focuses …
Feelings
“Feelings” is considered an absolute cult inside the library music panorama. As the same Torossi recently said, the album “was played only by studio musicians... the best we could find at the time, and the results show”. The album sees the participation of Sandro Brugnolini, Giancarlo Gazzani, Puccio Roelens and Stefano Torossi, famous songwriters in the field of soundtracks and library music. “Feelings” had been released for the first time in Italy by Carosello Records, under the pseudonyms of …
Svezia Inferno e Paradiso
*2022 stock* One of the greatest soundtracks ever from the mighty Piero Umiliani is finally available again, in a faithful replica of the original edition on Omicron. A sublime mix of erotic elements, playful funky numbers, and warm jazzy tunes – all supposedly scored for an exploitation documentary about sex in Sweden – but music that really stands strongly on its own! There's a number of cuts with those cool Hammond organ tricks that Umiliani does so well – and lots of others have cool female …
Temi Ritmici e Dinamici
**CD version** If you are among those who own the two previous Braen's Machine LPs, Underground and Quarta pagina, you're probably already well aware of one of Italian library music best kept secrets, that is the real identities of those hiding behind the pseudonyms Braen and Gisteri. These were the monikers of Alessandro Alessandroni and Oronzo De Filippi, directed by Piero Umiliani and his record label Liuto. With Temi ritmici e dinamici (Rhythmic and dynamic themes) the plot thickens and give…
Synthi Time
*2022 stock* Synthi Time is perhaps one of the most suitable albums - within Umiliani's incredibly vast discography - to fully appreciate the composing and experimental genius of the Maestro. For once away from the classic soundtracks that made him popular, this project veers away also from refined works of library music such as Genti e paesi del mondo (People and countries of the world) or Problemi d'oggi (Today's issues), released under the moniker of Zalla. In this case, we like to imagine hi…
Fischiando in Beat
*2022 stock* Due to a perhaps too buoyant and unfitting title and to a ridicolously limited distribution (even at the time of its original release), Fischiando in beat (Whistling in beat) has often been ignored despite being one of the most entertaining works signed by Piero Umiliani (here accompanied by his orchestra). Originally released in 1969, Fischiando in beat presents twelve gems of instrumental beat music, fabulous specimen of that music genre often labelled with the much-abused term 'l…
Abbiamo Tutti un Blues da Piangere
“Abbiamo tutti un blues da piangere” is the Perigeo second album, which continues a slow but steady evolution over a solid rock basis, moving from the originary jazz component to a growing fusion side, with an increasingly dominant search of melody. In the seven tracks of this LP the sound is still edgy and dark, thanks to a constant tension that never stops until the end of the last song.
This reissue is the result of a unique collaboration between two long-established companies in the jazz and…
La Ragazza Fuoristrada
**CD version** This is the second movie with Zeudi Araya, filmed in a hurry to take advantage of the success of the previous “La ragazza dalla pelle di luna”. “La ragazza fuoristrada”, set between Egypt and Ferrara, Italy, deals in an unusual way with the theme of racial integration, still a taboo at the time especially in remote Italian provinces. Despite the fact that the title evokes the legendary "Dune Buggy" (the main character, Luc Merenda, is a journalist who goes to Egypt to test it), th…
Angeli Bianchi... Angeli Neri
**CD version** “Angeli bianchi... angeli neri” is one of the best results of the collaboration between Piero Umiliani and director Luigi Scattini. Filmed in Brazil, “Angeli bianchi... angeli neri” (also known as “Witchcraft 70”) is one of Scattini’s most popular mondo films. However in an exagerated way, as was common at the time, the aim of the movie was to document the world of black magic, devil worshipping and pagan rituals. Through the years it has reached the status of “cult movie” along w…