SPAGHETTI WESTERN ORCHESTRA – Classic Ennio Morricone ‘Live’

You just know you have to get a copy of a CD with the title “Classic Ennio Morricone Live” especially if, like me you enjoy film scores as much as I do. OK, so the pastiche is obvious here and perhaps much like the Ukulele Orchestra Of Great Britainthis may prove a fad that’s the beauty of it. Morricone’s music is an integral part of Spaghetti Westerns and its ‘folk-style’ themes and although a parody might have a limited run even for those who have a penchant for whistling tunes as iconic as “The Good, The Bad And The Ugly” which (more or less) opens proceedings you have to admire the expertise of this engaging quintet in capturing not only the music (with a more than credible homage to their hero) but the true essence of the material they are working with. The cliché of aiming spit at the spitoon may be a tad overdone but you can’t help but admire the band’s use of ‘foley instruments’ (ie: bouncy ball pump, horseshoe, and frog clicker etc utilised by special effects artists everywhere) to the obvious delight of their audience. Maybe in retrospect it might have been better to wait for the DVD but for now this slice of off-beat Americana will do nicely.

PETE FYFE.


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