Ennio Morricone Remixes

The Compost crew gets their hands on Ennio Morricone for some major remix efforts. On Remixes Vol. 1, International Pony kicks things off with a silly homage ditty, but Alex Attias and Swell Session quickly get things into house territory with their mixes. If you've ever wanted to dance to the harmonica of "Il Buono, Il Brutto, Il Cattivo," now's your chance! And, as expected, Hakan Lidbo goes tech-house blippy on "Alla Serenita." Leroy Hanghofer brings some bright, ringing tones to "Beat N. 3," while Needs offers "Amore Come Dolore" some mellow jazz. Kabuki puts some speedy breaks to "Dal Mare," and the Butti 49 give "Rivoluzione" an Afro-jazz vibe…

2008 fifteen CD set, the most complete anthology ever from the Italian master composer, released to coincide with the maestro's 80th birthday. This 15 disc set includes only original versions of his best works grouped into seven different categories, all selected by Morricone himself. The discs include: Music For Cinema (nine CDs containing 168 of his best themes in chronological order), Music For Television (two CDs containing 38 themes), Contemporary Classical Music (one CD containing 18 tracks), Original Songs (one CD containing 18 songs he composed for well-known Pop artists), Orchestral Arrangements (one CD containing 16 of his best arrangements) and Hit Song Arrangements (one CD containing 16 Pop hits he arranged in the '60s for Italian artists including rarities, remixes and more).

For over a decade now, legendary film composer Ennio Morricone has resisted the dozens of invitations from labels and artists to remix his original work - until now. Somehow the folks at Reprise were either diplomatic enough with a satisfactory aesthetic approach or had a big enough checkbook to satisfy the artist's concerns (and this writer is willing to believe it was the former). A varied cast of pioneers from electronica's vast frontier was assembled by compilation producers Stefan Rambow and Norman Rudnitzky. The first two cuts are the most obvious. There's Apollo 440's "The Man With the Harmonica," mixed out of the soundtrack for Once Upon a Time in the West. There are layers and layers of keyboards extrapolating the melody - and parts of it - with dub effects and large, deep drums and sequencers…