Egisto Macchi - Bioritmi

 

Gemelli 1971

01  Batteri

02  Iperitmia

03  Microscopia

04  Automaticita

05  Valvole Cardiache

06  Laboratori

07  Peristalsi

Break in the new year with some avant-garde Italian library music.

One of the earliest and rarest Macchi albums; only re-issued once in 2015 in Australia on noisy vinyl.

Egisto Macchi - Il Deserto

Ayna 1974 / Cinedelic Records 2015

01 L'Eco Delle Gole

02 Segni Preistorici

03 Cammelli

04 Suoni Per Un Rito

05 La Notte Del Deserto

06 Le Genti Del Deserto

07 Ghibli

08 Sabbia Mobile

09 Il Sahara

I haven't posted any Egisto Macchi in a while, so here is one of his finest; 1974's 'Il Deserto'.

Avant classical that goes places few recordings do, highly recommended.

Note; this 2015 Cinedelic reissue has longer edits than the original album, rejoice!

EGISTO MACCHI - NUCLEO CENTRALE INVESTIGATIVO

Ayna 1974 / Cinedelic Records 2015

01. Perquisizione
02. Un Cadavere Sotto La Neve
03. Inseguimento
04. Nucleo Mobile
05. Prime Luci
06. Complici
07. Entr'acte
08. Cani Poliziotti
09. Sommozzatori
10. Interrogatorio
11. Azione Notturna
12. Motovedette


Haven't posted any Egisto Macchi in some time, so here's a recently acquired soundtrack to a 70's Italian cop show.

More cohesive and less avant garde than some of the self produced library records, this is still way more left of field than say Lalo Schifrin (whose movie scores I love).

There is even a touch of what Mica Levi would explore in the excellent 'Under the Skin' soundtrack.

THE FEED-BACK

RCA Italiana 1970

01. The Feed-Back
02. Quasars
03. Kumalo


This record has to be my find of the year (cheer, Al). Almost a Library music supergroup; percussion by Egisto Macchi, an uncredited Ennio Morricone on trumpet, some amazing guitar playing by Bruno Battisti D'Amario and some of the greatest drums I've ever heard by Renzo Restuccia.

Avant garde happenings with supreme beats. Fantastic.

Note: there was a nice 2014 re-issue on Schema.

EGISTO MACCHI - FUTURISSIMO

St Germain Des Pres 1971

01. Chambre Anachronique
02. Nouvelles Planètes
03. Appel Spatial
04. Moduule Lunaire
05. Capsule en Panne
06. Forme Planétaire
07. Gare Spatiale
08. Extra-Terrestre
09. Limite Extrême
10. Nébuleuses
11. Bande Radioactive

Its nice to see an artist get the reissue treatment they deserve. Cinedelic have recently released 'Biologia Animale E Vegetale'. Hopefully a series will reveal its self soon.

In the meantime, here's 'Futurissimo' from 1971. If you're unfamiliar, check out previous posts.

Otherwise go straight to the best avant garde, sound collage, improvised library music via comments.

EGISTO MACCHI - SEI COMPOSIZIONI

Gemelli 1975

01. Per Cembalo
02. Kleines Dachauer Requiem
03. Lamento
04. Computers
05. Quintetto Seriale
06. Allunage


Due to the popularity of the previous Egisto Macchi post, here is another slice of dark, Italian avant garde.

Again released on the Gemelli label, "Sei Composizioni" is more even further left field than "Voix". There is no sweetner here, "Per Cembalo" opens the album with what sounds like a harpsichord being abused. This is merely a palette cleanser for the stunning "Kleines Dachauer Requiem". Ten minutes of choral voices, alternating between chattering, singing, whispering before giving way to a cacophony of metallic percussion. Terrifying.

"Lamento" has the ominous soundtrack quality reminiscent of earlier works and "Computers" is another percussion experiment.

The beef of side two is "Quintetto Seriale". More traditionally classical than anything else here, dark corners are peered around and shadows are stepped through trying to get to the center of...what? The mystery at the heart of this music is unknowable.

"Allunage" is a peculiar ending. A choir and fuzz bass in space, kind of.

There you go, enjoy.

EGISTO MACCHI - VOIX

Gemelli 1970

01.Pensée
02.Phonèmes
03.Diaphragme
04.Voix
05.Moonsong
06.Timbres
07.À Plein Gosier
08.La Memoire
09.La Calme
10.Le Cauchemard
11.Chanson De La Nuit
12.Chanson Du Matin
13.Reflexions
14.Gouttes
15.Inquiètude


A brief introduction to library/production music - Unlike popular or classical music production companies, music production libraries own all of the copyright of their music. A composer would create music on a work for hire basis, hand over the results to the production company and they could then license it without the composer’s permission.

This music is generally used for film, television and advertising.

It is, however, of interest to lovers alternative music.

In return for handing over permission to use the recordings, the artist could record whatever they wanted. (and without the pressure from record companies, labels etc to come up with commercially viable product) Perhaps a new musical direction doesn’t fit with the record label, a soundtrack composer may have an idea but no film to work on or the artist may wish to record something that’s downright freaky.

My favourite library album is Voix by Egisto Macchi. It was Macchi’s first library record and was released on the Gemelli label in 1970. The label specialised in the avant garde and only pressed 500 copies of each album.

The music is sparse, percussion heavy and ominous. Light is glimpsed occasionally with choir and piano only for the menace to return with scraping noises, thundering percussion and fuzz bass.

Dark, humorous, scary, haunting and truly wonderful.

A masterpiece of Italian classical avant garde.