Ennio Morricone’s spaghetti western music gets a revival with a pop-spaghetti western flavour from Danger Mouse and Daniele Luppi. Their new album ROME revisits the classic film scores and the duo did it faithfully; with a passion for “vintage Italian soundtracks” they wanted to recreate the recording experience of the original scores, too.

The result is an album made with some of the original musicians who worked in the 1960’s and 70’s film genre, specifically on The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, and that was recorded at Rome’s Forum Studios, founded by Ennio Morricone.

The music was recorded directly to tape using original equipment and the only real modern addition are the voices of Nora Jones and Jack White from the White Stripes. The ROME ablum has been five years in the making and will be released this month. Watch the video to see how this amazing project came about (more videos after the jump) and see the Rome Album website to listen to samples and order a copy.

Continue reading: Modern spaghetti western music by Danger Mouse and Daniele Luppi

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When people think of Vibrato in a voice they automatically think Opera, but this is wrong; lots of pop singers sing with a vibrato and Carmen Consoli, one of Italy’s most talented artists has that slightly wavering quality which never fails to weave a spell on the listener. However we are not here to talk about that, but to comment on Carmen Consoli’s latest interview during which the popular singer spoke her mind on such topics as homosexuality, sex and drugs. She told A magazine that she comes from an open-minded family where homosexuality was not taboo at all. Sexuality does not define a person and if she should ever have child (maybe with a woman -who knows?) she hopes it will be gay. Carmen Consoli also talked at length about drugs,revealing that she is in favour of their legalisation. This, she said, would end drug trafficking once for all.

Source | Settimanale A

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According to Gente magazine, one of Italy’s most popular gossip magazines, Eros Ramazzotti will soon marry his girlfriend Marica Pellegrinelli. The couple is expecting their first child together, but as you know the Italian singer has another child from his previous marriage with showgirl Michelle Hunziker. Back in 1990s, their love story trumped all other celebrity news for months on end, so it was rather sad when, only a few years later, Michelle Hunziker filed for divorce.

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Italy’s greatest rock legend, Vasco Rossi, is back with a new album and tour dates for this year. The Italian singer has tantalised fans with his new song on the radio, “Eh, già” and finally the new Vasco album Viviere o niente will be released on March 29. So far the slow release of the album has been controversial, as is the new Vasco clip, but the 12 songs on the disc will apparently be quite different from each other and will likely represent Vasco’s various styles - from rock ballads to the hard edge of things.

Vasco Rossi 2011 concert dates are in summer in June and July with venues in Rome, Messina, Milan and Mestre, where the latter venue is set for the Heineken Jammin’ Festival on June 11. We have an older, wiser and even more cynical Vasco Rossi on our hands but here’s hoping his individuality is maintained in the new album. Check out his in-your-face “I’m still here” lyrics in the new video above.

Source | Soundsblog.it

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The new Italian singing talent trio of Il Volo has already enjoyed international interest and their debut album will be released in April. If you want your slice of young Italian opera beforehand, the Il Volo album is available for online order. The album includes traditional Italian songs interpreted by the young voices: O Sole Mio, Il Mondo, Un Amore Così Grande and more. The three appear in their first Il Volo video above with O Sole Mio, an old favourite for Italians. This is the kind of nostalgic album that will work for an older generation, and also bring Italian opera to younger people wanting new idols.

Source | ItalyMag

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To celebrate 150 years of Italian unification, Italy went back to what it knew best about its traditions and could most celebrate. National broadcaster RAI treated Italians to a live performance of Giuseppe Verdi’s Nabucco on Italian television last night. It’s a difficult move to make opera accessible to the population via an entire opera length national broadcast, but for those of us who don’t mind an Italian aria, it wasn’t a bad thing (given the general quality on Italian television, you could do much worse).

Nabucco was broadcast from Rome and before the performance started, the orchestra played the Italian national anthem “Fratelli d’Italia”. In attendance was Italy’s president Giorgio Napolitano and prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, among other Italian dignitaries. To hear some of what you missed, see the video after the jump of a performance of Verdi’s Va’ Pensiero.

Continue reading: Verdi's Nabucco on Italian television to celebrate 150 years of unification

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Kylie Minogue’s stage costumes for her tour “Les Folies” have all been designed by Dolce & Gabbana; a range of spectacular dresses that will add a touch extravagant elegance to her performances all around the world!

Take a look at the photos of the creative session that took place with Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana for Kylie’s tour.

Continue reading: Kylie Minogue's Tour Costumes Designed by Dolce & Gabbana

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The Sanremo Festival is traditionally considered Italy’s premiere music festival - a forum to discover new Italian musical talent and a classic show-biz event that Italians like so very much. Obviously with a new era in media and television, the Sanremo Festival has become one of Italy’s biggest television events.

The opening night of the 2011 Sanremo Festival saw the Belen Rodriguez and Elisabetta Canalis fashion duel finally broadcast, and the usual slew of Italian celebrities, old and new, who are dusted off for the annual event. The songs have almost taken backstage in recent times, and we’re treated to a series of second-rate celebrities, gaffes and silly jokes. But that’s not to take away from the scale of this event.

While the Sanremo Festival could hardly be considered a show of high class culture, it still tops the Italian television ratings every year. The opening night for 2011 held an average of over 10 million Italian viewers, which is near 50 percent of the overall television viewing for the evening. And it was a Monday night. But what can the personalities and subtleties of this year’s opening night tell us?

Continue reading: Belen Rodriguez, Elisabetta Canalis and Italian celebrities: what is the Sanremo festival?

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According to Oggi magazine, Eros Ramazzotti’s girlfriend model Marica Pellegrinelli is expecting a baby. As many of you know the singer has another child from his former wife, actress Michelle Hunziker. After a stormy divorce and years of loneliness, Eros Ramazzotti has apparently found his Miss Right. Always according to the magazine, Marica Pellegrinelli is now acting as Eros Ramazzotti’s secretary and manager, a post once filled by the singer’s brother. Well, as a famous Latin poet used to say, Omnia vincit amor!

Source | Settimanale Oggi

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The Umbria Jazz winter festival started yesterday and marks a few days of magic winter time in the region. Orvieto is hosting this year’s winter jazz festival, held until January 2nd, with two major events taking place. The first is a New Year’s Eve midnight concert and the second is a New Year’s Day gospel choir concert. The other days mark various concerts and events in different locations around the town.

We’ll take it as a kind of warm up to the 2011 Umbria Jazz Festival to take place in summer. It will go from July 8 to 17 and will feature the usual international and local acts. Performers at the winter event include Stefano Bollani and Chick Corea, Ray Anderson, Danilo Rea and more. And obviously, in addition to the music, you can enjoy the great Umbrian wine and food on offer. See the Umbria Jazz website for more.

Source | ItalyMag

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