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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Elisabetta Canalis could do Zoolander after seeing some of her facial expressions in this video in which the Italian showgirl strips for PETA animal rights association. Canalis’ career hasn’t exactly had the launch she might have been expecting after being tied up with America’s most famous actor. Clooney’s girlfriend had a role in the American TV series Leverage, and didn’t get star reviews.

Canalis then returned to Italy for the most important Italian television event of the year - the Sanremo festival. Pitted against fellow showgirl Belen Rodriguez from Argentina, Canalis was criticised for her hopeless dancing and her attempt at an English interview with Robert de Niro.

So it seems that Elisabetta Canalis is back to stripping off for photo shoots and appears in this “I would rather go naked than wear fur” campaign, doing what she does best - just being plain sexy.

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Recent years have marked dark days for the Alfa Romeo brand, but the fascination of Italian exotics overseas lives on. The Bella Italia Concours took place over the weekend with vintage and luxury Italian sports cars from Ferrari, Maserati and Lamborghini on display. While the event is organised by the Ferrari Owners Club of San Diego, the latter Italian brands are invited in recognition of their equally iconic status.

2011 is a big year for Italian supercars with the new Lamborghini Aventador having been released, and the original Ferrari FF four-seater shooting brake making an appearance. It will mark a new era for this world famous Italian icon being the first Ferrari model to get a boot and all-wheel drive. In the meantime, Alfa Romeo will make its way back to US shores, possibly with its first true sports car in a long time, the Alfa 4C GTA. Watch the video to see what went on show at the Bella Italia Concours in San Diego.

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Italy’s Lamborghini supercar brand has a new weapon in its line-up - the Aventador. The new model was recently revealed at the Geneva Motor Show and is an evolution for Lambo which should increase the company’s fortunes after struggling profits. The luxury Italian brand, despite making sales, has needed to renew its ageing line-up, and the new Lamborghini Aventador is a smart-looking model which is highly anticipated by fans.

Already sold out for 2011, here we see the Aventador in a video from the streets of Berlin. Appropriately, passers-by stop to observe the stunning model flexing its revs on the pavement, before the Italians step out to stop traffic and organise some manoeuvres in true Italian style. Who else in the world would back up a Lamborghini in city traffic with someone waving the other cars to a stop? Check out the Aventador in live pics from the motor show below.

Source | Autoblog.com

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In the face of more Berlusconi scandals and a trial to start April 6, the Italian prime minister has taken time off from the controversies to further his Italian tourism campaign. Silvio Berlusconi has taken a personal interest in the fortunes of Italian advertising for local tourism, creating the Magic Italy campaign and now appearing in this latest television commercial.

Berlusconi talks of the wonders of Italy’s cultural and artistic landscape, encouraging Italians to holiday in their own country to discover “the Italy you still haven’t met”. The ad finishes with the partiotic call to arms of “this, our magnificant Italy, to discover and to love”. The commercial will probably keep Berlusconi in good light for some Italians still convinced of the miracles he is performing for their country.

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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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Time to get a look at new edition of the famous Prada Fantasy Motionbook! As you know, every year the Italian fashion house delivers a video of their collections and for spring 2011, they have just launched a dazzling film directed by talented James Lima (his collaborations include such films as Avatar and Spiderman4)

With its swirl of colours and catchy Cuban music, this new Prada film, (the fruit of a collaboration with OMA) is an artistic collage of illustrations, pictures and images in motion which will take your breath away!

Continue reading: The Fantasy MotionBook Prada Spring Summer 2011

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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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We’re used to seeing Ducati in red and in motion, but in this video a vintage-look beige Ducati 750 Sport is sat on by Keira Knightley. It’s part of the advertising campaign for Chanel’s Coco Mademoiselle perfume. It’s a strange mix of an actress who can’t ride, a French perfume and an Italian world icon. It’s probably not quite the profile we would normally associate with Ducati, but with Valentino Rossi as its new rider this year, the red marketing machine will only escalate.

Ducati and Keira Knightley for Chanel

Continue reading: Vintage Ducati and Keira Knightley for Coco Chanel

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