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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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 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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Carmen Consoli has released the latest video from her new ‘best of’ album in time for Christmas. This song is called “Guarda l’alba” (watching the dawn), and its nostalgic and melancholic tones are reflected in the video in which the Italian singer relives her life and ‘her’ Sicily. The ‘best of’ album is titled “Per niente stanca” (meaning she’s not tired of her career) and includes two discs of an impressive repertoire. Other songs on the album are “L’ultimo bacio”, “Fiori d’arancio” and other jazz numbers from the singer. This is a perfect gift for someone who loves Italian music, and wants some of the best individual talent Italy has to offer.

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We thought we’d give a final plug to some of the Italians auditioning for a spot on the 2011 YouTube Symphony Orchestra which will be headed to the Sydney Opera House in the new year. Tomorrow, December 17 is your last opportunity to vote for your favourite audition and you really are spoiled for choice with some of the talent on display in these videos.

After the jump you will find just a few of the Italians who have posted videos with instruments as diverse as the harp and the trombone, and of course the beloved piano. Italy has a great musical tradition and while the country is a little lost on modern culture at the moment, it’s fantastic to see this kind of talent on show. See some of the vidoes below and go to the YouTube Symphony channel to vote.

Continue reading: Italians audition for 2011 YouTube Symphony Orchestra

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Italy will be back at the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest after a 13-year absence from the competition. Given that RAI television has gained the rights to screen the contest, Italy has the opportunity to enter a team in Europe’s famous musical talent contest. The next Eurovision Song Contest will take place in Dusseldorf and with Italy returning to competition, many fans of the EuroFestival as it’s known here, will be very happy.

No competitor for Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest has been named yet and more space has been given so far to preparations for the 2011 Sanremo Festival here. But with the Europe-wide event happening in May next year, we probably won’t have to wait long.

Source | Soundsblog.it

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Proving either that he has international appeal, or that reality television has its legitimate stars, Marco Mengoni has won the Best European Act at the MTC Europe Music Awards for 2010. The new Italian singing talent burst onto the scene last year (in fact, we dubbed him Italy’s Robbie Williams) after appearing on the X Factor show in Italy.

The prize is a success in itself but if you consider that the 22-year-old won against competition like Enrique Iglesias, you get a better picture of how Mengoni has been received. The Italians are proud but even more so because Marco managed to thank everyone in English - the guys at Soundsblog.it saying “so international”! And will he get a new nickname of ‘Crazy King’ in his new language to honour his first single…?

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The grand and expressive voice of Andrea Bocelli has often seemed in contrast to his softly spoken manner. In a new book titled La musica del silenzio or “The music of silence” Bocelli has revealed how he became fully blind as a child in a banal occurrence which assisted in his move towards the world of music. Always diagnosed with glaucoma that prevented him from seeing colours and lights, his right eye always remained the healthier one.

He says in an interview:

I have always been outgoing and vivacious. As a boy I loved playing football and one day, during a game, a ball hit me in the right eye, the only one with which I could see light and colour. They tried to cure me through various operations, even using leeches, but nothing could be done.

With his football playing days over and being blind with a constant pain in his eyes, Bocelli reveals how he first came into contact with classical music. His mother discovered, that at the age of five her son Andrea could be calmed with a simple classical music record played and so one of Italy’s most famous singers came to his career.

Source | La Repubblica

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Paola and Chiara, the famous sister duo from Iezzi, are back with a new single called : MilleLuci Or Thousands of Lights which is a catchy tune perfect for the upcoming season. Wearing 1960s throw-backs, the two sisters who are always very attentive to the latest trends and have a penchant for glamour are ready to climb the charts again!

Paola e Chiara Milleluci

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Italian singer Giuliano Palma’s new single, “Nuvole Rosa” or “Pink Clouds” features Melanie Fiona and is perfect for a summer song number in the Mediterranean. Melanie Fiona is enjoying some success on the pop-soul scene at the moment, with such songs as “Give it to me right” and “It kills me”. This piece between Palma and Fiona is fun but we don’t get a lot of vocal collaboration between the two. Still, something catchy for a summer cocktail.

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The new album from veteran Italian singer, Mina, features a beautiful duet with Seal. Mina’s new album, called ‘Caramella’ has had its Italian release this week, with the songwriters on board making the difference. According to reports, Seal knew of Mina and was happy to collaborate with the singer, also known as the “Cremona Tiger”. The song is the only English track on the album, and was written by Seal and Pam Sheyne, who also writes music for Christina Aguilera and Jessica Simpson.

The rest of the songs are a who’s who of the Italian music scene, with two others duets appearing. The first is between Mina and Giorgia and comes from the 2007 album, ‘Stonata’, and the second duet is with Lucio Dalla from 2003. Listen to the Mina-Seal duet after the jump.

Continue reading: Mina and Seal duet with 'You Get Me' from new album 'Caramella'

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Marco Carta’s new album Il Cuore Muove or The Heart Moves will hit stores on 25 May.
According to our sources, the album contains a mysterious duet with a famous female singer whose identity is still top secret (some suggest Alessandra Moroso, others Emma Marrone)! The Internet has been abuzz over this song since the news leaked to the press!! Unfortunately there’s no way to find out who this mysterious artist is (sorry that you must wait until the album comes out)!! But in the meanwhile you can console yourself by listening to Quello che dai , the first single released from the album!

Continue reading: Marco Carta's new single "Quello Che Dai" from "Il Cuore Muove"

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