Date
April 25, 2012
Miracler
Jeffrey Bell
Location
Los Angeles
Okay, tell us about the New New Guy.
Jeffrey, who came to us through the Mark Ulriksen door (Thanks, Mark!), lives in Los Angeles with his wife, daughter and a bunch of animals. He writes, produces and directs television. Some of the shows he's worked on include The X-Files, Angel, Alias, Harper’s island, and currently, Spartacus. I believe that's longhand for "I know how to make a mix like the one I've made you." I've already said too much! Except for: I LOVE THIS MIX. Thank you JB for providing the perfect soundtrack for my next Italian/French caper/tryst mystery/farce.
Liner Notes from JB
I was a 16-year-old rural/suburban kid from Indiana when I saw my first Fellini film. That changed everything. Most of the tracks here are from European movies I love; movies that were foreign, not just because they were in a different language, but to a midwestern kid, they were foreign in sensibility, sophistication, attitude and style. Though the tracks date from 1949 through 2007, they feel of a piece to me, a continuum of all the hours I’ve spent dreaming in the dark.
L'illusionista – Nino Rota, 8 1⁄2, directed by Federico Fellini, 1963.
Pushing the Car – Krzysztof Komeda, Cul-de-sac, directed by Roman Polanski, 1966.
École Buissonière - Jean Constantin, The 400 Blows, directed by Francois Truffaut, 1959.
Iena Sequence - Pregadio Roberto, Il Sorriso Dela Iena (Smile Before Death), directed by Silvio Amadio, 1972.
Je n'aime que toi - Louis Garrel, Ludivine Sagnier & Clotilde Hesme, Les chansons d'amour (Love Songs), directed by Christophe Honoré, 2007.
The Harry Lime Theme (Original Version) – Anton Karas, The Third Man, directed by Carol Reed, 1949.
I Want It All - Bruno Nicolai, Femmine Insaziabili, directed by Alberto De Martino, 1969.
The Man With The Harmonica - Ennio Morricone, Once Upon a Time In the West, directed by Sergio Leone, 1968.
Mic et mac (feat. Anna Karina) - Antoine Duhamel, Pierrot le fou, directed by Jean Luc Goddard, 1965.
Last Tango in Paris (Medley) – Gato Barbieri, Last Tango in Paris, directed by Bernardo Bertolucci, 1972.
Sentimental Walk - Vladimir Cosma, Diva, directed by Jean- Jacques Beineix, 1981.
Générique De Fin - Zbigniew Preisner, La Double Vie De Véronique, directed by Krzysztof Kieslowski, 1991.
La legge dei gangsters - Piero Umiliani, La legge dei gangsters, directed by Siro Marcellini, 1969.
Minor Swing - Django Reinhardt, Chocolat, directed by Lasse Halstrom, 2000.
O Nosso Amor - Breno Mello, Black Orpheus, directed by Marcel Camus, 1959.
La Valse d'Amélie - Yann Tiersen, Amelie, directed by Jean- Pierre Jeunet, 2001.
Mix is UP. Same new-ish password (also in your email).
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XOK
17 comments:
Santa Guacamole! A mega-grande-bella load of Euro-sonic-film treasures! Thanks for laying this gift on us, Jeffrey.
The Harry Lime Theme. Damn this is good.
For Volume II can we have the Get Carter Theme?
"O Nosso Amor." This song brings tears to my eyes, even now, listening to it on your mix, Jeff.
When I was 17 San Francisco's KQED aired Black Orpheus five nights in a row. From the first night I was instantly and incurably hooked. I watched it every night that week. The ending, where the three kids make the sun rise with music, coming right after Orpheus and Eurydice have died in each others arms, still slays me.
http://www.jambalayah.com/node/163
On a goofier note, and also teen-related: I have a 16 year-old nephew who's a wicked-good Jazz guitarist. A month ago he won a music camp scholarship based on a performance. I asked Connor what he played. Knowing himself to be a sophisticated musician beyond his years, his reply came self-assured and breezy -- "The Theme From Black Orifice."
!
Luckily, Connor caught his Freudian slip a beat after it plopped out, and we had a good howl together. You always want to laugh WITH people, never AT people, right? Especially so, if they're acne-aged.
You just made me very, very happy.
Un "mix" fantastico.
Grazie, Jeffrey!
I needed this rainy Chicago day and I needed this mix.
I made a mix tape called "European Film Festival" before a trip to Europe years ago, so I can dig it!
I am so very very pleased with the singular Ciao Marcello! Instant Favorite!
Grazie mille!
And welcome to the 3mpm!
Jeff, you know any mix with The Third Man in it will be a favorite of mine. In fact I went to iTunes immediately after one spin of your disc and bought the soundtrack.
Love how you started off this cinematic journey. Haven't heard the Diva piece in ages. I loved it the first time I heard it and I still love it. Perfect for today's rainy SF day.
That Man with a Harmonica sure is haunting. And I thought I heard echoes of Antonio Carlos Jobim's How Insensitive in I Want it All. You?
Welcome Jeffrey!
Having grown up in the remote Canary Islands, I totally identify with the movie-watching, Fellini discovering 16-year-old kid. And boy what a blow that was. In my case it was Amarcord, then E la Nave Va. I never quite recovered I think!
That said, the face of Mastroianni opening the proceedings and the wealth of French and Italian flavor made my little European movie fan heart feel at once at home and homesick, if such an oxymoron is possible.
Totally enjoyed the whole thing, specially how absolute classics blended with more modern stuff for a seamless mix. We always love a bit of that skill!
My nerdy note of the day goes, I thought I heard the nowadays familiar sound a vinyl spinning backwards for a split second, then immediately picking up the pace, on "La legge dei gangsters" -- which is meant to be from 1969?!? Please discuss.
Thanks for what seems to be going to be the soundtrack to many a Summer afternoon Saturday siesta on the back patio lawn.
The familiar sound of a vinyl spinning, I meant.
I don’t think I’ve ever listened to a group of songs that made me want so badly to sit in an outdoor café and smoke a pack of Gauloises. I also have to admit that at a couple of points during my first listen I actually walked around the house in what I can only call a ‘finger-snapping, head-bobbing saunter’, especially during the Pregadio Roberto cut. Very nicely done Jeffrey.
Pepe, it was Amacord for me as well. It changed everything. And in response to your question about the sound of vinyl in "La legge dei gangsters" I must confess ignorance, or at least innocence. I only own a digital copy of the soundtrack album so there was no intentional or unintentional scratching going on. I will add two facts related to the song. One, the movie., La legge dei gangsters" starred a very young Klaus Kinski and Two, the composer, Piero Umiliani is best known for the song Mah Na Mah Na as immortalized on the Muppet Show.
I've been listening to this gem over and over. That song from Diva has a special place in my heart. Roba buona!
Roma roma roma, the city that drove a car through my life, I love you, I hate you, you are everything Fellini said you were. I think my philosophy of life can be found in the final cooking scene in Big Deal On Madonna Street.
Solid gorgeousness in a cinematic way.... I will be playing this for a long time.
Thanks again.
I've been doing the backwards-forwards-slink dance all over my apartment, which is a very good thing. Except for the man with the harmonica, he requires all my attention. More mood, less talk!
Bravo!
I like all of this & it starts w/ the strongest cut: gonna go classical? Brecht/Weill? Nah Greekish folkish. Gotcha! Yeah, & like Vanessa said, I think, the harmonica song is almost the stand-out not-good one but redeems itself somehow. Probably with harmonica. Thanks for sharing, Jeff.
This is a wonderful way into film music. I have always steered away, thinking, rather lazily that film music needed to be heard with the film images to achieve their full power. The skill here is in the sequencing - a great job.
Paul
Playing this mix every day for weeks!
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