riz ortolani and the jin-ling crusade

Author's note: I was intending on posting more Riz here on the bleachers having recently discovered this killer album. My only previous exposure to his talent was through Latin Mondo & Exploitation classic cinema. The only problem is these two following tracks appear to be the cream of the crop ; most of what's left sounds too much to my ear like mere soundtrack filler - including the title themes.

The following post first appeared on Art Decade on May 24, on the most recent occasion Emmett was kind enough to allow me to guest. I've taken the liberty of republishing it here in its entirety, by way of contrast with an upcoming post, again on Riz. The original post is certainly a bit too recent to fully justify pulling it from the archives, so I hope you appreciate this premature resurrection.

This is dedicated to those who e-mailed in a request but were too Bloggerphobic to leave a comment.

 

surf's up! spring has sprung. summer has arrived.

I first heard this album just the other day, and like the saying goes: it blew me away. Like a welcome breeze on a muggy day when the sky is a tight sealed lid.

I was questioning my decision to hang onto old soundtracks while clearing the decks on my Hard Drive when I gave up entirely and threw in the towel. What started out as a spring-clean soon escalated into an ill-considered pogrom on my Music Library, and a sweeping away of folders with reckless abandon.

Tearing at the cellophane on a fresh pack of smuggled Jin-Ling filter tips and ignoring the hungry pleas of my barefoot offspring, I savagely keyed in a search for more Riz Ortolani and stumbled on this. Ah! The fleeting bliss of the momentary fix...

These old CDs make for excellent coasters. The vinyl has all been sold or melted down to use for barter as the fuel crisis looms. Distractedly, I allow one tearful urchin to spirit away the remaining antique 78 to lob as a makeshift frisbee down in the park. My eyes are fried and weeping through plumes of contraband smoke, yet I refuse to don the reading glasses so recently prescribed. They can tear down my building and kick me out on the street, but I will not go quietly; the sounds of old movies waft exultantly and can not be silenced.

Hallelujah! It all adds up to a declaration of war, even if i'm not entirely sure which side I'm on.

▼ RIZ ORTOLANI: IL RICORDO DI SERENA from "Confessione di un Commissario di Polizia..." LP (RCA) 1971 (Italy)

▼ RIZ ORTOLANI: SERENA E LOMUNO from "Confessione di un Commissario di Polizia..." LP (RCA) 1971 (Italy)

ROLL RIZ A SPLIFF