One reissue at a time, Giuliano Sorgini has been edging into modern music consciousness, thanks to both his ambitious soundtrack work and out-there library productions. At this point, records like his Zoo Folle and Under Pompelmo — not to mention a multitude of collaborative works with Alessandro Alessandroni as Raskovich — are undisputed classics, leading labels to dig ever-deeper into the Italian composer's vast, but still largely unexplored, archives. Among them is Sonor Music Editions, which has tasked itself with bringing Sorgini's lost horror score, Un Urlo Dalle Tenebre, out of the shadows.
Sorgini recorded the soundtrack for the occult 1975 film by director Elio Pannacciò, with RCA originally planning to use the score as simply a library release. It wasn't until 2016 that Italian reissue house Digitmovies finally unearthed the recordings for a proper CD release, making its new co-production with Sonor the first-ever vinyl edition of the soundtrack. And it feels almost criminal for such impressive works to have been buried for so many decades.
Much like Sorgini's career as a whole, Un Urlo Dalle Tenebre is more than a little eclectic, morphing from one style to next and beyond. One moment, we are hit with funked-out grooves on par with the best of Zoo Folle; the next it's some inner-looking folk séance or synth-loaded proto-hip-hop piece, complete with hard-hitting boom-bap.
Then there are the dark atmospheric sound pieces, layered with abstract electronics and a very real sense of sonic fear — not to mention some wordless vocalizations from the legendary Edda Dell'Orso. On top of all that, the album embraces some more classic horror moments via a variety of haunting organ pieces.
In a sense, Un Urlo Dalle Tenebre plays out like some long-lost cousin to Sorgini's famed The Living Dead at the Manchester Morgue — something that makes total sense, considering that soundtrack was recorded only a year before the cinematic release of Un Urlo Dalle Tenebre.
And while the original Digitmovies release added on a string of bonus tracks (primarily alternate takes and cues), the Sonor's compact edition proves to be the more enjoyable and concise listening experience. It also helps that the label kept the CD version's pretty great art on the printed inner sleeve, while employing Italian font wizard Luca Barcellona to imagine a new cover.
Why Un Urlo Dalle Tenebre was ultimately shelved back in the '70s seems a complete mystery — not to mention a straight-up mistake. But in 2020, Sorgini's work sounds as cutting-edge as ever, once again highlighting his underdog genius.
You can order the album here.
(Sonor Music Editions / Digitmovies)Sorgini recorded the soundtrack for the occult 1975 film by director Elio Pannacciò, with RCA originally planning to use the score as simply a library release. It wasn't until 2016 that Italian reissue house Digitmovies finally unearthed the recordings for a proper CD release, making its new co-production with Sonor the first-ever vinyl edition of the soundtrack. And it feels almost criminal for such impressive works to have been buried for so many decades.
Much like Sorgini's career as a whole, Un Urlo Dalle Tenebre is more than a little eclectic, morphing from one style to next and beyond. One moment, we are hit with funked-out grooves on par with the best of Zoo Folle; the next it's some inner-looking folk séance or synth-loaded proto-hip-hop piece, complete with hard-hitting boom-bap.
Then there are the dark atmospheric sound pieces, layered with abstract electronics and a very real sense of sonic fear — not to mention some wordless vocalizations from the legendary Edda Dell'Orso. On top of all that, the album embraces some more classic horror moments via a variety of haunting organ pieces.
In a sense, Un Urlo Dalle Tenebre plays out like some long-lost cousin to Sorgini's famed The Living Dead at the Manchester Morgue — something that makes total sense, considering that soundtrack was recorded only a year before the cinematic release of Un Urlo Dalle Tenebre.
And while the original Digitmovies release added on a string of bonus tracks (primarily alternate takes and cues), the Sonor's compact edition proves to be the more enjoyable and concise listening experience. It also helps that the label kept the CD version's pretty great art on the printed inner sleeve, while employing Italian font wizard Luca Barcellona to imagine a new cover.
Why Un Urlo Dalle Tenebre was ultimately shelved back in the '70s seems a complete mystery — not to mention a straight-up mistake. But in 2020, Sorgini's work sounds as cutting-edge as ever, once again highlighting his underdog genius.
You can order the album here.
