A Tarantino favorite, Luis E. Bacalov teamed up with Italian prog outfit Osanna to provide the music for the infamous Fernando Dileo’s Poliziottescho Milano Calibro 9 (1972).

An Oscar winner, for the score to Michael Radford’s Il Postino (1994), the Argentinian born Bacalov mainly worked in Italy, scoring for such famous directors like Federico Fellini, Pier Paolo Pasolini and many others.

His 1960’s and 1970’s rite of passage through the Spaghetti Westerns and Poliziotteschi (the name given to the Italian crime films) genres is, in a way, well documented by the films of Quentin Tarantino. The American director made frequent use of his music for Italian Cinema in his own films, notably: the original Django (1966) theme song and music, plus Lo Chiamavano King (1971)’s song, in Django UnchainedIl Grande Duello (1972)themes in Kill Bill Vol.1 or The summer time killer theme from Un verano para matar (1972) in Kill Bill: Vol 2.

The Bacalov/Osanna pairing on Milano Calibro 9 was nothing new as the composer did arrangements and collaborations on the group regular albums. If only two main tracks remain in a closer form to the actual score, this is still one amazing Italian funky LP. The playing and arrangement are superb, going from electro to experimental tunes, from orchestral (great strings) to prog-funk. On the later part of the LP version, Osanna takes on the thematic material and provides an effortless continuity (not really part of the movie). Every time you might assume it is gonna fall short on creativity and new sounds it improves in a new direction that fits the general mood. This is strong material, one of the best of its kind. A companion piece, with the actual score of the movie, would even be welcome since the sequences and incidental music of the film version  could fill another LP.

  • Note that the album comes almost hidden as an OST. It is usually filed under prog at your favorite local store (the same happens with the Goblin-Frizzi-Rizzati OST to Perché si Uccidono).