piero umiliani & i suoi oscillatori: il mondo dei romani

First vinyl reissue. Limited edition of 500 orange LPs (vinyl only; no digital release). Remastered from the original reels. The sought-after experimental gem Il Mondo Dei Romani, by soundtrack and avant-garde maestro Piero Umiliani, is now available on vinyl for the first time since its original release in 1972. Originally recorded for a TV documentary about ancient Rome and released on Umiliani's Omicron label, Il Mondo Dei Romani finds Umiliani experimenting with electronic instruments (Suoi Oscillatori or "his oscillators") to offer a fascinating rendition of what synthesizer-based avant-garde ancient Roman music would sound like. It's a weird and extremely hypnotizing retro-futuristic experience of faux cithara, lyre, organ, and trumpet sounds driven by proto-techno sequences and minimalist rhythms. This brilliant electronic oddity is the perfect companion to We Release Whatever The Fuck We Want Records' previous Umiliani reissue, Tra scienza e fantascienza. Born in 1926, Piero Umiliani began his career as a jazz pianist (occasionally recording with Chet Baker) and started working on film soundtracks in the late '50s. Known as the man who brought jazz to Italian cinema, he left his mark on a long series of notorious giallo and mondo movies, soft sex films, and Eurospy thrillers, garnering praise for mastering sleazy funk, experimental electronica, and jazzy themes, and making a name for himself among his peers, including Ennio Morricone or Riz Ortolani. It was with the 1968 Italian mondo film Sweden: Heaven and Hell that Umiliani landed his biggest hit, "Mah Nà Mah Nà" (originally "Viva la Sauna Svedese" ("Hooray for the Swedish Sauna")), which would later be used on Sesame Street, The Muppet Show, The Benny Hill Show, and many more.