Alejandro Jodorowsky – El Topo – [ABKCO Records]

Alejandro Jodorowsky reads to be quite an interesting person. Born in Chile to Jewish Ukrainian parents, worked as a clown, moved to Paris and studied mime and created a comic strip before embarking on a career in film making. El Topo is Jodorowsky’s second film – described as an Acid Western – and was written, directed, starred and (important to note here) scored by Jodorowsky himself.

This soundtrack, which was part of the 2007 Anchor Bay DVD release of the films of Jodorowsky, is a reissue of the Apple records release from 1971 (apparently recorded at the request of John Lennon, who was a big fan of the film) and not to be confused with the Shades of Joy release.

It sounds like Jodorowsky does a great job of creating music that is needed for the scene. The music goes from standard film score sounds to spaghetti western horns to south of the border oompah march music to even some jazz. Basically, a little something instrumental for most people.

If you want to do a pairing, maybe Genesis’ The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. Peter Gabriel has claimed the movie was an inspiration for the album…

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