UKIYOE - MONDI FLUTTUANTI (WITH INSONAR)

Claudio Milano has long brought his unique and impressive vocal talents to bear with two different bands, Nichelodeon and InSonar. In 2013 he took the radical new step of not just having both bands do double albums, but then packing them both together in a boxset. What we should have realised then was that he was about to have his two projects come together for a single album with a whole new vision for his music. "UKIYOE" is that album, a short but dynamite record that brings the two together for a strange, nautically minded collection of ever great tracks. As usual he nails his singing; here, he is reminiscent of Scott Walker on "Bish Bosch", but in Milano's case there is a concrete set of lyrics he wishes to share. As for the music, his bands pull out some great avant- prog, at once familiar yet wonderfully unique, and goes from there into even more different territory. On "Fi(J)uru D'Acqua", for instance, the initial beat sounds reminiscent of a dour electronic beat. And the strings, when they appear, really stick out. The sound runs from eldritch to beautiful, and Milano and his bands all do each perfectly. This is just plain an excellent and one of a kind avant-prog album. Highly recommended.