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A journey through the Italianprog scene |
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andrea 
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Joined: May 20 2005 Location: Italy Status: Offline Points: 2064 |
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 Posted: August 18 2010 at 08:32 |
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LOST TALES REDISCOVERED...
LOST TALES are a band from Venezia (see post #1 on this blog) that have been active since 1989. The line up features Andrea Simonetto (keyboards, vocals), Paolo Cordella (drums), Stefano Berti (guitar) and Giorgio Fontanella (bass). They had the chance to release only one album so far, “A volo radente” (1999) for the independent label Mellow Records. However the band is still active...
The band is not listed on PA (not yet) but their music has been clearly influenced by historic Italianprog bands like Le Orme and BMS. You can watch a 35’ min. Lost Tales’ live performance, clicking on this link: UNOTV Indie Music Web TV - Lost Tales - Live 2010
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andrea
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Joined: May 20 2005 Location: Italy Status: Offline Points: 2064 |
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Posted: August 17 2010 at 07:48 |
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SOUNDS FROM A DESERT LIBRARY
LA BIBLIOTECA DESERTA come from Puglia (see post #2 on this blog). After two demos and many troubles (included the theft of all their instruments after a concert near Napoli in 2009) they have finally released a first full length album for the independent label Faro Records, “Travelling Without Gravity”, 46 minutes of instrumental post-rock featuring ethereal psychedelic sounds and spacey atmospheres...
More info about the band:
You can purchase the album from UFO Solar UFO SHOP - CD (physical copy) or from digital stores like amazon or iTunes Edited by andrea - August 17 2010 at 07:50 |
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andrea
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Joined: May 20 2005 Location: Italy Status: Offline Points: 2064 |
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Posted: August 15 2010 at 02:34 |
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JUST ANOTHER BAND FROM ROME...
NUOVE OFFICINE RUMORI come from the Eternal City and blend indie-rock with prog influences...
More info:
Edited by andrea - December 27 2010 at 16:39 |
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andrea
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Joined: May 20 2005 Location: Italy Status: Offline Points: 2064 |
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Posted: August 13 2010 at 14:44 |
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HEAVY PSYCHEDELIC EXPERIMENTS FROM PIEMONTE...
UFOMAMMUT come from Tortona, in the Province of Alessandria, and have been active since 1999. They have just released a new concept album featuring only a long suite in five parts, “Eve”. You can listen to the complete album in streaming clicking HERE
More info about the band:
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andrea
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Joined: May 20 2005 Location: Italy Status: Offline Points: 2064 |
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Posted: August 10 2010 at 11:56 |
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ECHOES FROM THE LAKE...
DAMA DEL LAGO are an emerging band from Capua, a town in the Province of Caserta (see second post on this blog) and their name means Lady of the Lake.
After a period of hard studio work the band managed to record a debut album called “Echi d’acqua” (Echoes of water) under Creative Commons licence. Although the band defines it as an EP its full length (about 32 minutes) is the same of many albums released in the seventies... You can listen to the album from the band’s MySpace and legally download it for free from HERE (just scroll down the page to find the link). Have a try! I’m sure you’ll don’t waste your time...
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andrea
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Joined: May 20 2005 Location: Italy Status: Offline Points: 2064 |
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Posted: August 08 2010 at 15:01 |
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ANOTHER BAND FROM ROMAGNA
BUTTERED BACON BISCUITS come from the Province of Forlì-Cesena and if you like bands like WICKED MINDS (MySpace) you should find some interest in their music...
You can listen in streaming to their debut album “From the Solitary Woods” from HERE
More info:
Edited by andrea - December 27 2010 at 16:38 |
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andrea
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Joined: May 20 2005 Location: Italy Status: Offline Points: 2064 |
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Posted: August 05 2010 at 08:31 |
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MORE PROG FROM ROMAGNA...
UNA VOLTA ERAVAMO IN SETTE come from Forlì and have just released an album that should be of interest for Italianprog lovers, “La ballata del vecchio marinaio”
It’s available in free legal download... Just click HERE
More info about the band:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Una-Volta-Eravamo-In-Sette/179491870989
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andrea
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Joined: May 20 2005 Location: Italy Status: Offline Points: 2064 |
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Posted: August 01 2010 at 09:37 |
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MORE PROG FROM LOMBARDIA...
NICHELODEON are an experimental band from Milano. They have just released their second album for the independent label Lizard Records (MySpace). The title of the album is “Il gioco del silenzio” and you can listen to it in streaming... Just click HERE
More info about the band:
Edited by andrea - December 27 2010 at 16:38 |
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Finnforest
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Honorary Collaborator Joined: February 03 2007 Location: The Heartland Status: Offline Points: 16913 |
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Posted: July 31 2010 at 14:50 |
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I really enjoyed that old Showmen 2 album, one of those very deep deep goodies.
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andrea
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Joined: May 20 2005 Location: Italy Status: Offline Points: 2064 |
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Posted: July 31 2010 at 14:34 |
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NAPOLI CENTRALE
James Senese, Napoli Centrale’s leader is still active and is keeping alive the band with a new line up...
If you don’t know who are Napoli Centrale... Well, Napoli Centrale were formed in Naples in 1974 on the initiative of James Senese (sax, vocals) and Franco Del Prete (drums) after their experience in another band called the Showmen 2. They joined forces with American keyboardist Mark Harris and British bassist Tony Walmsley and in 1975 released an eponymous debut album blending in an original way Mediterranean roots and jazz rock. The first album of the band is should be a must for every Italianprog lover...
James Senese’s father was an American soldier who had been working in the base of Naples and his mother was a Neapolitan girl, perhaps that’s why the fusion between Afro-American music and Neapolitan folklore sounds so natural and authentic in the band’s output. Franco Del Prete committed lyrics in Neapolitan dialect add a touch of colour contributing to express what’s an almost a tribal rage. They perfectly fit the music composed by James Senese where you can find influences ranging from Weather Report and Miles Davis to Osanna.
The opener “Campagna” (Countryside) begins softly with a short intro featuring shy flutes notes... Then the rhythm section starts pulsing while vocals describe in a caustic way how “beautiful” is the countryside. Lyrics depicts the miserable life of the farm labourers, exploited by their greedy employers... “Countryside / How beautiful is the country... But it is more beautiful for the landlord!”. The rhythm is full of energy and James Senese’s draws fiery sax passages under a midday sun. This track was released also as a single and was quite successful in Italy. An absolutely unexpected result for such kind of song!
“’A gente ’e Bucciano” (The people from Bucciano) is a long track featuring jazz and funky influences and obstinate drum patterns. Bucciano is a village in the province of Caserta and the song is about the workers that had to emigrate from the countryside of South Italy to the industrial cities of the North. “Hunger is stronger than the love for the countryside... And now the people of Bucciano live in the North and work in the factories / Where they throw away blood and health...Why? Why? Why?”. Well, the answer is rather venomous and caustic... “Because the Pope is not the King!”.
The instrumental “Pensione Floridiana” (Guest-house Floridiana) is the shortest track on the album. It’s more relaxed, almost dreamy. It leads to evocative “Viecchie, mugliere, muorte e criaturi” (Old women, wives, dead and little children), another excellent long track dealing with the issue of emigration. Music and lyrics depicts a village where all the men are gone to work elsewhere, far away. What’s left is a desolated place where you can’t find no one but old women, wives, dead, little children, crippled men or skinny and hungry dogs. The atmosphere is dark and the rhythm almost hypnotic but the result is intense and dramatic.
The instrumental “Vico Primo Parise n. 8” is lighter. It features a powerful jazz rock veined of funky where keyboards and sax perfectly interact with the rhythm section. Vocals here are used as an instrument adding touches of colour all along the way. According to some sources, the title is the address of the house where Napoli Centrale’s leader James Senese was born, in the district of Miano in Naples.
The last track “’O lupo s’ha mangiato ’a pecurella” (The wolf has eaten the little sheep) features a strong folkloric flavour. It seems to have been conceived as the soundtrack of a film. It begins softly, you have to shut your eyes and try to guess what’s going on... Narrow streets, shadows moving along the walls... Then you can hear someone who is laughing, some other sarcastically comments that the wolf has eaten the little sheep... Many voices of men and women, the sounds of a market... “Don’t worry / Take it easy and sleep in peace...”.
This album has been extremely influential on the music scene of Naples and should be considered as essential in an Italianprog collection. It is usually considered the cornerstone of a whole new music subgenre very popular during the eighties and called “Neapolitan Power”, featuring artists like Pino Daniele, Tullio De Piscopo, Enzo Avitabile and others. A kind of world music mixing blues and Mediterranean roots...
More info:
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Finnforest
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Honorary Collaborator Joined: February 03 2007 Location: The Heartland Status: Offline Points: 16913 |
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Posted: July 28 2010 at 11:40 |
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Great profile Andrea.....you know I LOVE Ianva! |
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andrea
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Joined: May 20 2005 Location: Italy Status: Offline Points: 2064 |
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Posted: July 28 2010 at 11:21 |
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IANVA
Ianva were formed in 2003 on the initiative of vocalist Mercy (former member of bands like Il Segno del Comando, Malombra and Helden Rune) and guitarist Argento (see first post in this thread). They gathered around them musicians coming out from different experiences (from classical to prog) and started to work on a concept album telling a story settled in 1920 in Fiume, when to city was occupied by rebellious troops lead by poet and adventurer Gabriele d'Annunzio.
The excellent debut album “Disobbedisco!” was released in 2006, followed in 2007 by an EP, “Occidente”, containing a very personal version of The Strawbs’ “The Battle”, here settled during World War I and featuring brand new Italian lyrics.
After some line up changes, in 2009 was released by the independent label Antica Fonografia Il Levriero “Italia: Ultimo Atto”, another excellent concept album where the band revisit some dark and controversial episodes of recent Italian history. On this second full length work the line up features Mercy (vocals), Stefania T. D’Alterio (vocals), Fabio Gremo (nylon string guitar, backing vocals), Fabio Carfanga (acoustic and electric guitar, backing vocals), Francesco La Rosa (drums, percussion), Giuseppe Spanò (piano, backing vocals), Azoth (bass), Roby Nappo Calcagno (trumpet and Davide La Rosa (bandoneon, percussion, backing vocals). The overall sound is enriched by many guest musicians like, among others, former member Argento (backing vocals on “Bora”) and Elisa Montaldo, keyboardist of a very interesting emerging band called Il Tempio Delle Clessidre (Indian harmonium, calliope and mellotron). Musical influences range from prog to neo-folk, from Jacques Brel and Fabrizio De André to Ennio Morricone and Armando Trovajoli... Anyway it would be unfair considering this album only from a musical point of view. Ianva’s music is always tightly linked to lyrics and it’s conceived just as a way to underline what the band try to express all along this complex album, providing colours and evoking emotions.
The opener “Prologo” (Prologue) features an evocative piano pattern and recitative vocals that sound like a gloomy prophecy... “The future is impending and apocalyptic, children are torn away from the resemblance with their fathers and thrown towards a future that, although keeping the troubles and the miseries of the present, will be different because of something immense and dark...”. The words have been taken from the “Lutheran Letters” by Pier Paolo Pasolini (Italian poet, film director and committed intellectual linked to the left wing movements) and represent a warning about the dangers of the degeneration of the ancestral values. A question rises, what could happen as a consequence of the loss of “the honesty of the fathers and of the mothers” in the name of a “democratic anxiety” emphatically displayed? Next track “Dov’eri tu quel giorno” (Where were you on that day?) is more elaborated featuring dark choirs, strings and duelling trumpet and trombone... It’s a bitter criticism against the people who, after September 8th 1943, when the Italian army melted (well, about this subject I suggest to watch a beautiful film by Luigi Comencini, starring Alberto Sordi, “Tutti a casa - Everybody Go Home” - YouTube), hurried up to help the allies jumping on the bandwagon with the winners forgetting what they were doing until the day before... Where were they on the day when Mussolini asked from his balcony in Piazza Venezia (YouTube) “Do you want bread or guns”? They were singing in the choir and now... “On a new score / You move your mouth / One cycle is over / It’ time for the next...”.
“Galleria delle Grazie” is about the bombardment on Genoa in Autumn 1942, a time when Italy was an “importer of Democracy”. In a air-raid shelter hundreds of women and children were killed. The track opens with the sound of an old love song coming out from a cracking record, then sounds of hooters and aircrafts dropping bombs... The atmosphere is dark and dramatic. Lyrics contain a strong criticism against the Italian partisans who let the lights on to make easier the destructive task of the allies and against the style of the “liberators” as well... “What style those liberators! / A rich people’s style, what kind of great gentlemen! / To hit half a barrack they smooth out six city districts...”. But a boy survives and emerges from the ruins with rebellious eyes...
“Negli occhi di un ribelle” (In the eyes of a rebel) opens with a marching beat and dreamy strings... “In the eyes of a rebel there are not only flames / That are lighted by rage, between indignation and condemn / There are fast passages of smiling ghosts as well / Like sunrays piercing through the clouds... In every civil war / Ideologies clash and come out that special breed of dreamers, romantics and fools / Fated to the grave or to the prison...”.
The short symphonic “La stagione di Caino” (The season of Cain) is about the civil war between partisans and Fascists, Italians against Italians protagonists of a bloody vendetta. I suggest to watch a film by Paolo and Vittorio Taviani, “La notte di San Lorenzo” (The Night Of The Shooting Stars - YouTube), to get the right mood for this track... All in all it’s conceived as film score!
“Luisa Ferida” is about an actress, Luisa Ferida, a star during the years of the Fascism, condemned to death by the CLN (The National Liberation Committee) although she was innocent and pregnant because she was reputed as a symbol of Fascism. Her last hours are described as through the lens of some cameras shooting a last film. But in the end here the cameras are nothing but the guns of the firing squad. “New score: an infamous role... No need for the truth... She is Luisa, Luisa Ferida... Look at her one more time when she’s alive / You are the cameraman who is going to frame her / It’s your turn... Read the charges / That’s your film!”. The theatrical vocals by Stefania T: D’Alterio here are absolutely great.
“Bora” is a gloomy ballad evoking a ghastly dance. Bora is the name of a strong wind that blows from North East upon Trieste and Istria... “I can hear the echoes of a celebration / They’re carried by the wind / In a while they will be here / They’re dancing the Kolo / No style nor decency but a great vitality / Doctrine supports hatred / They think that the right way to begin / Is erasing the tracks that history left on this land...”. In 1945 the Yugoslavian communist army lead by Tito occupied Trieste and Istria beginning an ideological and ethnical clearance... Recently the three presidents of Italia, Slovenia and Croatia attended a “reconciliation concert” in Trieste, featuring choir and orchestra composed by musicians coming from the three countries directed by Maestro Riccardo Muti, but for many people it’s still hard to deal with this subject.
“In compagnia dei lupi” (In wolves’ company) features another great theatrical performance by Stefania T. D’Alterio who this time plays the role of a maid in the service of influent and rich people. In 1952 during a party in a villa near Rome an “escort-girl” died because of an overdose of cocaine. Many politicians and influential people of the new Italian Republic took part to the party. The corpse was taken away and abandoned on the near shore, later the scandal was in some way smothered. The maid had to help to hide what happened... She wonders how long it will take to get rid of such a political class and for seeing them hanging on a rope, twenty years of Fascism in comparison will seem just a few months... “While we were coming back I was wondering / I’m in the wolves’ company...”. This track was inspired by a famous Italian scandal, the “Montesi Affair”.
“Cemento armato” (Reinforced concrete) deals with the period of the years of lead. It’s a very original and interesting track, no lyrics but slogans of opposed extremists mixed to police hooters and noises evoking the riots of the seventies set mood and... rhythm!
During the seventies in Italy terrorism stormed. Among the terrorists of the left wing and of right wing there were many girls. “Pasionaria” is a melancholic ballad dedicated to one of them. The music reminds of Fabrizio De André and of “Spaghetti Western” scores. A feeling of deep disdain towards the people that used to ride the rage of extremism the seventies and now pontificate shines through. “Remembering you makes me blood again...”.
“Piazza dei Cinquecento” is another dark track. It’s an elegy inspired by the murder of Pier Paolo Pasolini. It begins with a delicate acoustic guitar part, then strings come in while the soaring vocals of Stefania D’Alterio depict a rainy Italian Sunday in November... Well, it is strange such a kind of tribute to an intellectual of the left wing, even if atypical, coming from a band with a very different political point of view.
The introspective “L’estate dei silenzi” (The summer of the silences) is settled during the summer of 1980, the summer of the bomb attack in Bologna Railway Station (The Bologna bombing) and of the mysterious “accident” of an aircraft in the sky of Ustica... It describes the feelings of the protagonist when he received the news during his summer holiday on a beach in Tuscany.
The last track is the long and martial title track “Italia: Ultimo Atto” (Italy: Last Act), a venomous invective against the “normalization” of the eighties and nineties. The degradation of the values of Italian society is depicted as stronger than ever... “Void / You can’t stop to fall / Every time there is a lesser evil / That you have to swallow / Until the next one / The will be even worse...”. It’s normal then invoke a change and try to wake the sleeping consciences pushing them to reflect on the roots of the present... A great finale for a very bold album!
Last but not least, a word about the beautiful art work and packaging, featuring a 28 pages booklet full of pictures and containing commentaries to the lyrics. It’s an essential complement to the concept, almost a guide through some painful vortexes of the Italian collective memory...
More info about the band:
Official Website: http://www.illevriero.it/ianva/index-e.asp
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/ianva
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andrea
Prog Reviewer
Joined: May 20 2005 Location: Italy Status: Offline Points: 2064 |
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Posted: July 22 2010 at 04:56 |
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The article (first two posts of this blog) is full of hyperlinks that are part of it. All you have to do is click on the links to have pictures, samples, information about bands and Italian cities etc. Since the text is too "heavy" I can not update the article, so have a look at all the pages for more bands, info, videos, pictures etc...
Thanks
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andrea
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Joined: May 20 2005 Location: Italy Status: Offline Points: 2064 |
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Posted: July 22 2010 at 02:36 |
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LE ORME ARE NOT DEAD...
After the departure of Aldo Tagliapietra, drummer Michi Dei Rossi and keyboardist Michele Bon have kept the band alive with the help of other talented musicians... In these videos recently shot at one of their concerts, on 10th July 2010, you can listen to them. On vocals there’s Metamorfosi’s singer Jimmy Spitaleri who alternates with new bass player and singer Fabio Trentini. Former member Tolo Marton appears here as a guest musician on guitar...
Well, the quality of the videos is very far from perfect but at least they can give an idea of what’s going on...
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andrea
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Joined: May 20 2005 Location: Italy Status: Offline Points: 2064 |
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Posted: July 21 2010 at 13:36 |
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LOCANDA DELLE FATE REUNION
The quality of these videos is horrible, I know, but they’re the proof that Locanda delle Fate are still alive...
They will take part to progvention 2010, more info:
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andrea
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Joined: May 20 2005 Location: Italy Status: Offline Points: 2064 |
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Posted: July 19 2010 at 06:38 |
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MORE PROG FROM VENETO...
LE MASCHERE DI CLARA, interesting new experimental project from Verona...
 Info and samples:
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Finnforest
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Honorary Collaborator Joined: February 03 2007 Location: The Heartland Status: Offline Points: 16913 |
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Posted: July 18 2010 at 09:02 |
Indeed! Andrea's work on modern Italian prog is invaluable.  |
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AtomicCrimsonRush
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Honorary Collaborator Joined: July 02 2008 Location: Australia Status: Offline Points: 14258 |
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Posted: July 17 2010 at 08:52 |
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Fine prog here - keep it coming
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andrea
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Joined: May 20 2005 Location: Italy Status: Offline Points: 2064 |
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Posted: July 16 2010 at 13:01 |
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NEWS FROM THE GREY LAGOON
GREY LAGOON are a prog band from Rome (see post #2 on this blog). Their influences range from Canterbury to psychedelia and space rock. In 2006 they released their first self produced work, Syncretic...
At the moment they’re working on a new album dedicated to the memory of Hugh Hopper, “Valentine Days”, scheduled for October 2010 and featuring collaborations with Daevid Allen and Niels Van Hoorn.
A “pre-sale” offer is available... If you are interested, click HERE
More info about the band:
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andrea
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Joined: May 20 2005 Location: Italy Status: Offline Points: 2064 |
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Posted: July 15 2010 at 14:32 |
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FOLK JAZZ FROM PIEMONTE
FALAFEL PROJECT come from Cuneo and try to blend traditional sounds and jazz in an original and personal way. The line up features Silvio Orlandi (vocals, ghironda, hurdy gurdy), Vincenzo Corino (piano, keyboards), Elisa Aragno (vocals, flute, acoustic guitar), Ferruccio Battaglino (bass) and Manolo Carrone (drums). Sometimes Silvio Orlando and Elisa Aragno play also as a duo...
More info:
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AtomicCrimsonRush wrote: