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Andrea Cortese View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Andrea Cortese Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 02 2010 at 14:06
^^^
 
I have the follow up Fiaba (the vinyl magic edition), Not particoluraly impressive and so I avoided  the debut.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Andrea Cortese Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 02 2010 at 14:07
^^^
 
I have the follow up Fiaba (the vinyl magic edition), Not particularly impressive and so I avoided  the debut.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Andrea Cortese Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 02 2010 at 14:07
^^^
 
I have the follow up Fiaba (the vinyl magic edition), Not particularly impressive and so I avoided  the debut.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Andrea Cortese Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 02 2010 at 14:09
... what the...?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Todd Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 02 2010 at 14:11
^ You must feel very strongly about that!  LOL
 
I like Frontiera a good bit better than Fiaba.  The debut is more guitar oriented with some mellotron.  It's much more melodic and better written.  I do like Fiaba, but it doesn't grab me like Frontiera.  It's a completely different band lineup, and if it weren't for Gianfranco Gaza's vocals (which I personally love!) you'd never think they were the same band.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Nightfly Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 02 2010 at 14:32
^ I like them both, quite different of course but I'm hard pushed to pick a favourite.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Finnforest Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 02 2010 at 14:40
I also think they did a wonderful job with the recent re-recorded combination album.  Clap
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Andrea Cortese Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 02 2010 at 15:14
Didn't hear that one neither.Embarrassed
 
But I'm enjoying Ivan Graziani's Ballata a lot...Smile
 
 
...thanks to your words I will give another chance to Frontiera...


Edited by Andrea Cortese - September 02 2010 at 15:18
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Todd Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 02 2010 at 15:23
^ Andrea, that sounds intriguing.  I'll have to look into it.
 
Incidentally, "Modra Rijeka" is one of my favorite albums.  I have really enjoyed getting into ex-Yugo and Czech Republic bands like Indexi, Korni Grupa, Leb i Sol, Smak, Blue Effect, Progres 2, Synkopy, Bohemia, Ota Petrina . . . I see similarities between these Eastern European bands and many Italian bands from the 1970s.  There's a lot of emotion, combination of local elements, strong melodies, mildly complex compositions, raw but excellent musicianship, lack of support/professional production, etc.  I also think the Eastern European prog scene is even less well-known than the Italian scene.  It seems to me that many if not most RPI fans would really love a lot of these bands.  What do you think?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Andrea Cortese Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 02 2010 at 15:29
^^^
 
It's a singer-songwriter album, Todd, so not a pure RPI record. All in all very similar sound and atmosphere, though. Sometimes you hear the Orme's baroque and light sound of the late seventies, some other, Osanna or Perigeo.
 
But all in a pop souce and format (short tracks).
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Andrea Cortese Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 02 2010 at 15:36
Originally posted by Todd Todd wrote:

^ Andrea, that sounds intriguing.  I'll have to look into it.
 
Incidentally, "Modra Rijeka" is one of my favorite albums.  I have really enjoyed getting into ex-Yugo and Czech Republic bands like Indexi, Korni Grupa, Leb i Sol, Smak, Blue Effect, Progres 2, Synkopy, Bohemia, Ota Petrina . . . I see similarities between these Eastern European bands and many Italian bands from the 1970s.  There's a lot of emotion, combination of local elements, strong melodies, mildly complex compositions, raw but excellent musicianship, lack of support/professional production, etc.  I also think the Eastern European prog scene is even less well-known than the Italian scene.  It seems to me that many if not most RPI fans would really love a lot of these bands.  What do you think?
 
 
 
If you listen to the great Sta Bi Dao Da Si Na Mom Mjestu, the wonderful 1975's Bijelo Dugme album it's easy to notice that Goran Bregovic stayed in Italy (Neaples) some years before forming the band... the closer seems build up on a neapolitan aria...
 
Lots of emotion, indeed.
 
But yugoslavian prog is more jazzy and dry than the italian. Not everybody's cup of tea.
 
Some bands looked then at the italian musical scene and also came to record (Korny Groupa for instance).


Edited by Andrea Cortese - September 02 2010 at 15:37
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Todd Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 02 2010 at 15:37
^ I really love those singer-songwriter albums, many of which may not be quite prog, as you describe.  One of my favorites in that vein is Ciro Dammicco's album "Mittente."  So I'd love to investigate Graziani's "Ballatta."
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Andrea Cortese Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 02 2010 at 15:40
sure you'd like.Wink
 
it's not his most famous album, though. But it has to be the one with stronger RPI appeal. Agnese, Pigro and Lupi are their best selling. I will check them deeper.
 
Graziani made 10 albums and died at 51.


Edited by Andrea Cortese - September 02 2010 at 15:41
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Todd Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 02 2010 at 15:45
Originally posted by Andrea Cortese Andrea Cortese wrote:

sure you'd like.Wink
 
it's not his most famous album, though. But it has to be the one with stronger RPI appeal. Agnese, Pigro and Lupi are their best selling. I will check them deeper.
 
Graziani made 10 albums and died at 51.
 
Well, sometimes that's a plus!  Gian Pieretti's album that we just added is probably his least well-known.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Todd Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 02 2010 at 15:47
Originally posted by Andrea Cortese Andrea Cortese wrote:

Originally posted by Todd Todd wrote:

^ Andrea, that sounds intriguing.  I'll have to look into it.
 
Incidentally, "Modra Rijeka" is one of my favorite albums.  I have really enjoyed getting into ex-Yugo and Czech Republic bands like Indexi, Korni Grupa, Leb i Sol, Smak, Blue Effect, Progres 2, Synkopy, Bohemia, Ota Petrina . . . I see similarities between these Eastern European bands and many Italian bands from the 1970s.  There's a lot of emotion, combination of local elements, strong melodies, mildly complex compositions, raw but excellent musicianship, lack of support/professional production, etc.  I also think the Eastern European prog scene is even less well-known than the Italian scene.  It seems to me that many if not most RPI fans would really love a lot of these bands.  What do you think?
 
 
 
If you listen to the great Sta Bi Dao Da Si Na Mom Mjestu, the wonderful 1975's Bijelo Dugme album it's easy to notice that Goran Bregovic stayed in Italy (Neaples) some years before forming the band... the closer seems build up on a neapolitan aria...
 
Lots of emotion, indeed.
 
But yugoslavian prog is more jazzy and dry than the italian. Not everybody's cup of tea.
 
Some bands looked then at the italian musical scene and also came to record (Korny Groupa for instance).
 
Yes, that's true, there is a much stronger overall jazz feel to those bands.  Even the more symphonic ones like Synkopy definitely have jazz stylings.
 
Bijelo Dugme is probably the biggest Yugo band I haven't heard yet.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Finnforest Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 02 2010 at 15:59
Nice job with this one Andrea!

 Profondo Rosso O.S.T. by GOBLIN album cover Studio Album, 1975
3.90 | 27 ratings

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Profondo Rosso O.S.T.
Goblin Rock Progressivo Italiano

Review by andrea
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5 stars Goblin were formed in Rome in 1974. The line up on their debut album, released in 1975, featured Massimo Morante (guitar, vocals), Claudio Simonetti (keyboards), Fabio Pignatelli (bass) and Walter Martino (drums, percussion) who replaced original drummer Carlo Bordini. All the members of the band had previously militated in other acts like Oliver, Il Ritratto di Dorian Gray and Seconda Generazione that never had the chance to record an album. The turning point of Goblin's career was the meeting with film director Dario Argento who recruited them for the soundtrack of "Profondo rosso" (Deep Red), one of his most successful films.

Murders, blood, mystery but also music and humour are some of the ingredients of this extraordinary thriller that tells the story of an English musician, Marcus Daly (interpreted by David Hemmings) who, after he witnessed the murder of a famous psychic, gets involved in the crime investigations teaming up with a female reporter. Actually, the soundtrack was initially commissioned to Italian jazz musician Giorgio Gaslini but he didn't fulfil his task (in that period he was involved in other projects) and the band managed to complete it with excellent results. The music perfectly fits the scenes on the screen adding tension and rhythm to dialogues and images. Both film and score were extremely successful and the name of the band became indelibly associated with this thriller and its strong colours.

Both film and album begin with the notes of the dark and hypnotic title track, by far the best known Goblin's piece. The album is completely instrumental but images can be even stronger than words... If you haven't seen the film try to imagine a cradle tumbling down, a rag doll tortured with pins, some strange direful puppets, then marbles, knives and daggers, a single eye watching you... A face reflected in a pool of blood, deep red! "Sometimes what you really see and what you imagine mix up in your memory like a cocktail and you can't distinguish the different flavours anymore...".

Next track "Death Dies" is more aggressive and in the film is associated with scenes of murders. Flashing blades and leather gloves in action, stains of blood and gloomy puppets come to mind while music flows nervous and tense...

"Mad Puppet" could remind of Mike Oldfield's "Tubular Bells" and it's a perfect background for the exploration of a villa haunted by ghosts and gloomy souvenirs or for the visit in a desert school in the middle of the night while a psychopathic murderer is lurking...

"Wild Session" begins with sound effects and the wind blowing. There is a presence... "I feel like a blade entering in my flesh...". An evil thought is still hanging in the room when rhythm takes off on the notes of a haunting piano pattern...

"Deep Shadows" is disquieting and dark. It features peculiar percussive patterns and many changes of rhythm. Stop and listen to, let your imagination drive you through a corridor full of mirrors and strange paintings... Then imagine to climb on the wall of a mysterious house looking for a missing window... It's dark, you risk to fall down, be cautious while moving like a clumsy acrobat, there's a threatening presence observing what you're doing...

Last two tracks were composed by Giorgio Gaslini and feature orchestral arrangements. "School At Night" is a nursery rhyme that in the film is linked to the perverted mind of a serial killer. "Gianna" is light and romantic and in the film is associated to the character of female journalist Gianna Brizzi. A good way to conclude a 30 minutes ride on the edge of folly.

Goblin's debut album was not only successful but also very influential on the whole Italian music scene... A must for every Italianprog lover! By the way, the re-release on CD features unreleased tracks coming out from the film score and from the sessions...


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Andrea Cortese Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 02 2010 at 16:07
^^^
 
a classic!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Andrea Cortese Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 03 2010 at 17:02
I agree with andrea speaking of Mike Oldfield's sparse hints (Tubular Bells in particular) in the music of Goblin (Profondo Rosso in particular).
 
Same thoughts I had.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Nightfly Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 03 2010 at 17:11
Vault Pick: One of my own......
 
 Passaggi by FILORITMIA album cover Studio Album, 2009
4.50 | 2 ratings

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Passaggi
Filoritmia Rock Progressivo Italiano

Review by Nightfly
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4 stars After a gap of nine years, Italian's Filoritmia have got round to releasing their second album Passaggi. Unfortunately I haven't heard their first album so can't make comparisons to musical development etc. However what I can say is I'm very impressed with this Milanese five piece; enough to consider tracking down a copy of their debut. Strong vocals sung in Italian are complimented by very competent musicianship from all players involved and mature songwriting.

From the powerful opening track, Colla e Gesso it would appear we're in for a heavy rock, seventies style album with its powerful guitar riffing, pleasing Hammond organ and solid rhythm section. It doesn't take long however to realise that Filoritmia have more up their sleeves as they move through varying themes while maintaining the overall power of the song. Senza Sale confirms this being a more diverse piece and while it contains a heavier mid section is overall a more reflective track over its eight and half minutes. The instrumental Non E Festa seems to be a nod to fellow countrymen PFM taking its cue from their song E Festa.

L'uomo Che Torna is the most diverse track yet as it shifts from delicate light and shade into powerful riffing and an acoustic guitar driven finale overlaid with tastefully melodic soloing, the band proving they have the musical chops to deal with subtle textures as well as the heavier rocking moments. Godo continues the trend of shifting and inventive rhythms and starts as one of the heavier tracks until a piano led section shifts things down a couple of gears before moving into a lengthy guitar solo.

Il Sogno Del Fotografo has them in a more playful mood with a lighter feel and complex rhythmic patterns that never sit still. Halfway the mood changes into a piano led section with a darker feel. Questo returns to heavy rock territory and while it's decent enough is not one of the best tracks.

They save the longest for last with the ten minute Manifesto. Starting with the heaviest riff on the album it moves into an enthralling guitar dominated instrumental section and after a short return to vocals it's into more dynamic instrumental work.

With Passaggi, Filoritmia have come up trumps with a pleasing album of heavy prog, and while they are placed in the RPI genre here on PA, their music transcends such barriers and is likely to have a broader appeal to prog fans who don't usually listen to Italian prog.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Finnforest Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 03 2010 at 22:36
Nice review Paul, that's one I'd like to hear someday.  Smile
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