BATH SALTS

Claudio Milano and Nichelodeon return in a glorious fashion with the double CD offering entitled Bath Salts. Some people will say this is very apt title, as to conceive music like this one would have to be on bath salts, or some other wild, unnatural, hallucinatory drug. Other people will say that's the only way to enjoy such outside work. Still other people will be able to enjoy something like this and be captivated by its evolution, its depth, its development, its scope, and its fine attention to audio detail. I would fall into this last category.

The first thing that is clearly noticeable just after starting the CD is the wondrous production work on display here. Nichelodeon have always been a band of subtlety. Nuances are buried deep within the sonic architecture of each piece. Needless to say, having poor production in an instance like this would be akin to a death knell to the creative aspects explored in such projects. The sound is warm, inviting, all encompassing, and never faltering throughout both CDs. The second element that jumped out at me, is the sheer amount of studio/electronic trickery and manipulation that went into this work. Seemingly every cog in the wheel gets processed in some way at some point of the show. Some might say it's a bit overdone, but it fits perfected with the mood of the music and almost gives a futuristic edge to the overall project. (As a note, I am a huge fan of when musicians utilize the studio, almost as an instrument, so my enthusiasm for such deployments may not be universally shared or supported as such.)

Musically, this album is a virtual tapestry of emotions and atmospheres. Bath Salts runs the gamut from dreamy to silly to ominous to meditative to playful to sacred to expressionistic to mischievous to melancholic to mysterious to calming without ever feeling forced or campy or unnecessary. As Nichelodeon's previous work, the clear star of the show is Claudio Milano and his impressive, ever invasive vocals. These vocals are supported by a myriad of instrumental accompaniments...tinkling pianos, percolating percussions, stark woodwinds, slick yet chaotic electronics, and classically laced strings. In fact, it is difficult to say which instruments get the lead, as they all tend to be used fairly equally in this musical undercurrent. Harps mesh with cellos, while pianos and synths bubble up, all the which is being supported by ever-turning percussives (with Claudio's voice flowing like a strong river atop). For me, this is when the album works best, when all the elements are working together to create another world of sound exploration. This is best personified by tracks like Rapporto sulla Fine di una Storia , 7 AZIONI - Musica per la Carne, and L'Urlo ritrovato. Still though, this is a vocal showcase at its core with one of the best and most expressive vocalists in the game today. The full range of vocal utterances are on display here, 'standard' singing, experimental sound generation, sputtering, crooning, chanting, multilayered colleges, whispering, and general derangements...all which occur in a tremendous octave range. And finally, it must be said that if there is a story being displayed through the use of all these vocals it is lost of this reviewer whose knowledge of the Italian language is quite subpar. However, this allows me to appreciate the vocals on a purely musical level (which is how I prefer vocals to be) and is probably a plus, as I'm sure this is must more of the intent of the project than the standard 'telling a story' or 'relaying poetry' use of the voice.

All in all, this is a very solid album. Its main drawback to me is it's length. This is a two CD set that lasts for over 105 minutes. While the moods and atmospheres are ever changing, the approach and execution is very constant throughout the album (especially in terms of tempos), which at times does get overwhelming (or underwhelming depending on how you want to look at it). Also, there are a few pieces that get a bit too instrumentally submissive to really satisfy my ears. Additionally, for the purposes of this website, the rock element is usually not present, and when it does break through it doesn't last for long. All that said, for those aurally adventurous this is certainly an album to seek out. Nichelodeon was never one to play it safe or stay inside a certain box. This album does brave the waters on the fringes of avant-garde (at it's most extreme) yet still provides comforting melodies and traditional musical instruments and modes (at it's least extreme). Is this destined to become a classic of outside music? It is certainly possible, but only time will tell with such things. Fans of modern avant-garde music and extreme voice albums will find plenty to enjoy on Bath Salts. Strict fans of neo-prog or more standardized rock will find this to be unlistenable noise (even though there are parts that are clearly hummable/memorable). On my personal scale this is a solid 3.5, which I will round down for PA. A strong 3 stars.

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