PICCHIO DAL POZZO

Picchio Dal Pozzo´s debut album is a really great Canterbury prog rock album. They prove here that Italians can make Canterbury prog rock with style. This is really a great surprise for me as I had never heard of Picchio Dal Pozzo before.

When listening to the album it doesn´t take long before you recognize the Canterbury jazzy prog rock style. I also hear traces of Zappa in the sax playing, but it is only traces. The music is mostly instrumental, but there are some strange vocal performances in some of the songs. Shrieks and noises mostly, but it sounds great.

The album starts with the two great instrumentals ( well almost) Merta and Cocomelastico which are really great songs. Especially Cocomelastico is a favorite of mine with the fantastic keyboard flowing through that song. The rest of the album continues much in the same style with pleasant and intriguing keyboards, sax and flute playing. Really pleasant but intricate enough to be called prog rock. The song Seppia stands out from the rest as it is a bit longer and a little more repetitive than the rest of the songs. It´s a very great song though.

The level of musicianship is very high, and it´s always enjoyable to listen to music where you can hear that the musicians are having fun while playing.

The sound quality is beyong great on the album. I would say it is one of the best productions I have heard from a Canterbury band. Really pleasant and with all instruments clearly visible in the soundscape. I really enjoy the many rather spacy keyboard sounds and the way they are produced. It´s a real treat.

This album is an excellent Canterbury prog rock album and deserves 4 stars and given time I might even have to upgrade this one to 5. This one comes highly recommended to fans of the genre. Curious prog heads who normally wouldn´t be excited about Canterbury should give this a try as I think it is instantly likable and worth a try.