ALLA FIERA DELL'EST

Nice little folk record. A soft side of prog-folk, or even Italian prog, this one won't struck you as a very complex or technical or even daring or such similar nonsense, but it might haunt you for Branduardi's calm, declamative voice, concise and charming musical ideas and above all, the lyrics: it's nice to recognize Branduardi's philosophical approach - for example in a tune that tells a story about an old and tired man taking a nap under the tree, while on the other side of tree there was a butterfly, also sleeping. During their sleep, the old man was dreaming he was a butterfly, and a butterfly was dreaming he was an old men. A pure zen.

That might be a problem - if you're not abble to appreciate the lyrics, you'll be missing a lot - a mystical, numerlogical, almost alchemical 'La serie dei numeri' and simple and incredible 'Alla fiera dell'est' , which is, actually, exploating an old form of the poem or a story, often present in European folklore(s): a mouse, a cat that ate the mouse, a dog that attacked a cat, a man that beaten a dog, a weapon that wounded a man..et cetera ad infinitum. Such a form is often a jawbreaker - I remember a similar one performed by a Italian folk ensemble VIOLAN while they were opening for JETHRO TULL on their Italian tour in 1997...

The music is mostly acoustic folk with renaissance overtones and prog rock ornaments. If you want a clue about a level of complexity/minstrelism, then PENTANGLE's Cruel Sister is a good reference point although this one sounds much less Celtic and much more...Italian (Branduardi even covered a PENTANGLE's song The Trees They Do Grow High, but that's another story.

A fine little Italian prog folk album. Worth half a star more...

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