MEDIOCRAZIA

There are quite a few Italian bands that have emerged in recent years. One that bears close watching is Il Rumore Bianco, who released their debut EP in November 2013. Consisting of six excellent musicians, Il Rumore Bianco leave quite an impression, both in songwriting and execution.

"Mediocrazia" contains four songs, about 28 minutes long--actually, close to the length of several of the classic RPI releases from the 1970s! The compositions are very good and the playing quite mature. Besides basing their roots of 1970s RPI, the band claims influences from jazz, electronic, and ambient music. For sure these are present, particularly jazz (in fact one can detect some Area at several points), especially in their intimate approach. They do not embrace a full symphonic sound often seen in 1970s RPI (think "Zarathustra"), but rather prefer a closer, gentler style. Not to say they don't rock, as the first song in particular has enough Hammond to make Jon Lord smile! But the overall style of their composition lends itself to close scrutiny as opposed to walls of sound.

The highlights for me are the first and last tracks, "Tutto un sogno" parts 1 and 2. The first part shows the harder side of the band, with lots of guitars and Hammond, as well as some sweeping synths. The second part is like the other side of the coin, very ambient and evocative, brooding even, in the use of sax and keys (including mellotron). The songwriting is quite mature, especially given that this is a debut. Too often, young bands suffer from poor vocals--that is certainly not the case here, as the vocals are really quite impressive.

Don't let this one pass you by if you are even a casual RPI fan. Visit their bandcamp page (linked on the PA band page) and download the album. If you like it, order the hard copy.

Four stars!

Last year was quite a year for wonderful new EPs. This debut EP from Italian band Il Rumore Bianco (The White Noise) is no different. However, I will certainly say that their EP, "Mediocrazia" (Mediocracy), is perhaps the most complex and classy EP from the past year. This band combines a taste of the old and a bit of the new to create a sound that I'm actually quite excited to hear.

Il Rumore Bianco combines influences from the past, such as King Crimson, with more modern prog sounds, such as Porcupine Tree. Their 100% Italian vocals also help give away their obvious influence by the Italian prog scene, too, though it can also be found in their keyboard work. Honestly, this band's sound is a bit difficult to describe. It's a bit diverse. One track will feature a steel-hard, guitar-driven style of rock, while another will be led by eerie, funky saxophone. All the while, though, we are treated to some excellent keys that fill the atmosphere with class and maturity.

To be honest, the first track failed to grab my attention on my first listen. However, by the time I got to "Il Primo Attore", I was hooked on the surreal soundscape that this young band creates. It's interesting, fresh, and a little crazy at times. The album is often placid and mellow, and I think that's what I like most about it. I really prefer the sax-driven tracks, as they feel more experimental and have more personality.

In the end, Il Rumore Bianco definitely has tons of personality. They mix sounds without ever coming across as derivative or copycats. "Mediocrazia" has me excited for future LPs from this band. Check out the EP, as it is free on their bandcamp page.

Italian band IL RUMORE BIANCO is a young, recent and enthusiastic unit of musicians with a strong affection for progressive rock in general and the vintage oriented varieties of it in particular. They were formed in 2012, and released their first EP "Mediocrazia" in 2013 as a self released production through the Bandcamp website.

That this is a band that know their classic rock as well as progressive rock is easy to hear on opening piece Tutto on Sugno (Pt. I), a composition that opens in a Deep Purple sounding manner and then expands upon this initial foundation with psychedelic and jazz-oriented details in the nice and suitably theatrical manner many would expect from an Italian band that appears to navigate in vintage oriented landscapes. The more atmospheric laden Il Vestitio Buono expands their sound with an ominous sounding, cinematic tinge that for someone at my age gives rise to associations to a TV-series like Twin Peaks, with hard prog tendencies, psychedelic details very much present and some funky, jazzrock vibes thrown in for good measure.

The darker, more distinctly jazzrock oriented Il Primo Attore is the highlight for me however, here the band takes a step up in terms of creating an interesting, compelling and often haunting mood at least as I experience them, taking on both harder edged, dramatic instances and more delicate and fragile variations of a core jazzrock oriented expression successfully here. The EP then concludes with Totto Un Sogno (Pt. II), an almost epic length affair where the band explores their classic hard rock and progressive rock tendencies alongside their psychedelic tendencies quite nicely and then elevates the total experience by incorporating passages closer to the darker toned, haunting jazzrock tendencies more thoroughly explored in the preceding creation.

In sum an EP that range between the pleasant and the compelling, documenting a band that are highly familiar with vintage era classic rock and progressive rock, and at least as far as I'm concerned at their most successful when exploring darker sounding material with an emphasis on jazzrock using piano, organ and saxophone as the dominant instruments.

From the ashes of Side C and on the initiative of Thomas Pessina, Michele Zanotti and Alessandro Danzi, in 2012 came to life a new band named Il Rumore Bianco that by the end of 2013 self-released an interesting EP entitled "Mediocrazia" with a line up featuring Eddy Fiorio (vocals, synth), Michele Zanotti (guitars, sax), Federico Lonardi (guitars), Thomas Pessina (keyboards, synth, vocals), Alessandro Danzi (bass) and Umberto Sartori (drums). According to their Facebook page, although the main source of inspiration is certainly progressive rock, Il Rumore Bianco (the name means White Noise) tried to shape a particular and personal style drawing also on jazz, electronic, ambient and post-rock and in my opinion the result is really good...

"Mediocrazia" is a kind of mini concept album dealing with social and introspective themes that starts with "Tutto un sogno (Parte I)" (All A Dream, Part I), a track describing in music and words the crises of a man crushed by the daily grind, unsatisfied and downhearted, who tries to find an escape in alcohol and pills and wishes to go through his looking-glass, a bit like Alice in Wonderland, to see what lies beyond his nightmares...

Next comes the melancholic "Il vestito buono" (The Sunday dress) that tells about the efforts of the protagonist to write a letter to his ex-girlfriend who left him in the middle of his personal crises, leaving him alone, prisoner of his doubts and of his lack of self-esteem...

The introspective, nervous "Il primo attore" (The first actor) describes in words and music the reflections of the protagonist who slowly becomes aware of his condition and feels the need to change. He realizes that he lost the right way and got trapped in the perverted logic of false myths and conformism. Now he feels like a baby who wakes up to be catapulted from his world of dreams full of expectations into a dull reality...

The long, complex "Tutto un sogno (Parte II)" ends the EP. The atmosphere is ethereal and dreamy. In the abstract world of his dreams the protagonist feels confident and at ease, he does not have to tell lies to survive pretending to be what he's not. He would like to remain in this world where he can set free his imagination but... He's aware that as soon as the dream will melt away he'll be again a slave of reality. He closes his eyes because he knows that tomorrow is going to be another gloomy day...

On the whole, a good work that deserves a try! You can listen to the complete EP on bandcamp...