COFFEE IN NEUKÖLLN

Wow, if there was ever an album where the cover totally gave me a wrong impression about what the music would be like, Barock Project's Coffee in Neukolln is that album. The title Coffee in Neukolln, combined with a picture of three normal looking dudes walking down the street in a black and white photo gave about as much of an impression of 'generic pop album' as an album cover could possibly give. However, it didn't take more than a few seconds to realize that my mind was going to get blown, as the album kicked off with "Back to You," providing really great sounding synths performing awesome folky prog. These guys are all over the map in terms of giving you a variety of music, delivering great bits of folk, classical, jazz, modern, and classic prog. The thing that stands out isn't so much that Barock Project breaks any new ground (they don't), but they push take the level of perfection in composition and enjoyability up several notches. Just about every moment of this album is a gem. Every melody is incredibly enjoyable, every performance, from vocals to keyboards, kicks my butt with the perfect combination of tastefulness and skill, combining the proggy pretentiousness with accessible vocals and melodies in a way that really grabbed. It came to no surprise when I found out that Luca Zabbini has undergone many years of music and composition studies. All I can say is that you should seriously check this album out!

Though it does have some beautiful moments - like the moving Kyrie - I find that the vocals on Barock Project's Coffee In Neukölln to be a consistent stumbling point. Luca Pancaldi's performance is competent but not exceptional at the best of times, at other points ending up rather jarring; it doesn't help that the lyrics tend to be rather pedestrian and that the music often steps back and goes rather simplistic when the vocals come in. It's all rather nicely polished, but the end product feels calculated and somehow fakey to me, a product manufactured for someone who isn't me. Competent, but doesn't snare the soul.