OTEME

1. "Chiudere quella porta" (3:10) opens with raspy old man's spoken words. Turns folk classical before a more traditional Euro-jazz element slips in to move the song forward. Otherwise, this is almost an avant choral piece. From the department of YUGEN or FACTOR BURZACO. A top three song for me. (9/10) 2. "E c'è qualcuno" (3:46) opens with middle aged woman speaking before acoustic guitar and double bass enter to provide the foundational sound for lone male singer and, later, elaborately constructed multi-voiced chordal weave. Flutes, clarinets, harp, vibes and other hand percussives all help fill the rich sonic field. Nice. (8.75/10)

3. "Un ricordo bello" (5:16) The sounds of either setting the dinner table or putting away the dishes in the kitchen sound while young woman speaks over the top. Vibes, organ, and lone female voice enter to sing over the continued sounds of dishes and silverware being manipulated. Clarinets, flute, and soloing classical guitar provide an instrumental middle before singer returns to finish. More FACTOR BURZACO reminders. (8.75/10)

4. "Dieci giorni" (6:29) metal ticking of a bedside alarm clock over which middle aged man speaks and then military-like countdown before drum rhythm and bowed double bass interplay take over. More instruments are gradually, singularly added to the weave--clarinets, harpsichord, harmonica, male and female singers, piano, harp, flute, even raunchy electric guitar, building and building over same six-measure rhythmic pattern. Then they're all equally systematically deconstructed to the closing explosion. (8.5/10)

5. "Gli angeli di san cataldo" (3:28) odd electronically-filtered percussive noises over which violin, classical guitar and flute play. There's a bit of tango or even Stephane Grappelli here. Harmonica joins. Spacious, discordant, tension- filled, and plain weird. (8/10)

6. "Quando la sera" (5:41) harp-supported choral display--were it not for the traditional instruments and syncopated rhythm structure (or un-structure) this could almost be a piece written for a liturgical reading. The banjo- and clarinet- supported center section contains the singing voice of a much younger female than we've heard before. More avant chromaticisms fill the spaces between the vocals. Intriguing. (9/10)

7. "Turni" (11:57) opens with the speech of a young woman. She is eventually joined by a background of what sounds like African field chanting--which then bleeds into the electro-rhythm-tracked musical weave of double bass, vibes, and organ. Lone male voice sings over this simple, spacious weave and is eventually joined by a woman--the two interacting as if in a conversation. It's actually quite beautiful.Though the music and main melody span the entire eleven minutes, it's quite hypnotic. Plus, there are plenty of "guest visitors" adding their ten cents along the way to make it interesting. Another top three song. (22.25/25)

8. "Una mamma disperata" (8:15) a pretty classical guitar chord progression is all that supports the main male singer's solo voce. At 0:48 more instruments and a whole host of other vocalists join in. The harp is especially interesting. Bass clarinet and harmonica--and, later, wild and reckless piano--take over in the instrumental passage between the second and third verses. At 3:28 the drummer begins to really mess with the rhythm--almost "forcing" the other instruments to fall away for his nearly two-minute solo. Then Stefano Giannotti and the male singer restart, the song replicating all it had done from the start only in a more condensed, faster fashion--leading to a festive folk-jazz jam before the scaled-down final verse. (17.5/20)

9. "Per i giorni a venire" (7:37) opens with the recorded speech of a wise woman before children's electric piano takes over at 0:40 to introduce the main chord progression and melody of the ensuing uptempo jazz song. This is really pretty! At the five minute mark everything kind of cuts out, disintegrates, for a chaotic "Also Sprach Zarathustra" kind of children's collaboration in cacophony. The harp and maybe the clarinet seem to be the only ones trying to keep it together. A top three song for me. (13.5/15)

10. "Un saluto alle nuvole" (1:40) harp and harmonium duet. As if next to the open air campfire. (4.25/5)

Total Time 57:19

B+/four stars; an excellent addition to any prog lover's music collection. This is the kind of music that I love--that I see as the refreshing future of music.

1. "Rubidor #1" (9/10) 2. "Il corpo nel sogno (The Body in the Dream)" (9/10) 3. "Neglibor" (7:01) not unlike Markkus Pajakala's BRUTOPIANISTI project--only smoothed down and with a pleasant female vocalist (reminding me of LAGARTIJA's Sara Aliani) singing in the lead. Modern "Beat" scene café music/poetry. (8.5/10) 4. "Blu marrone" (Blue Brown) (8.5/10) 5. "Sono invisibile" (Invisible) (8/10) 6. "Strippale" (7.5/10) 7. "Un paradiso con il mal di testa ? (A Paradise with a Headache) NASCITA DEI FIORI (BIRTH OF THE FLOWERS) ? Chamber poem in three movements. (3:50) Cheezy drum machine with accordion and poetry from male spoken voice. Solos from bass clarinet and toy piano. (9/10) 8. "Il cimitero delle fate (The Fairy Cemetery) (3:51) weirdness of eerie sounds pushing the boundaries of what is considered "music." (7.5/10) 9. "Di passaggio (Passing) (3:10) more weirdness and FACTOR BURZACO-like sonic challenges. (8/10) 10. "Prato Fiorito (Fowery Neadow) (6:34) 90 seconds of children's play joined by clarinets, tuba, Mellotron, and drums and, later, electric guitar. Controlled chaos. (7/10) 11. "Orfeo e Moira" (Orpheus and Moira) (7:01) absolutely gorgeous lounge music conjuring up a bit of the adventurous, eclectic Ryuichi Sakamoto feel. (10/10) 12. "Rubidor #2 (3:26) (9/10)

Overall, this is very odd, quirky, often stunningly beautiful (lazy & relaxing) music that probably only occupies a "prog" label due to its unusual, eclectic feel. I would definitely pay to sit in a room with these musicians performing.

B-/four stars; a unique and creative contribution to modern progressive rock/cabaret rock. An album/artist the world should hear.

The album contains 7 very short songs, two longer that scores about 5-6 minutes and what in the vynil days would have been called a side-long track, scoring over 25 minutes.

The tracks are separate, not fading one into the other, but the album presents a good continuity and can be enjoyed in one shot. The vocal harmonies built by Stefano GIANNOTTI and Emanuela LARI are a bit more present than in the debut album. Together with the chamber orchestra arrangements they constitute the trademark of this band. "Camminavo", the track #3 is the perfect example. Listen to it and you'll know what I mean.

"Bianco Richiamo" is another highlight; the melody is strong with the lazy percussion in the background leading this instrumental to an unexpected follow-up as the "first" title track "L'Agguato" is. This is more challenging, I think it would be perfect for a contemporary ballet. The trilogy proceeds with "L'Abbandono". Once again, listening to this band I think to DEBUSSY. Not an easy listening also this, but the Arabesque progression has something magic. The last part of the trilogy: "Il mutamento" digs in the realm of concrete music. Nothing to envy to ART ZOYD, initially, but it's incredible as a bossa-nova interlude changes the mood leading to the return of the vocals after three instrumentals. Again the harmony produced by the two vocalists on "Dopo La Pioggia" is remarkable.

Now the suite: more than a suite is a very long song. Extremely good with consistent melodies and instrumental interludes flowing seamlessly with few exceptions but very well balanced. I must mention the high pitched voice of Emanuela LARI who in this song has also the possibility of singing out of the background. Honestly I don't know how to define this music without writing trivialities. I can mainly say that once you open the door of this magnetic song, you can't exit before it's finished...well, this is what epics are for isn't it?

A less than two minutes long coda remided me to "TERRE II", the last album of the French saxophonist JULIAN JULIEN. I would have placed this nice piece of music in a different place of the playlist, as after the epic it may seem a filler but it's not.

I like the debut a lot, but this second album is even better. Wear a good headphone and relax.

So now I'm here relistening to an album that really impressed me when the ZART team evaluated the band for inclusion. First of all, I want to mention the lyrics. Non-Italian listeners will unlikely have the possibility to hear how deep and poetic they are, but in any case the beauty of this album is in the melodies, the armonies and the arrangements.

It goes from Crimsonian atmospheres, passing by a possible influence of BANCO DEL MUTUO SOCCORSO, to reach soundscapes and chords reminding even to Claude DEBUSSY.

The kind of instruments used: harp, strings, oboe, clarinet, give some songs a chamber-rock mood but never too challenging. The influence of bands like ART ZOYD that the band itself consider as a source of inspiration can be found in the orchestration, but there's a lot of melody in all the tracks and it's not as dark.

It's a dreamy soundscape whose melodic integrity survives even in the most unusual chord passages. An example over all is "Dite A Mia Moglie", with a bossa-nova base of classical guitar reminding to the Tropicalia movement of Tom ZE' as base for Frippistic passages. Who has enjoyed the Itaian band AKT, will likely find similarities.

This album has no flaws and no fillers. The alternance between percussive and relaxed moments is well balanced and also the voice of Giannotti is well inserted in the mix so that it can considered an instrument itself.

A note apart for the title track: it's the peak of an excellent album. The instrumental part lead by the clarinet in a jazzy crescendo fading into a harp solo is amazing. People not familiar with Avant music can find in this album a good starting point.

Oteme's debut album "Il Giardino Disincantato" is a production where words like beautiful and elegant beg to be used multiple times, and a recording hard to describe without using words like experimental and contemporary as well. Using elements from classical music, jazz, rock as well as details harder to place inside any of the big genre umbrellas, this is a production that should be sought out by those who tend to enjoy music that exists outside of the common norms, especially those who enjoy productions of that kind that manage to maintain a highly accessible nature and manage to combine that with a challenging approach and execution.