All Prog From Italy Appreciation Thread

1800iareyay wrote: I need some assistance. I live in America, and I can't come across any RPI. I would like to at least get some PFM, Le Orme, and BMS, but I can't find them anywhere. Their sites are no help, and amazon only has ridiculously expensive imports (I'm not paying 60 bucks for Darwin!, regardless of how good it may be). Any help?

Edited by NotAProghead - August 19 2007 at 08:01

Thanks very much for the suggestions. Now I shall have even less money, but it's so worth it. 

1800iareyay wrote: Just ordered Darwin!, Per U  Amico, and Ys. Can't wait for my first RPI albums.

have a multitude of clappies hahhah

These are the three Ricochet's reviews:

FRANCO BATTIATO

Fetus

(Studio Album, 1972)

Review by Ricochet ("Philip Desmond Halloway")
[Special Collaborator Electronic Prog & Art Rock Specialist]
Posted 1:18:01 AM EST, 8/18/2007

Given a dark malevolent cover, an insidious-like minimal appreciation of music and of the sonic system, a practice of rock and proses that almost evolves thanks to a psychedelic hazard, and also many smaller analogies,that contrast a lot what at least you would think of describing as classic Italian Rock movement, Franco Battiato comes truly as an experimentalist and an against-the-wave artist, through this first solid album. Something which comes shocking or stalling, incomprehensible or way under the beat of impression, valorous or with a complete lost babel mix of phenomenons and dry, orbing, "giusto" tempos.

The 1971 Fetus (with a second, English-lyric, version Foetus), as a step-on and stepped-ahead curse of a "special" and illegible album concept, makes a pretty decent impulse by which to comment on the artist and on his strange temper rather than (or only afterwards) on the music, which is skinny and (much like under the title's creative word meaning) under premature emphasis. Battiato is in a proper moment of pressure, not because of his split personality and vision, happening under the switch of the decades and shaping for good the demise of the previous style, but because he actually comes out of that split and starts to focus on the new style. Such an impression arrives right even before you start absorbing Foetus as an "indiscipline" of experimental and minimal dissonances. The style, furthermore, is useful to show the deep lock, at least for now and at least by this, of the artist being fascinated and blindly orientated, without (thus) a craft which to dominate him, nor a lot of simplicity which to simply pour down heavily. The culpable sentiment isn't the strangeness within the movement, but the little crack of imagination that stops and bleeds pretentiousness, instead of unfolding pleasantries or just atypical precise moods. Upon hearing the fiber-sounds of the latter Pollution or Sulle Corde Di Aries, which are related to this one but merely spotlight the same F. Battiato, Fetus is most successfully and comfortably an improbable simplicity and an avantgarde splinter composition, yet it tends to succumb exactly in its keenest and sincere detail: a mystery of music before an invasion of senses, a perfect art before a jump-started dizziness.

As a pretty stringent album (since uninspired it is perhaps not) Fetus crumbles the listener's ear into a very unrealistic passion of music, a tragic minimalism and a distorted preconception of a substance having some particularities, but also some toxins. Stylistically, there can't be named more than three pieces which have a symph harmony or an Italian discernible trace, instead there is a complexity of a tangled rock, an "avant-indie" experiment cause, a technical and electronic blemish craft, plus a free-loaded surreal pleasure of mixing, spicing and cutting on the white sleet of musicality and subtenant forms. None of the big genres are eloquently used, but that doesn't mean they also count a lot into the great scheme of things (except RPI which, again, doesn't show Battiato's belonging in it); just like that, nothing is a mess, but the caliber drives through a paranoid state of charmed art. The album could have used the "cinematic crunch" small and perforating style it has (mostly meaning electro-experimentalism) if it would have had more than 8 songs. Mean like it is, the album only sums edges and consistently dark nits of music and foreign sound. You'll hear some brave rock harmonies and up-beats - plus some vocals, the original ones speaking a loud and misfiring concept idea, whilst, in English, Battiato sounds lisping. But, mostly, Fetus is Battiato in front of mechanical and form-fragile characters of loud exhibition.

Disappointing, but not really screwed, if you think of Battiato more independently.

FRANCO BATTIATO

Clic

(Studio Album, 1974)


Review by Ricochet ("Philip Desmond Halloway")
[Special Collaborator Electronic Prog & Art Rock Specialist]
Posted 1:38:34 AM EST, 8/18/2007

Battiato Franco is an impressive and unfamiliar artist up to the point of a person that desires to get into him and to get to know him, through what music and sneaky ambition he has under the skin of a creation, a movement or a period. He is also an artist of incredible experiment, avant-garde and electronic terrific power, right until the great bands of those particular spotted genres arrive and beat him out of, at least, the most amazing standards (an opposite paradox happening, instead, regarding progressiveness under Battiato, which sounds totally far from any rigor and quick talent, but reminds how well a different and changed character shares the prog wickedness). Under a lot of different styles, there's the overall question of "which F. Battiato do you like?", but even in one phase, being full or rather less obvious, the question remains: 'what kind of mind-goggling complexity of F. Battiato can you enjoy?" - enjoyment being, ultimately, a paradox of an essential and coherent pattern seen as a listener of no particular figures.

"Clic" is released in 1974 and it is truly of those art-popping creations Battiato ever managed to do - there are full analogies naming it a best ever album, there are voices that appreciate its corrosive attitude under quite exhaustive portraits, everything being or not of a heads-up, since "Clic" needs to affirm a great response from the person who listens to it. All the fractured comparisons can become unremarkable, even if most of the previous solid works has lead to this entire full interesting in crouching avant-garde - for me, at least, there's a huge difference between the wonderful Sulle Corde Di Aries and "Clic"'s mainly unexpected weird charisma and flattering scales of collapsed logic and music. "Clic" stands out as pretty tough, with no influence or place in 1974's top speed but well-known prog act, but with a lot of nontrivial hard art which to dominate or be dominated, by either harder of clearer/cleaner contrasts.

Quite different become the emotions of listening to it than those of understanding it, "Clic" being strong and unhallow, but remarkably narrow and heavy-pointed in its most independent looms. Though there is rock, harmony, aggressive experiment and luminous unintelligible visions (and such reactions), losing yourself in the webbed structure of "Clic" can be a basic avant-gardish strange feeling. Me myself, losing in some of the album's most transient elaborate sizzles, come to see Battiato as vicious, a superlative or a funk-master."Clic"'s inordinately taste is schizophrenic, but not over-exaggeratedly (I wonder if authentic as well?). But the side of music scratch and deep mystification leads to quantifiable qualities and sharp concepts being used. The vocals stay in an astral or acidic spirit, spinning along the roots of freak poetry or (mildly said) tricky lyrics. The rock output defies yet again most values, except for a real treat, this time, of avant-music flabbergasts. The electronic heart-loop and sound-shape of Battiato stay really close to primary and absorbing, but very far from accurate (instead of purely assumed) powerful nerves. Experimentalism is a thing of a basted imagination and desire, making Battiato come up with exemplary moves of powerful, surreal, deluding or blunt furious expressions.

And that's the sum of "Clic"'s monstrosity and monumentality. I could not face a paragraph of tracklist details, those being really the last symbols and cadences of this creation's huge resolution - though you can tell which pieces are pure abstractions, which tender the dark deviated romance of rock, which are technical and chunk meditation, or which are sound-metaphors and resemble the experiment's neurasthenia.

"Clic" is Battiato's avant-garde classic explosion. Or one of them huge ones.

PREMIATA FORNERIA MARCONI (PFM)

Storia Di Un Minuto

(Studio Album, 1972)

Review by Ricochet ("Philip Desmond Halloway")
[Special Collaborator Electronic Prog & Art Rock Specialist]
Posted 2:37:42 AM EST, 8/18/2007

what happened to vol.15, Elizabeth? 

I return to produce a RPI album review. This fact coincides with a large test.  In fact enough to read the review to understand! 

FRANCO BATTIATO

Gilgamesh

(Studio Album, 1992)
P.s.. Battiato's "Classic Music discographies"

Review by Mandrakeroot (Andrea Salvador)
Collaborator Italian Prog Specialist

— First review of this album —

My review is produced using this release: EMI CLASSIC/ EMI Italiana S.p.A. 0777 7 54759 2 0

Rating: 7,5/10

I am not a fan of Classic Music and Opera. In this opera in two acts Franco battiato takes again the story of Gilgamesh and nothing more. The music is hard and heavy for who, like me, isn't bitter certainly musical shapes. Another hard and heavy fact is the Battiato thought: intellectual and deep too much for who doesn't succeed to remain kidnapped from it. Well... If you have listen one fluxus album by Battiato will understand well what I said. Less if it listened to the previous album. Also the Avantgarde POP albums are difficult in this sense. "Gilgamesh" besides the Battiato thought unites all the Battiato music. Because "Gilgamesh" presents parts Avantgarde Prog, Fluxus, Medieval, Avantgarde POp and complex arrangements... And all simultaneously! Antonio Ballista is the pianist of Fluxus period and Giusto Pio the collaborator of Avantgarde POP period. Well... with this two orchestra director the arrangements are too heavy. The music is in the same direction. In conclusion: exceptional music but if you don't love the Classic Music Opera... The 24 songs of this album (for 2 acts) and the hour (or more) of listening... Is a great test. This is my second test. But I don't consider myself a survivor.

Probably the first Classic Music Fluxus Opera!!! Great project of Battiato. Great example of fine modern Classic Music. In every case...: Thatnks Franco for this great opera!

Ricochet wrote: hmm,1992, interesting... I think I'll explore a bit of what's left from the avant-garde, I skipped Pollution, that may worth a lot, plus more mid-70s works (I'm interested in that album micky said it's purely for "Stockhausen fans" )

lots of great stuff to explore Rico....   it isn't easy listening... but it is interesting as all hell.

btw.   great reviews...

Mandrakeroot wrote: Well jimmy_row: "Contrappunti" are good album. But I prefer "Collage", "Uomo Di Pezza", "Felona E Sorona", "In Concerto", "Storia O Leggenda", "Antologia 1970- 1980", "'Gioco Di Bimba' E Altri Successi", "Il Fiume" and "L'Infinito". This because, in my opinion, "Contrappunti" is too cold. But, in general, "Contrappunti" remain a great album.

All good albums, you really can't go wrong with Le Orme...my favorite RPI band right now.  I agree that Contrappunti isn't quite up to their previous two, but that only speaks volumes about the other albums (Felona e Sorona being one of the bench-marks for symph prog).  You're exaclty right in saying that it's a bit "cold", I notice this especially in the title track and the other more complex pieces...overall it's probably their most experimental and difficult album but I love it for that (despite not being a huge synth-fan myself).

By "poppy" albums I meant the mid-70's period (ie Smogmagica and Storia o Leggenda)...I've heard bits of them and they don't seem all that bad.  Nevertheless, I'll wait until I have most of their catalogue before I go for the pop stuff.