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The Italian Prog Appreciation den |
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opethpainter 
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Joined: February 27 2010 Location: Paris, France Status: Offline Points: 30 |
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 Posted: August 16 2010 at 07:36 |
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i said i work for BTF, didn't i?
actually we have to make some distinction. AMS and BTF, even if located in the same office around milan, are two different things. AMS is just a label, BTF is both a label and distribution company. therefore AMS albums are distributed by BTF. but the first sentence is quite true, here you RPI fans should find something interesting :)
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Nightfly
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Honorary Collaborator Joined: August 01 2007 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 3659 |
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Posted: August 16 2010 at 10:03 |
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^ Thanks for the link......interesting.
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Nightfly
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Honorary Collaborator Joined: August 01 2007 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 3659 |
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Posted: August 16 2010 at 13:05 |
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Vault pick: Not a classic but well worth checking out.....
Frutti Per Kagua Capitolo 6 Rock Progressivo Italiano Review by Cesar Inca  "Frutti per Kagua'", a concept album about the tricky negotiations of Indian lands by the white man, is the sole album by Italian ensemble Capitolo 6. This band shows a varied assortment of family airs with other one- or two-shoot bands such as Raccomandata Ricevuta Ritorno, Campo di Marte and Garybaldi, as well as some traces of early Ossana. The album's repertoire comprises three tracks, with the first half strictly occupied by the namesake suite. This piece kicks off with a strong bluesy rock section that may remind us of early Jumbo-meets-"Benefit" Jethro Tull. The bucolic section that follows gives room for the flute to show off a bit, and the same can be said about the electric guitar lead (which is very emotionally charged, by the way). Once all the instruments shut up for a couple of seconds, the emergence of classicist organ arpeggios build up a momentary crescendo that gives way to a progressive rondo motif, upon which the flute and organ state interesting dialogues. This section occupies a considerable time scope of the suite, and ultimately, its abrupt end leads to yet another bucolic acoustic portion. The last 30 seconds bring a passionate coda. This suite is the band's definitive manifesto, and all in all, I understand why it is the most acclaimed track by Capitolo 6 connoisseurs (I do not agree, as I'll explain later). The album's second half begins with 'Grande Espiritu', which happens to be an OK acoustic ballad: the main motif is catchy indeed, but not really brilliant. The last two tracks are the most colorful in the album, and they are certainly my personal favorites. 'Il Tramonto di un Popolo' starts with a brief chant and drum rolls, before the instrumentation brings a solid alternation of furiously rocking passages and pastoral ones. The diversity that took 18 minutes to develop and settle for the suite is here comprised in 5 ½ without losing an ounce of tension. The closer 'L'Ultima Notte' bears a very similar vibe, albeit with bigger doses of expansion and fluidity, which is fine for its 11 ½ minute span. The drummer works efficiently in the basis while the lead guitarist delivers what are arguably his best solos in the album. The last rocking moments are filled with sarcastic gibberish: a touch of Zappa in this exposure of Mediterranean psychedelia. Capitolo 6 is a very good item in any good prog collection. |
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seventhsojourn
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Honorary Collaborator Joined: December 11 2009 Location: . Status: Offline Points: 4006 |
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Posted: August 17 2010 at 17:13 |
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OK Paul, you sold me on this one
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Nightfly
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Posted: August 17 2010 at 17:24 |
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It's a good one Chris, not one of the initial ones I'd direct people towards but for someone like yourself who's already dug deep into the genre it's well worth adding to the collection.
Hope you enjoy it.
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Nightfly
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Honorary Collaborator Joined: August 01 2007 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 3659 |
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Posted: August 18 2010 at 08:10 |
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Anyone know if the Mellow reissue of Lo Sono Murple (2008 I think) has been remastered or just the same as the original Mellow CD?
And was the Akarma version released in 2002 remastered?
Thanks in advance.
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seventhsojourn
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Posted: August 18 2010 at 10:03 |
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Paul, I have the Mellow reissue but there's no info in the booklet to say whether or not it's a remaster... probably not then.
There's a review of the Akarma edition on the American amazon.com that states that it's a remaster. One of the marketplace sellers has a sealed jewelcase copy for $20 (Mellow). The Akarma mini-lp sleeves are selling for about double that on the site.
Sorry I can't be any more help, but I'm sure the other guys will be able to answer your questions.
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Nightfly
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Honorary Collaborator Joined: August 01 2007 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 3659 |
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Posted: August 18 2010 at 11:20 |
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Thanks Chris, I suspected the Mellow edition wasn't remastered. What do you think of the sound quality? I heard it wasn't brilliant.
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zappadaddy
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Joined: January 23 2010 Location: Czech rep Status: Offline Points: 53 |
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Posted: August 18 2010 at 12:21 |
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Another great forgotten gemm - BUON VECHIO CHARLIE.Like Officina meccanica BVC was released in 20 or more years later.Their cd release is very hard to find,I lost couple auctions on Ebay,final price was over 70 bucks for either japan or Akarma release.Finaly I'v got lucky on italian Ebay site and purchased it for 36 bucks because the auction was wrongly titled.http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61ARGCXJ5SL._SL500_AA300_.jpg
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My heroes are Frank Zappa,Ozzy Osbourne,The Plastic People of the Universe,Sun Ra and Mirek Wanek from Uz jsme doma
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Todd
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RPI / Heavy Prog Team Joined: December 19 2007 Location: California Status: Offline Points: 3472 |
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Posted: August 18 2010 at 12:47 |
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^ Yeah, I agree, that's a wonderful album. One of the really great early RPI titles, probably my favorite along with Panna Fredda from the early stuff.
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Todd
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RPI / Heavy Prog Team Joined: December 19 2007 Location: California Status: Offline Points: 3472 |
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Posted: August 18 2010 at 12:48 |
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Paul, I have both versions. The Mellow editions are not remastered, and you can hear vinyl background noise. The Akarma version is better with regard to sound quality, although I don't know if technically it was remastered. But the vinyl noise is gone. For good reason it's more expensive than the Mellow version.
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infandous
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Joined: March 23 2006 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 2447 |
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Posted: August 18 2010 at 13:53 |
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I'm one of those who couldn't keep up with the previous thread, but enjoyed what I was able to read.
My first RPI experience was seeing Banco live at Nearfest 2001. It's hard to describe the incredible emotional impact of their performance, but it's safe to say that I had tears in my eyes at certain points (so did Francesco DiGiacomo, due to the overwhelmingly positive and strong audience response to their incredible performance). Since then, I've acquired at least 60 RPI and other Italian prog albums. Much of what has been mentioned here I have in my collection, though some I've never heard of! Anyway, as far as deeper picks go, I love love love the Alphataurus, Murple, Campo di Marte, RDM, Semiramis (especially this one, after hearing how young the main writer/guitarist/vocalist was at the time.......shame he went on to more infamous music :-) , as well as quite a few others. The problem I have is remembering the names of these bands and their albums. I have zero understanding of Italian, and can't thank Andrea enough for enlightening me in his reviews. I don't think I've actually written many reviews for any RPI though, as I'm never sure how to go about it due to my lack of understanding of the lyrics and concepts. Of course, this hasn't stopped me from reviewing instrumental albums by other prog bands, so I'm not sure why I haven't done it yet. Have to work on this....... Also, Andrea Cortese, I felt the same about Petali di Fuoco by La Maschera di Cera. But after a number of listens, I have to say my feelings have changed. It's still not at the level of LuxAde (by far my favorite of theirs), but it definitely has good qualities. Perhaps I'll expand on that in a review, since I need to start writing more of those for RPI (I did review LuxAde, as well as the previous one to that). Finnforest, I find myself frustrated by your many modern and 70's RPI reviews of bands I've not heard. I am not made of money!!!  You have created a list of RPI I want to get that is as long as my want list for all other prog genre's combined! Keep up the great work  |
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seventhsojourn
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Posted: August 18 2010 at 14:12 |
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Hi Mike
Alphataurus, Murple, Campo di Marte, RDM, Semiramis... great picks, some of my favourite albums in there!
 btw, you're not alone... Jim (Finnforest) has the same effect on most of us here.
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Nightfly
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Posted: August 18 2010 at 14:14 |
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Thanks Todd, no doubt you'll have seen my PM by now.
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Nightfly
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Posted: August 18 2010 at 14:23 |
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Hi Mike, some great bands you've listed there.
As for writing reviews on RPI albums when you don't understand the lyrics. That's a drawback for all us non-Italian speaking fans which in a way says even more for the musical content and the feeling put across by the vocals that we can still enjoy it when we don't understand a word. I'd still always go for an Italian version than an English if I had the choice such as some of the PFM or Maxophone to name a couple off the top of my head. When reviewing I don't find it a problem and concentrate on the musical aspects rather than lyrical content. Come to think of it, that's what I do even with bands who sing in English so at the end of the day there's not a big difference.
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infandous
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Joined: March 23 2006 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 2447 |
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Posted: August 18 2010 at 15:04 |
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Yeah, actually the first RPI album I bought was The World Became The World, which I really didn't like much (until I heard the original, Italian language version). Not sure why I did that, after seeing Banco and loving them so much. I'm probably pretty lazy with reviews in general the last couple years anyway, as well
 I actually have a great fondness for a few Italian bands that do all their singing in English, particularly the band Asgard. They are usually referred to as Neo-prog, but I'd say they are far more in the symphonic camp and have an interesting variety over their 4 albums. They were actually the band that got me interested in Italian prog in the first place back at the end of the 90's, though until seeing Banco in 2001, I limited myself to Italian bands that sing in English (like Malibran, The Watch, Garden Wall, and probably a couple more I can't recall at the moment). Edited by infandous - August 18 2010 at 15:05 |
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Finnforest
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Honorary Collaborator Joined: February 03 2007 Location: The Heartland Status: Online Points: 16913 |
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Posted: August 18 2010 at 16:29 |
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Thanks guys
 Nice to know our work here is lightening the wallets of music fans across the globe! We'll all get poor together, but we'll have lotsa fun |
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Nightfly
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Posted: August 19 2010 at 08:33 |
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Vault Pick: One of the best Italian albums of recent years IMO....
Dramma di un Poeta Ubriaco Pandora Rock Progressivo Italiano Review by andrea  Pandora is an Italian prog band from Piemonte that was formed in 2005 on Beppe and Claudio Colombo initiative, father and son... Beppe Colombo during the seventies was a music fan and a musician who never had the chance to record an album, but his passion for music has always been hanging on and he could transmit it to his son Claudio. So, along with keyboardist Corrado Grappeggia they started an interesting musical project blending influences from the past (PFM, BMS etc.) with a more "heavy" and modern taste (Dream Theater): a kind of bridge across the generation gap. The present line up features Beppe Colombo (synth, organ, backing vocals), Claudio Colombo (drums, percussion, bass, acoustic guitar, synth), Corrado Grappeggia (vocals, synth, organ, piano) and young guitarist Christian Dimasi (electric guitar, backing vocals). Pandora's debut album, "Dramma di un poeta ubriaco" was released by AMS/BTF label in 2008 and the result is excellent.
The opener "Il giudizio universale" (The Last Judgement), aggressive and desperate, is an imaginary dialog with God on the Day of Judgement... "Here we are before you! / We are the exiles, breed of Eve and Abraham / And we're waiting for the apocalyptic and universal Judgement / Everybody is guilty / We turn down the head and accept the fate / But you, try to explain this fate / To the innocent children, tired and hungry... Wondering souls hanging into the limb of time / There's no one anymore / No one who has got any tears to cry / Anguish rules... Silence rules... / Behold what you have done!". The next track, "March to Hell" is beautiful instrumental. According to an interview with the band it was written 13 years ago and it was inspired by the war in Kosovo. The band imagined all the mighty ones of the earth marching naked towards hell on a powerful and fiery "marching beat"... So, close your eyes and try to imagine the scene while listening to this track... "Così come sei" (The way you are) comes like the calm after the storm, acoustic and delicate... "You are as you are / You can't help it, that's the way you are / You want to come down / When suddenly you go up, up, up / Your arms broaden and become wings / You go up, up, up...". Then the rhythm goes up in wonderful crescendo featuring sudden changes of musical direction, taking off and landing again on a softer atmosphere... The long "Pandora" is probably "le plat de resistance" of this album... A gloomy voice describes the opening of Pandora's box: only a little and pretty blue bird remains to give comfort to the humankind while the evil is spreading all around... Then the music flows in every direction and the members of band can showcase their great musicianship and their taste for challenging compositions... The acoustic ballad "Breve storia di San George" (Short tale of Saint George) is about the myth of Saint George and the dragon, where the "hero" kills the monster with his spear and save a princess. You can find here almost a medieval atmosphere... The title track "Dramma di un poeta ubriaco" (Tragedy of a drunken poet) is about a poet that rely on alcohol to find inspiration and dreams to get his bottles on fire to break free from his addiction... The music alternates frantic passages, delicate piano arpeggios and soaring melodies featuring a peculiar bittersweet mood. The complex and long "Salto nel buio" (Jump in the dark) closes the album. The track is dramatic and almost mystic... It's divided in four parts: reflection, jump, fall and awareness. The mood is dark and lyrics develop some reflections about death. Excellent album, beautiful package and booklet... A must for every Italianprog lover! |
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Nightfly
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Honorary Collaborator Joined: August 01 2007 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 3659 |
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Posted: August 20 2010 at 09:36 |
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Nice one Chris
Ricordi? Lagartija Rock Progressivo Italiano Review by seventhsojourn  Well, I sure wasn't prepared for this one. Ricordi? (2009), the first and only release so far by young Italian band Lagartija, is a perfect example of just how eclectic the RPI sub-genre really is. Mixing elements of jazz, indie and classical music, Lagartija could perhaps be described as a female fronted alt-RPI band. They may not fit the description of ''textbook'' RPI, but they do instead bring untamed modernism to the sub-genre.
The tone is set from the start with the trio of lead instruments combining to good effect on the mid-tempo groove of PRIMO CONTATTO. Shimmering electric piano, jangling guitar and jazzy saxophone provide the ideal bedrock for Sara Aliani's sensitive vocals on this track. The classically inspired SERENA DANZA is a beautiful piece, built around Fabrizio Delledonne's doleful acoustic piano. MONADE also begins in restrained mood with piano accompaniment and snare-drum rim taps, but midway through the song Aliani lets loose with typical Italian fervour during an intense duet with Cristian Piga's saxophone. More of that famous Italian spirit is evident on the edgy LACRIME INCONCLUSE, which meanders for the first half of its 11- minutes before bursting into life. The band's collective imagination is given free rein during the cathartic second-half jam, with some uncharacteristically raw guitar and an hypnotic bass ostinato. This album's overall slow pace and laid-back atmosphere make it perfect late-night music. It's not a traditional RPI album, so it requires a leap of faith. Imagine you are standing on the precipice of RPI... now jump. |
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Finnforest
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Honorary Collaborator Joined: February 03 2007 Location: The Heartland Status: Online Points: 16913 |
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Posted: August 20 2010 at 09:39 |
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Indeed, I saw it!!
Paul, wonder if Pandora has another album in the works? Hopefully.
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Nightfly wrote:
