The Italian Prog Appreciation den

I should love this - I really should. I've been returning to this album more than a dozen times now to see if I had gotten it wrong, heard it whilst drunk or sleepwalking, but alas there is just something about this release that completely fails to engage me.

Mind you, these are some highly skilled musicians whether you choose to lend an ear to the Banco inspired classical fountains of piano - or you lean towards the heavy notes of guitar and pumping drums. All of these people are up there with the best of them, and furthermore, like many reviewers here also have mentioned, the masculine and quite endemic vocals of the now legendary Stefano "Lupo" Galifi roam throughout the playing time of the album. He still sounds as powerful and insisting as ever, and you wouldn't know that he by now is in his 60s.

There are a fair few fingerprints of the original RPI wave, and I hear traces of the aforementioned Banco del Mutuo Soccorso, Quella Vecchia Locanda and of course Museo Rosenbach - Lupo's original band. Then you get some modern touches akin to Anglagård and the reformed Van der Graff Generator - all mixed together with what genuinely sounds like a bit of Dream Theater. I maybe loosing it a bit, but that's what I hear.

One of my biggest gripes with this release, is the total lack of dynamics in the production. I constantly feel like I'm listening to the second cousin of Vapor Trails. One big pounding wall of sound, that keeps things loud and distinguishable - crystal clear and audible - everything in its right place.... Now would that be such a bad thing then? Well sometimes it isn't, but on here it makes me loose focus and interest, when all musical excursions seem to be at the same level, resulting in a flat expression - levelling all valleys and peaks to one great big pan cake. It kills me, because I can hear the brilliant songwriting and the chops of these guys, but I just can't help it. Feels like it was recorded in a lab - seems oddly sterile and cold - even if the music bears strong resemblance to the warmer and more romantic side of the Italian scene. Personally I just loose track somewhere in the album and then forget to listen. The times I've heard this all the way through felt like a chore, and that is no way to feel about music... This is actually a big problem for me with most of the modern RPI releases, and this is essentially what sets them aside from the acts of the good old days. It's why I don't get the Fabio Zuffanti projects as well as most of the other new kids on the block. They sound bland to me - without the warmth and soul power of the original wave that with poor means and a small cupboard to record in, managed to create something audacious and vibrant. Something with life and dynamics, which sadly are the two ingredients I lack in this outing.

I realise that I am just about the only descending voice here, but then again, if you feel enamoured by the current recording productions a la Dream Theater, IQ, Yes, Haken and Rush, then by all means climb on board this ride - you're most likely going to love it!

All Battiato's albums up to and including this point come with quite a distinct experimental and esoteric vibe, regardless of the differences between them, but for the first time he drifts a bit too far into a detached, coldly insular and introverted place in music. I am sure the music here has some kind of deeper meaning to Battiato himself, but it is woefully hard to connect to it on an emotional level for me as a listener.

In short: music for the brain, not for the "soul". Bull[&*!#] statement, but you get the point.

The first of the tracks here (Goutez et Comparez) is an erratic, flickering sound collage of what I guess is primarily various radio and television snippets, both musical and simple talk broadcasts, interspersed with small voice clips and mumblings of Battiato himself. Fusing it all together is a selection of short, eerie and slightly foreboding (often electronic) noises and melodies. Twisting and turning sharply in emotional intensity and content, the strange mix of what I imagine is an expression of apparent nostalgia, a form of social commentary and pure effect-seeking clips feels distinctly unpleasant after a while; a bit like randomly browsing through a malfunctioning human memory or delving into a fever dream. It is surprising then that about halfway through it transforms into a shimmering, textural sequence of near crystalline quality. Light and clear with amorphous synthesizer dancing about in the background. It does not last for long though, as it dies off and leaves room for a towering church organ chord blasting on for several minutes, with minor modulations and changes to it along the way, as well as some lovely colouration from background synths and sparse but poignant vocals.

...and out of the blue, just like that, Canto Fermo starts. More church organ meanderings, working its way from humble and rather dark, spacey ominous beginnings (the stereotypical horror sound comes to mind) up to more familiar Classical themes and motifs, albeit a lot less formal and structured. After a few dynamic minutes of this, warm, indistinct synths gently envelops everything in a soothing and rather beautiful ambiance. Cue another abrupt end.

...and it is time for more church organ in the last track Orient Effects. This one can be seen as the marriage of several disparate parts of the album. The dominance, grandeur and vastness of the church organ finds a way to blend with the more discreet, sequenced textures into a surprisingly successful form of ecclesiastical prog electronic/ambient. It is a refreshing mix of low-key, understated finesse and the awe-inspiring, once again working with the simple of idea of the sustained church organ chord with synths (and I would say even more organ) moving about in wondrous way underneath it.

Gently abrasive, grandstanding, epic and always a bit cold and theoretical. Musically, it is an often overpowering affair, yet equally often very minimal in the same compositions.

So how does it make you feel? Well, in some ways it does not. It is somehow just above and beyond that. But at times it still manages to really lift you up into a sort of higher state of being, a sense of leaving the mundane behind and traveling to a clearer, brighter world of...whatever! It is not joyful, not sad, not spiritual or emotional like that. No, it is something altogether more clinical, pure and refreshingly cleansing. Strange stuff.

Getting there is difficult for me, even though it is rewarding when it happens.

Hard to connect, a bit difficult to digest, widely different feelings about it from listening to listening, but occasionally wonderful. Brr.

On average around 2,5 stars. Rounding down this time.

//LinusW

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Pierrot Lunaire
Pierrot Lunaire Prog Folk

Review by LinusW
Special Collaborator Italian Prog Specialist

A strange little thing this one. Italy's Pierrot Lunaire's self-titled first album sits as a wedge between several familiar styles without really conforming to the standards of any of them. Of these styles, folk and the wide spectrum of Rock Progressivo Italiano are definitely the most predominant. Not the strangest or most revolutionary of combinations, but there you have it.

They do however manage to present this package in their own particular and often unique little way. It never really feels comfortable in the prog folk idiom in which it finds itself placed, even though I can certainly see why Pierrot Lunaire is where it is. The music comes across as mostly rather gentle and soothing, with tender, crisp folk melodies and lovely "watercolour" instrumental richness, harmony and warmth. An array of guitars (acoustic, 12-string, electric) and prevalent, warm and pleasant keyboards such as organ and piano tend to do that to an album. With additions of mandolin, sitar and celesta these feelings are further enhanced. All of this is presented with an unusual, but refreshing naiveness and earnestness that is both endearing and easy to digest.

Folk'y, nimble acoustic and electric guitars are all over the place, serving as textural backdrop or playing the sweet and delicate pastoral melodies you immediately pick up on as a first impression. Piano, being a favourite instrument of mine, is also given a big role: cheerfully rollicking, gently phrasing, begging for your attention in the same discreet, lovely and rejuvenating way as falling rain (thank you, Pierre!) or just dominating melodically in the fresh sumptuousness only the piano can bring to music. There is often an air of joyful urgency and expectancy in the music, a youthful impatience and happiness that drives the music. A touch of spring, perhaps? Sometimes it positively surges with bouncy bass lines, energetic acoustic guitar, that rollicking piano mingling with other melodies and other instruments coming to the fore only to drift away into the backdrop again. At times there are more hard-hitting pieces and shades of murkier emotions, a bit more menace and dark energy in the chord progressions and melodies, but it is never really threatening or ominous, just a bit of coldness and/or heat (or to continue with the spring theme - a late frost or a grass fire) now and then. On the whole, it is a fairly dynamic and expressive set of songs.

What lurk as a bit of a constant shadow over the record is the, in my opinion, sometimes rather bland rhythmic constructions and the simplicity of the underlying main motifs that shine through the decidedly stronger musical topping. Partly, this is surely due to the lack of a dedicated drummer, but it reaches further than that, being, as it is, at the basic structural AND melodic core of the album. No added drummer can remedy that, but it could at least give the music more of a much needed backbone on some of these compositions. It is just a bit clumsy and cumbersome, a little too sterile and strict at times. The underlying guitars and (especially) bass make up for it a lot of the time, but it still is a weakness in my eyes.

I also feel that on repeated listens, being washed over by beautiful melody upon beautiful melody with beautiful harmony upon beautiful harmony coupled with the general positive and pleasing vibe of it all can become a little bit grating. There is a tendency for the simple-yet-effective and expected to get the upper hand a little too often, be it dynamically or melodically. Nothing wrong with that per se, but it really is not good enough for it to be a great album in my book. Sure, there is drama to be found, but always a bit toned-down and mellow, staying away from the more flamboyant and heartfelt. No need for an entire album to be like that, but I find myself looking for something a little more red-blooded.

Regardless of shortcomings, I treasure Pierrot Lunaire. It is a wonderful pick-me-up, and if I am looking for an album of this type the energy, earnestness and sometimes heart-achingly beautiful melodies found here are very hard to beat.

3 stars.

//LinusW