The Italian Prog Appreciation den |
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Guldbamsen
Special Collaborator Retired Admin Joined: January 22 2009 Location: Magic Theatre Status: Offline Points: 23104 |
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Wooooooow what a bummer
You almost gotta laugh at these things, but finding out that it was a dance compilation from the mid 90s - wasn´t really squeezing out giggles at the time... I kind of see the irony now I guess Still a wee bit disappointed after all.
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“The Guide says there is an art to flying or rather a knack. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.”
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Finnforest
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: February 03 2007 Location: The Heartland Status: Offline Points: 16914 |
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I basically can't do "lists" anymore....with all of the RPI albums swirling in my head, I can barely fathom trying to quantiy them and make them compete against each other. I've tried to help people with suggestions before but it's frustrating because for every album I suggest there are so many others I'm not suggesting that are also great. Basically, I think people should read reviews and plot their own journeys in RPI.
What I will tell people though is not just to buy the "big" name artists...yes check out Banco and Orme, but if you don't get off the beaten path, you are going to miss a big part of the experience. RPI has some of the most rewarding "obscure" artists out there.
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Guldbamsen
Special Collaborator Retired Admin Joined: January 22 2009 Location: Magic Theatre Status: Offline Points: 23104 |
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^I feel much the same Jim, and speaking of going off the beaten track:
Review by Nightfly Special Collaborator RPI Team Releasing only one album, in 1972, Il Paese Dei Balocchi deserve to be spoken of in the same tones of reverence as other highly regarded one shot bands of the Italian prog scene such as Museo Rosenbach and Maxophone and had they lasted longer, who knows, they may have even been up there with the big boys - Banco, Orme etc such is the quality here. This eponymous offering is a beautiful piece of work - atmospheric, melancholic and haunting, it's a lovely example of Italian symphonic prog with classical touches. It doesn't rush, content to take its time giving the music a trippy vibe at times. Largely instrumental which works in its favour but that's not to say the vocals are lacking in quality when they are present. Great Hammond work gets me every time as it does here, having for want of a better word, a kind of spooky feel to it on this occasion. There also seems to be a church organ present which is equally compelling. Guitar generally takes a back seat as does the drums but there's the occasional powerful moment where things take off for a short while. This thankfully doesn't work to the detriment of the overall vibe of the album. I'm surprised this excellent album doesn't feature more prominently amongst top Italian prog lists, it really is that good and is essential to anyone on a journey of discovery with RPI and likely to be of interest to many others too. Wonderful stuff and a great example of why Italian prog is so full of surprises and draws in such strong devotes. Thanks for that Paul You got me curious, - in fact last time I saw a review of this I almost bought it, but I still don´t own the thing. Edit: Sorry about the way this post turned out, something went wrong, but fortunately the review still says the same. Edited by Guldbamsen - September 08 2011 at 10:59 |
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“The Guide says there is an art to flying or rather a knack. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.”
- Douglas Adams |
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Finnforest
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: February 03 2007 Location: The Heartland Status: Offline Points: 16914 |
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That's def one of those obscure faves of many....^ |
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hellogoodbye
Forum Senior Member VIP member Joined: August 29 2011 Location: Troy Status: Offline Points: 7251 |
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Not a compilation, just places I return again and again ...
Banco del mutuo soccorso : Il giardino del mago suite ... (The peak ?) Quella vecchia locanda (same) : Sogno, risveglio e … (This piano and violin play with my thoughts) Hunka Munka : Cattedrali di
bambu ( You shouldn’t like this, Pierre ! I Know, I know, but ... Maxophone : Merchanti di piazze
(Song 5) (Starting at 4.14 : can’t find the works to describe this ...) Cervello : Canto del capro. (King crimson,
the Smiths and Radiohead). Economic !
Stefano Testa : Ninna nanna (The flute
! Oh the flute ! )
Le Orme’s Florian : Pietro il
pescatore (Monteverdi meets Brian Eno. The last chords make me forget the weight
of the world)
Delirium III : Il Dono (Real soul music)
Diari di viaggio della desta mobile
: Ritorno (Last song but not least. A treasure)
Formula tre’s casa : Bambina Sbagliata
(Simple and moving song)
Panna Fredda :
il vento, la luna e pulcini blu (A world apart) |
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Nightfly
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: August 01 2007 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 3659 |
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You're welcome and thank you. I'd recommend you get it asap, you won't be disappointed I'm sure.
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Finnforest
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: February 03 2007 Location: The Heartland Status: Offline Points: 16914 |
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Pierre, those are some really nice pics....nice to see someone mention Hunka Munka again.
Another underappreciated obscurity is the first Corte dei Miracoli. It has major sound issues, but if you don't mind less than perfect fidelity there are some wonderful moments there. Even if my rating is too high, I'll be dropping that to a 3. Sometimes I get too excited when reviewing and my rating needs to be reconsidered later |
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hellogoodbye
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I like the first Corte very much. The drumming is wonderfull. I 've just bought Capitolo 6, the first Angelo Branduardi and Lucio Battisti's anima latina. All sound great and so different. I'm afraid not to be able to say someday : RIP RPI.
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Todd
Special Collaborator RPI / Heavy Prog Team Joined: December 19 2007 Location: California Status: Offline Points: 3472 |
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^ You know, Pierre, I love how you're approaching things--slowly, carefully, appreciating every album and song. And you're really sampling broadly, even Branduardi, Battisti, etc. By the way, have you tried Banco's "Come in un'ultima cena"? Considering your strong regard for melody, that album will knock your socks off! "Se dice che i delfini parlino" is absolutely gorgeous.
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hellogoodbye
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Yes the melodies of "Banco's come" are wonderfull. But I don't like the sound of the group as much as for the first three ones. Don't know why. Too clean I think, almost numeric. Sorry. I must have an analogic brain.
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Todd
Special Collaborator RPI / Heavy Prog Team Joined: December 19 2007 Location: California Status: Offline Points: 3472 |
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^ No, I understand what you mean. There's definitely a different sound, and that album took me longer to appreciate than the first three. "Darwin!" especially blew me away the first time I heard it. That's the album that got me hooked on RPI, as well as PFM's "Per un amico." Those two were ranked as the best prog albums on the Gnosis2000 website several years ago, and I just had to try them to see if they were better than the other ones I loved so much. "Darwin!" was so unique, intriguing, different--very Italian and very thrilling.
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hellogoodbye
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Per un amico and Darwin are real treasures. Recently I bought the japanese CD of Darwin. The sound is completly different from the old edition. No compact at all, a little bit like a premix. The result is very warm and much more emotional.
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Todd
Special Collaborator RPI / Heavy Prog Team Joined: December 19 2007 Location: California Status: Offline Points: 3472 |
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^ When you say Japanese, which one do you mean? A Japanese mini lp version, or the King jewel case version? And which old edition do you have? Is it the original Ricordi version?
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hellogoodbye
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I had the Sony/ BMG version of 1999. The japanese is the Mini Lp Cd BMG Italian rock collection.
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hellogoodbye
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Todd
Special Collaborator RPI / Heavy Prog Team Joined: December 19 2007 Location: California Status: Offline Points: 3472 |
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^ The packaging on that is beautiful, isn't it? I think the sound is pretty good, but the best sounding version I've heard is the original Ricordi jewel case CD that has MPCD as the first part of the catalogue number. I've heard three versions (including the King Japanese jewel case), and that's my favorite. Very warm, no digital compression.
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hellogoodbye
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Thanks ! I'm going to try the original Ricordi Jewel Case.
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Todd
Special Collaborator RPI / Heavy Prog Team Joined: December 19 2007 Location: California Status: Offline Points: 3472 |
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You won't regret it!
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dreadpirateroberts
Forum Senior Member Joined: May 27 2011 Location: AU Status: Offline Points: 952 |
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Damn, that's the second time I've read that review and I still can't afford to get the album yet grrrrrr!
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Guldbamsen
Special Collaborator Retired Admin Joined: January 22 2009 Location: Magic Theatre Status: Offline Points: 23104 |
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Talk about melody and songs you can´t erase from your mind I absolutely adore the weird moog solo happening at some point - sounds like a robot that turns into an angry insect, and quite often I find myself whistling this very solo - no melody or song comes before though so it´s just: DIDIDIDI DEH DEH DEH DA DAA!!! out of the blue.. |
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“The Guide says there is an art to flying or rather a knack. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.”
- Douglas Adams |
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