SADO’s daring new album "Holzwege"

SADO (Società Anonima Decostruzionismi Organici) is an experimental progressive jazz group and one of the most interesting things I've heard lately.  They were described as being recommended for fans of Area, Picchio dal Pozzo, and Yugen, so naturally my curiosity was aroused.  The band's myspace page describes their sound as "a never predictable merry-go-round of notes and socratic irony.  Each live performance cannot be repeated in the same way, each track is re-invented, dismantled and played in a new form every time."  Their music is based on the philosophies of French intellectual Jacques Derrida whose works in the school of Deconstructionism among other things are way beyond my grasp.  Reading a little about him he reminds me of Chomsky although oddly enough Chomsky apparently is a critic of Derrida, feeling that Derrida used "pretentious rhetoric" to obscure his own simplistic ideas (if the folks at Wiki are accurate.)  "Holzwege," the band's latest effort, was recorded in the summer of 2007 at KMP Castle Studios in Vercelli.  The original material is written by Paolo Baltaro (bass/keys) and Sandro Marinoni (sax/flute/trombone), and the ranks of the group are rounded out by Boris Savoldelli (voice), Gianni Opezzo (guitars), and Diego Marzi (Drums.)  Francesco Casoli guests on baritone sax.  Their label describes SADO as "a side-project by some of the members of the renowned band Arcansiel. But this project is miles away from the easy-listening neoprog sound of this band, as Sado lies somewhere in between the more aggressive spirit of Area (especially of what the stunning vocal experimentations by Boris Savoldelli concern), the happy nonsense of Picchio dal Pozzo and some weird and spacey psychedelia….Sado's intense, dramatic and iconoclastic progrock is a welcome breath of fresh air."

SADO merges together various levels of intensity and both visits utter musical chaos and carefully crafted moments of beauty.  Some sections are just a frenetic free-for-all with drums and horns seemingly trying to out-smoke each other.  When they say they never play a song the same way twice at their shows, you can believe that, as they seem to just go where they feel possessed.  The flip side of this would be the delightfully beautiful treatment of McCartney's "Michelle" which is about the last thing I expected after the ripping opener "Engasa Leappirt."  But there is was…a peaceful reading on saxophone and piano, with restrained bass and drums, showing what heights were possible from that simple and familiar melody.  Towards the end some vocals and guitar creep in just a bit but the track stays delightfully serene, a nice respite from the more turbulent moments coming.  After that one/two punch will follow many more mad jammings, wild bass runs, noise guitar squalls, dangerous horn escapades of every manner, vocal psych-soundscapes…all topped off by quite possibly the most memorable Santana medley you've ever heard.  Quite an evening, folks.  I only wish I knew what the hell Diego Marzi's mysterious quote on the inner gatefold meant, written in Italian that escapes this American boy.  I asked the band to translate but haven't heard back yet…but hey, it adds to the mystery.  Vinyl Magic's gatefold mini is high-quality as usual although the booklet was sadly lacking, more was deserved for such a monster album.  Sound quality was outstanding.  This is a challenging and adventurous piece of modern progressive music that must be heard by fans of difficult jazz, avant-garde, absurdist Robert Wyatt styled musings, or perhaps those who can imagine what Deus Ex Machina might sound like if they set out on a more stripped down project.  Lately the band has been playing a version of John Cage's 4.33 during their shows.  Let's hope there is a live DVD available someday. 

[James Russell, 6/25/08]