LA CASA DEL LAGO

I'm quite impressed by the technical skills and the rich catalogue of expressions delivered by this cult 70's prog folk collective. However I must recognize that as many Italian prog essays, this one gets the price of kitschy melodies and old fashioned style...but anyway let's make abstraction of it...the album starts with the wonderful and colourful "Tristana" written as an energic rocking folk ballad, including a dreamy, nostalgic like atmosphere (the acoustic side & female vocal) and almost psychedelic moves (the guitars and the hallucinatory sax solo break that reminds me Clearlight). "Nella Vita, Un Pianto" opens with a mysterious, lunatic and evocative guitar / cello duet, a pleasant introduction rapidly followed by emotional female vocals. The track progressively gets into a more freak 'n roll vibe with a faster tempo and an insistent groove. The symphonic like dimension tends to be cheesy in the second half of the title + some misplaced vocals. The self title track deliversa gentle folkish "trip" with a lot of lalalala and sensual Italian vocals. A good mention to the piano parts that provide fine improvisations. The song contains also a nice jazzy feeling dominated by technical lead guitars and floating sax solos. A pleasant listening for the relaxed, groovy tempo. Nothing really transcendant despite that is nicely made (especially the improvised parts and their enchanting atmosphere).