TRANSPARENZE E SUONI

Although they started as a post-punk band in the vein of Tuxedomoon called I No Strani, the duo that would become NO STRANGE were already exploring with unconventional instruments and were destined for cosmic music.

NO STRANGE is an Italian neo-psychedelic duo from Turin founded in 1980 by Salvatore Ursus D'Urso and Alberto Ezzu. Despite technically still together they have released only a few albums in their near forty year history, two in the 80s, one in the 90s and four in the 2010's.

Their debut TRANSPARENZE E SUONI came out in 1985 on Toast Recods and displayed an unique mix of psychedelic rock, Indo-raga drones as well as the progressive rock vocal style that was made famous by the romantic 70s bands such as PFM and Banco.

The title track begins the album and takes up more than half of the short album that just misses the thirty minute mark. The track meanders from what would be considered 70s Italian prog to a true space cadet journey through a raga drone with oodles of hypnotic sound effects to take the listener on a real cosmic journey.

Unlike many raga albums, this one is filled with vocals whether they be the more normal passionate prog rock style that begins the track or the monk field chants that accompany the sonic cosmic trip.

Ezzu handles vocals, guitar, bass and sitar whereas D'Urso provides the percussive backdrop with extra vocals.

The album is a clear throwback to the late 60s / early 70s timeline with anachronistic tracks such as "Let Me Play The Sitar" right out of the hippie playbook with a gentle lulling melody performed on sitar with subdued vocal harmonies.

Both "The New World" and "Another Morning" carry on the late 60s vibe with groovy psychedelic pop. "The Sound Is God" gravitates more toward the raga side with lush sitar in a cosmic dance with chanting as well as lyrics.

This album is pleasant to listen to but is really outdated for 1985. It almost sounds as if it really was recorded 15 years prior and only found its way out of the vaults in the 80s. Cool and all but really nothing exciting either. Too poppy at times to take you on a real trip and too trippy at times to dissuade from the psychedelic pop.