UMANAMENTE UOMO: IL SOGNO

Among the many beautifully written points Linus made in his bio was that Battisti was not really RPI or progressive in the way fans define such labels, that he needed his own descriptors, and that he was both influenced by it and an influence on it. It's more accurate than the depiction we get from some writers who often refer to Lucio as no more than an Italian popstar. He may have been that at times, but he ends up being more than that to history. I've always wanted to get back to this discog as a vehicle for learning more about the Italian music scene, but the truth is that it's as much about enjoying good, comforting music. Battisti in these years strikes me as comfort music which, similar to comfort food, filled the homes of many Italian youth just prior to their full-blown discoveries of rock culture in later teenagerhood. Just a hunch on my part.

I'm told lyrics are a big part of the experience with Battisti via Mogol, but since I understand not a word of Italian, they are not requisite to the experience. This is warm and wonderful music that mixes elements of pop, rock, folk and more. It does include the building blocks of RPI that those fans appreciate, but they aren't presented in that form here with the lengthy instrumentals and bombast of intentional complexities, though there is certainly some complexity present. The songs are embellished with lots of interesting trinkets and tendencies not unlike, as an example, the way Cat Stevens approached his work in the Mona Bone Jakon through Teaser and the Firecat years. There's great use of chunky, rhythmic acoustic guitars, unusual arrangements (especially "Sognando e Risognando") as well as expressive human voice where, notably, he uses the voice of Sara Borsarini to grand effect. Track upon track of immediately accessible Sunday morning coffee/tea music to charm your love, your cat, or the dancing leaves outside your picture window. The closing track is a big curve ball: unsettling guitar/chant work that, while completely jarring in context to the rest, is nonetheless an interesting toe-dip into further progressive elements to come.

I enjoy this very much. Being all new to me, not having benefit of years of Battisti seeping into me from living in Italy, I don't have the nostalgic connection to it. Yet I gravitate to it all the same and find it comforting. Along with Linus's bio, please be sure to check out Raff's review of Anima Latina on this site. More than a review, she gives a superb and informed overview of the importance of Battisti. He was a towering figure in Italian music history and should not be dismissed.

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