ANGELO BRANDUARDI

It was so much time ago that I discovered the first three albums of Branduardi, learning to play each song on classical guitar (where possible for my poor skill), so I'm now often confused about which sings are on which album.

I didn't know anything, actually, of Pentangle and Malicorne, except that many people was saying that Angelo was "copying" them. I don't think that arranging and playing the same traditional British song of another band can be called "copying", specially if the arrangements are different. In addition Angelo didn't make many "covers". At least his musics are mainly original while sometimes the lyrics are translations of poetry like on "Confessioni Di Un Malandrino".

This first album is a bit immature, but in the same time it's very fresh. There were no other artists in Italy playing or creating music of this kind. Angelo has been the very first.

Some of the songs can appear a bit pop.oriented, like the opener "Re Di Speranza" or "Lentamente" or the closer "Il Regno Millenario". In the sense of the artsy pop of that time. There's also an "eclectic" filler like "Eppure Chiedilo Agli Uccelli" that will remain an episode. Angelo won't make anything similar later and effectively this is the only song whose music is not written by him.

For who doesn't know this artist, this is mainly an acoustic artist, skilled in violin and classical guitar and a particular whispered high-pitched voice. He has been defined "a modern minstrel" because his songs are often stories or fairy tales or legends. The music has a medieval flavor also because of the use of medieval instruments like the dulcimer, but his middle age is dreamy and legendary. Be prepared to travel into a magic land of fairies and dreams even if you don't speak Italian.