DIALOGHI DEL PRESENTE

Luciano Cilio was a composer and musician from Naples on the far fringes of the RPI movement. He released one album of unique and minimalist avant-classical music with some RPI feel around the edges, but this is certainly not the kind of prog-rock most common at this site. I remember how excited my friend Ryan was when telling me about this album and after finally hearing it I understood why. It is one of those albums that is like a dream....it somehow pulls your consciousness away as you listen, it is a catalyst for reflection, somehow relaxing and unnerving simultaneously. The moods are mostly melancholic to me, although it may simply be amplifying my current state of mind. In any case, Cilio's amazing daydream was captured thank God, because he would not last. He took his own life a few years later.

As Ryan wrote in his bio for our site: "On the record, Luciano plays a range of instruments from the familiar guitars and piano to flute and bass. Also joining him are the celebrated percussionist Toni Esposito and session man Robert Fix. The record consists of acoustic pieces, slower experimental parts, and more complex, sophisticated ones as well. Luciano's attention to detail is known to haunt and inspire listeners with an attentive ear, as many note the intense focus he had on the emotional impact of each note." -Jimmy Row (Ryan)

The five pieces of this short album total only about 30 minutes but it works perfectly. Somewhere between the mystical musical flights of Claudio Rocchi, the classically inspired Basso, and the pure experimentalism of Battiato, Cilio's album is a classic. Primarily backed by softly strummed acoustic guitar and gorgeous piano waves, each song has numerous lovely sequences coming and going, cello and violin parts, oboe and French horn, saxophone, flute, and choir vocal crescendos. They are masterfully arranged and constructed even while they feel so free and unconventional. Hand percussion is lightly added to certain backgrounds though not in any traditional rock way, more like something you'd hear on a Popol Vuh album. "Primo Quadro Della Conoscenza" is the high point for me, when the strings well up and the wordless female vocals surround you and get louder, it is suffocating and yet glorious! This work will leave lovers of dreamy piano, such as myself, pretty much speechless. This is the kind of music that holds onto you forever, which will reward again and again, always giving the listener something more each time.

I consider it a tragedy that this man didn't have time to give us more, his album is one of the finest late 1970s fringe RPI gems. The album was reissued on CD a few years ago with a different cover and name, but it includes the original album plus half a dozen bonus tracks. Highly recommended to fans of the weirder RPI albums, classical, and avant-garde fare.

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