L'OMBRELLO E LA MACCHINA DA CUCIRE

I recognize that this is surely not the best Battiato's album and effectively it looks like a missed opportunity of making a synthesis between the "kraut-experimental" and the pop periods of his music..

The album's structure is based on songs and the album is quite short as his pop releases of the 80s, but the music is totally electronic with classical influences and the quite usual presence of a soprano.

On this album Battiato seems to be very concentrated on the lyrics written by Manlio Sgalambro . I mean that it looks like the music has been written after the lyrics and on some tracks, especially on "Genualdo da Venosa" it seems that Battiato has struggled a bit to make the metrics fit in the music.

The title track, but most of all "Moto Browniano" and "Tao" are very high moments, in particular the first, but some songs are not so good to aim for the 4th star, some like "Piccolo Pub" and "Un Vecchio Cameriere" are for me below the third, instead.

My overall impression of this album is that it represents a moment of transition, an attempt of renewal not completely successful, but still good enough for who likes the early albums of Battiato.

The only exception is "L'Esistenza Di Dio" (The existence of God) which has initially a strong middle-eastern ethnic flavor. It's singular that a song which speaks of a philosopher studying theology in Leipzig has an Arabian/North African musical part in the first 3 minutes. Following a German woman speaks of theology over a soft keyboard layout later joined by a choir. In this part I'm reminded to Popol Vuh's "Hosianna Mantra" or to Vangelis of the late 70s.

In the end, highlights and lowlights of this album are balanced so the three stars rating seems to me the most appropriate.