Dei ricordi, un museo is the first solo album by Stefano Lupo Galifi, historic vocalist of Museo Rosenbach, and was released in 2021 on the independent AMS Records label with a line up featuring along with Stefano Lupo Galifi (vocals) also Luca Scherani (piano, organ, keyboards, flute), Marcella Arganese (guitars), Gabriele Guidi Colombi (bass) and Folco Fedele (drums) plus Alessio Calandriello and Irene Spina (backing vocals). Rather than a solo album, in this case it would be more correct to speak of a team effort involving numerous musicians from the current Italian prog scene who are also members of bands like La Maschera di Cera, La Coscienza di Zeno, Il Tempio delle Clessidre, Ubi Maior or Panther & C.. In particular, Luca Scherani and Gabriele Guidi Colombi have tailor-made for the singer’s voice music and lyrics suited to his exuberant vocality, perfectly in line with his musical history. Marcella Arganese contributed to the composition of the title track and took charge of the beautiful art work of the cover and booklet, inspired by the content of the lyrics...
The opener “Cuore (Dei ricordi, un museo parte 1)” (Heart - Of memories, a museum Part 1) sets the atmosphere. It starts by a dreamy piano passage, then the music and words evoke the image of a homeless, a man whose house is a bench in the park. The yellow lights of the city feed the silent and thick mud that covers his past. Then, suddenly, appears the image of a lent helping hand and of emotional doors that are opened by a good heartened person. There’s a strong sense of empathy, questions about family and identity and the figure of a forgotten son who reappears from the past...
The hermetic “La morale cede” (Morals give way) evoke a crimson wire from which pain and time are hanging. There’s the image of a running man on a golden beach, but at the end of his path there is nothing but pain. Then comes the image of a woman who walks with a heavy pace on her lost soul. Male and female are just two arrogant halves, coherent with their desires but far from each other. And morals give way...
“La stanza e l’angolo” (The room and the corner) is a melancholic, disquieting track that deals with the fear of the unknown and the need for a shelter from the outside world. On the delicate piano pattern, heartfelt vocals tell of a man scared by someone who’s knocking at his door. He stands still, silent and motionless, then he retreats in a corner of his room with his hands on his face. He waits for the unexpected knocking noise to fade out...
The beautiful title track, “Dei ricordi, un museo (parte 2)” (Of memories, a museum Part 2), is a long, complex piece that describes a man walking in the wood, in a light rain. His hands sink into the sand and the feeling of the sand falling through his hands brings back memories of old childhood games. Then he comes out of the wood and pushes open an creacking red gate. A driveway leads to an old empty house. A quivering rainbow feather flies around him and its flight opens the way to memory. A relentless wave of memories overwhelms him. Soon, the flow of memories turns into a museum...
“Le due linee gemelle” (The two twin lines) is another hermetic, dreamy piece that portrays in music and words a charismatic artist suspended between past and future. Voice and silence for the show are like the hidden depth of two twin lines. An idea of courage and the unawareness of maturity stem from an unsolved, enigmatic past and an unknown future...
Stefano Lupo Galifi, 2019
“Sterile” (Sterile) starts by a beautiful acoustic guitar arpeggio and the vocals in the forefront. It’s a wonderful piece that depicts a winter landscape and evokes an atmosphere of decadent resignation. The pungent smell of burnt wood and ash fills the air as a freezing breeze crystallizes the thoughts. In the morning the protagonist wanders aimlessly in the forest with the heavy burden of his existence weighing on him, reacting like a hunted deer whose blood stains the ground, unconsciously helpless. That blood is so similar to ash, black dust under the protagonist’s feet. Then he searches for a way out of the labyrinth of the forest. Eventually, around him he can hear the noises of the industrialized world that soothe his pain in a sterile wait...
The final piece, “L’amante” (Dei ricordi, un museo parte 3), begins softly and evolves into a sensual crescendo. Music and words try to describe a controversial and morbid relationship that charms and upsets the protagonist. Dragged into a spiral in which senses and reason are lost, overwhelmed by the spells of his mistress, the protagonist is subject to dangerous emotional storms. Storms overflowing with a desire from which he tries to escape with mixed success...
On the whole, a perfect exercise of style and a real treat for Italianprog lovers.
Via Modesta Valenti is a progressive rock band based in Rome that
took form in 2017 inspired by the likes of Genesis, Yes or Pink Floyd
with a line up featuring Matteo Zanuzzi (vocals and lyrics), Adriano
Sabatucci (acoustic and electric guitar), Francesco Mongatti (piano,
keyboards), Gianmarco Palma (electric bass) and Luca Santi (drums).
The name of the band refers to a homeless woman who, in 1983, died in
poverty and in the cold of Rome Termini station, arousing much
indignation for her state to the point of becoming a symbol, a kind
of secular saint to whom the homeless people of the Italian capital
turn. In 2002 the Municipality of Rome named in her memory a
fictitious street where the homeless can apply for residency
registration, via Modesta Valenti.
In 2024 the band self released a debut EP, entitled Suite For The
Last Prophet, containing just a long piece divided into twelve
short sections for a total length of twenty-three minutes. It tells
in music and words a surreal story, a kind of psychedelic dream where
the band showcase their instrumental skills and a strong sense of
humour. To be honest, in my opinion vocals and lyrics are not the
strength of this work but the music is good and worth listening to, a
nice patchwork of different styles and atmospheres stitched together
with passionate coherence even if following a plot a bit confused...
Via Modesta Valenti, 2024
The suite begins by a piano solo introduction. Then the vocals on a
marching beat evoke the image of a boy who enters in a public library
and asks for a book about the human common denominator (“The
Eternal Story”). The librarian gives him a copy of the Quran and
while reading it the boy falls asleep and begins to dream. In fact,
the following section tells of a crazy journey on camel back through
the Arabic Desert (“Desert Trip”). When the boy arrives in La
Mecca he can hear the voices and noises of the bazaar in a foreign
language (here the lyrics turn from English to Italian) (“Bazar
Blues”). Then the protagonist enters in a Turkish bath and the
dream gets more and more blurred (“Jazzy Smoky Snake”) going on
between mystical ravings about gods and prophets (“Pristine soul”),
tempting and deviously enchanting women (“Barbara”),
pseudo-scientific digressions (“Origins”), delirious political
rantings about a borderless and endless world (“Silk And Mohair”),
mysticism trapped into the unconscious (“The Final Fork”) and
geometrical transcendentalism (“In The Mist Of Tempo Changes:
Trying To Connect Two Dots”). Then it’s time to wake up, the
protagonist is back in the library, in a world where you can find the
words of God in the bookshops for sale (“La Mecca Conquest”). A
short instrumental section (“A.C.U.C. Almost Completely Useless
Coda”) ends the suite...
Merging Cluster took form in
Florence in 2010 on the initiative of two former members of Biofonia,
Gabriele Marconcini and Emiliano Galli, both in love with modern prog
and psychedelia. In 2014 the band managed to release a self produced
demo EP with a line up featuring Gabriele Marconcini (vocals),
Emiliano Galli (keyboards), Marco Casalini (drums), Gianfilippo
Innocenti (guitars) and Roberto Manzani (bass). Then the project went
through a long period of hibernation. Ten years after, with the same
line up, Merging Cluster woke up and finally released their first
official studio album, entitled Peak Of ephemeral Light, on
the independent Lizard Records label. It contains the four tracks of
the demo EP remixed and remastered and four brand new pieces.
According to an interview with the band, it is not a
concept album in which a story is told but
there are some recurring themes in the various pieces.
All of them, in one way or another, tell of the moments
of transition that make a person different from what he was before,
or from what he believed or hoped he could be...
The
opener “Dysrationalia” every now and again could recall Marillion
and is a long piece about the difficulty of thinking and behaving
rationally when faced with even the most banal facts of life. The
music and lyrics invite you to keep your eyes and mind open and vigil
so as not to become prisoners of your emotions or victims of the
conformism...
The
title track, “Peak Of Ephemeral Light”, comes from the old EP.
It’s a nice spacey piece that tells about the awareness that a man
is nothing if compared to the immensity of the universe. The course
of the galaxies in their race to the unknown can’t be reversed and
a human being is not immortal, he’s just a kind of peak of energy
soon destined to vanish into the void...
“Subjective
Doubles Syndrome” is another old track from the 2014 EP. The
atmosphere is disquieting and tense as the lyrics describe the
feelings of a man on the brim of madness who believes that there’s
someone going around with his body and face, someone who is speaking
with his voice. In fact, the title refers to a rare delusional
misidentification syndrome in which the patient experiences the
delusion that he has a double with the same appearance, but usually
with different character traits, that is leading a life of its own...
From
the 2014 EP is also the introspective, visionary “Gift Undeserved”
that begins softly with guitar and bass that could recall Pink Floyd
as the music and lyrics take you through fantastic landscapes.
According to an interview with Gabriele Marconcini in the magazine
Prog Italia, this piece describes states of consciousness
suspended between dream and reality and how we do not feel adequate
or deserving of what is given to us by chance or by superior
forces...
The
last track from the 2014 Ep is the beautiful “The Shadow Line”.
It was inspired by a novella of the same name by Joseph Conrad that
depicts a young man becoming an adult, in particular a young man who
boards a ship for the voyage of his life. He will become a captain
and the shadow line of the title represents the threshold of this
development. The tide is turning, the sea and the sky are changing
while the protagonist approaches the line, his eyes are burning. Will
his heart keep on pounding when he’ll cross that line? Here the
lyrics tell of the moment of transition between two phases of life...
“Planning
The Renaissance” is a piece full of positive energy that kicks off
with a hard electric guitar riff supported by the hammering rhythm
section. It is an urgent request for change in individual and
collective consciousness. The vocals express anger and indignation
screaming the vital need for a new resolution. How can we plan a
rebirth? We should find a way to learn how to create a new light, a
new heart and find a new way of living in harmony with mother
nature...
Merging Cluster 2022
“Land
Of The Wait” opens by a delicate piano intro, then the vocals evoke
blind days that pass, one the same as the other, leaving behind empty
promises and regrets. The atmosphere is melancholic, but then the
perspective changes and old memories of seasons full of expectations
come to the surface. In fact, this piece tells of the reality that
clashes with expectations destined to never materialize and was
inspired by another seminal novel, The Tartar Steppe by
Dino Buzzati. The novel tells the story of a young officer, Giovanni
Drogo, who spent all his life guarding the Bastiani Fortress, a
remote stronghold overlooking a desolate desert. He waits for a war
in which to obtain power and glory, but the enemy hordes never
arrive...
The
final track, “Over (You)”, is dark and hypnotic. According to the
band the lyrics are hermetic and esoteric but always focused on the
experience of the passage. Sometimes we feel a strong sense of loss.
Sometimes we lose our battles, sometimes our wars, sometimes we lose
our body, sometimes our mind and identity. Then there comes a time
when we feel that our future is over and we need a serpent kiss...
Limite Acque Sicure came to
life in Ferrara in 2005 on the initiative of Andrea Chendi and
Antonello Giovannelli, initially just with the aim of playing covers
of historic prog bands from the seventies. After some personnel
changes and many years of live activity on the local scene, in 2022
the band released on the independent Minotauro Records label a very
interesting eponymous debut work featuring their own compositions in
vintage style (and one cover) with a line up featuring Andrea Chendi
(vocals) and Antonello Giovannelli (piano, synth, organ) along with
Ambra Bianchi (vocals, flute, harp, percussion), Francesco Gigante
(bass), Paolo Bolognesi (drums) and Luca Trabanelli (guitars).
According to the band, it’s a concept album sui generis
where all the tracks follow in some way a common thread: the eternal
challenge with the unknown. The art cover gives a clue of the
content...
The
long, complex opener “Sogno d’oriente” (Oriental dream) begins
softly but soon heavy electric guitar riffs break the dreamy
atmosphere. In fact, the dreams evoked here by the music and lyrics
are not those of the folktales narrated by Scheherazade in the One
Thousand and One Nights but those of people who try to escape
from wars, famine and adversities. Looking for a better place and a
better future, some of them walk for miles and miles, crossing
borders and rivers while others embark on ships in very bad
conditions defying storms and raging waves. Often their hopes collide
with reality and what they find at the end of their efforts is just
another miserable place, if not death...
The
introspective “Terra straniera” (Foreign land) begins by a piano
solo passage, the atmosphere is tense and melancholic. The music and
words tell of the sense of alienation felt by a person who is cut off
from the society around him and feels like a stranger in his own
land. What he has to do to overcome his blue mood is to be positive
and follow the brightest star in the sky...
A
pulsing rhythm introduces the following “Il respiro dell’anima”
(The breath of soul), a piece about the mystery of birth, life and
death. It depicts a kind of mystical journey that begins from the
relationship between a mother and her child and continues until
maturity and awareness. All in all, we are nothing but blood and
matter in search of the soul...
“Antico
mare” (Ancient sea) begins by the sound of the waves. The
atmosphere is relaxed and dreamy. The music and lyrics evoke ancient
civilizations and forgotten gods, battles and legends, bold warriors
and beautiful women, mighty walls and talking masks, philosophers and
poets. The shores of the Mediterranean Sea are full of the signs of a
glorious past that still lives in our memories and the hope is that
in the future the waves of this sea will bring more beauty and less
wars...
“Fiamme
intorno” (Flames around) is a complex piece about time passing by,
regrets and hopes. It begins with a tense atmosphere while the music
and lyrics describe a poet who feels that time is standing still. He
can’t find the words to express himself, he has no more ideals to
fight for. Around him there are ghosts that dance like flames, the
time that has passed can not return and the rivers where words once
flowed are now dry and full of the dust of the past. Then the tension
eases, resignation and bewilderment give way to new energies that
fill the inner void of the protagonist. As the artist accepts to live
in harmony with his new reality the inspiration comes back...
According to the liner notes, this piece is dedicated to the memory
of Neil Peart.
Limite Acque Sicure on stage, 2022
The
long epic “Il giardino del mago” (The wizard’s garden) is a
cover of Banco del Mutuo Soccorso and was recorded live. It’s an
interesting tribute to one of the bands that inspired them the most
and it leads to the last track, “Ti salverà” (It will save you),
short, folksy song that begins by a strummed acoustic guitar. It’s
a reprise of the last part of the second track, “Terra straniera”
where the lyrics invite you to look up and follow the brightest star
in the sky, a metaphorical ideal to not get lost in the path of life.
According to an interview with the band, it’s a kind of synthesis
of this work: as a virtuous attitude to maintain in the passages,
in the evolutions of our life and our being, we wanted to propose the
pursuit of an ideal, of a star that guides us...
On
the whole, an excellent album where vintage sounds and original ideas
merge convincingly.
Limite Acque Sicure: Limite Acque Sicure (2022). Other opinions: Jose Antonio Marmol: The high quality of this album, in both its musical content and sound, is fantastic and recognizable after the very first listen, which is not that usual when talking about debuts... (read the complete review HERE)
Una vita migliore is the fourth studio album by La Coscienza
di Zeno and was released in 2018 on the AMS Records label with a
renewed line up featuring Alessio Calandriello (vocals), Gabriele
Guidi Colombi (bass), Andrea Orlando (drums, percussion), Stefano
Agnini (synthesizers, Moog, organ), Gianluca Origone (guitars) and
Luca Scherani (piano, synth, Mellotron, Hammond organ, bouzuki) plus
the guests Sylvia Trabucco (violin), Alice Nappi (violin), Edoardo
Romano (sax), Joanne Roan (flute), Daniela Piras (flute), Davide
Corso (sax, clarinet), Marco Callegari (trumpet), Gaetano Galli
(oboe), Melissa Del Lucchese (cello), Fausto Sidri (vocals,
percussion), Martina Saladino (vocals), Nicola Sannino (vocals) and
Alice Scherani (Glockenspiel). It’s an amazing symphonic rock work
that draws on the tradition of the Italian historic bands from the
seventies to express deep feelings shaping new pieces with an up to
date sound and fresh ideas. The beautiful cover artwork, by Genoese artist Jessica Rassi, is
linked to the content of the album...
The wonderful opener “Lobe iste calabu” sets the atmosphere. It’s
an instrumental track that starts by a delicate acoustic guitar
arpeggio and goes through many changes in rhythm driving you to
unknown, dreamy realms made of sounds and emotions...
The title of the following “Il posto delle fragole” (Wild
Strawberries) refers to a famous 1957 Swedish drama film written and
directed by Ingmar Bergman and depicts in a surreal way stagnant
memories and dreamlike flashes, poignant regrets and the new
awareness of an old man, a scientist, who reflects about his past
mistakes while trying to seek for a peaceful place to rest. In the
end the fog dissolves from his nightmares and he can find the place
he was looking for, a place to become a child again...
The lively, folksy “Danza ferma” (Still dance) begins with a
strong baroque flavour. The music and lyrics try to describe the
unstoppable rhythm of Time that keeps men and women in perennial
movement. You can’t help it, you have to keep on dancing as
memories flow back and forward and the rhythm rises while the music
goes on...
“Mordo la lingua” (I bite my tongue) is a tense, melancholic
piece about incommunicability. The music and lyrics evoke the image
of a little, hot heart that tries to find a shelter form the storms
of the outside world with no result. The protagonist drowns in a sea
of adverbs and useless words, he can’t properly express himself and
keeps on biting nervously his tongue. Without expression skills you
risk to become invisible because a man who can’t talk and find the
right way to communicate with other people is like a vanishing
shadow...
“L’aspettativa del bimbo scuro” (The expectation of the dark
child) is an introspective track with strong classical flavours were
music and lyrics revolve around the psychological gap between what a
man appears to be and his hidden desires and illusions. In every man
there’s a dark side, a rebellious child that struggles to emerge on
the surface from the deepest shadows of the ego. A dark, blind child
that seeks for immorality and slowly retreats in face of the terror
of social judgement...
The long, complex title track, “Una vita migliore” (A better
life), tells in a very poetic way of a horrible family crime. The new
partner of a woman, a seaman, sexually harasses and rapes her young
daughter. The woman tries to protect and justify her man. The
psychological impact on the girl, as you can imagine, is devastating
and the music and lyrics try to depict the victim’s feelings
conveying a strong sense of disenchantment and inner discomfort. The
girl longs for a better life but now all her dreams are broken, her
innocence lost forever...
Then, the beautiful instrumental “Vico del Giglio” closes the
album. It’s a track that could recall Banco del Mutuo Soccorso
without being derivative and invites you to have another spin...
On the whole, an excellent album and a must have for every
Italianprog lover.
La Coscienza di Zeno: Una vita migliore (2018). Other opinions:
Michael “Aussie-Byrd-Brother”: If you're an Italian prog fan, then La Coscienza di Zeno have once again delivered an album that holds everything you could ask for. They draw from such a rich history of vintage Italian progressive music but effortlessly graft it to a modern setting, and they deliver it all with an exceptional technical proficiency and vibrant imagination. Their previous album `La Notte Anche di Giorno' may still be their defining moment to date, but `Una Vita Migliore' is another classy, luxurious and unpredictable symphonic Italian work from an endlessly skilled band, full of colour and endless personality... (Read the complete review HERE)