Outside
Nowhere is the second album by Roman band Taproban and was
released in 2003 on the independent label Mellow Records. The line up
is the same as on its predecessor, Ogni pensiero vola, and
features Gianluca De Rossi (keyboards, organ, Minimoog, vocals),
Guglielmo Mariotti (bass, 12-string acoustic guitar, Moog, vocals)
and Davide Guidoni (drums, percussion) but here the overall sound is
enhanced by the special guest Alessandro Papotto (sax - from Banco
del Mutuo Soccorso and Periferia del Mondo) who took part to the
recording sessions. If you like bands such as Le Orme, Emerson Lake &
Palmer or Quatermass I'm sure you will not be disappointed by this
interesting work where the music flows steadily taking you across the
space. In fact, this is a concept album dedicated to the memory of
Russian cosmonaut Komarov and to all the other space-flights
pioneers...
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| Taproban 2004 |
The
short instrumental opener “At the Fifteenth Orbit” sets the
atmosphere. As you can read in the beautiful booklet, Komarov, aboard
of the Soyuz 1, returned to Earth after fifteen orbits around the
planet and this track tries to capture the feelings of the cosmonaut
before his return trip...
The
following “Outside Nowhere” is a long instrumental suite divided
into six parts. The first part, “The Mission”, features a dark
atmosphere and a haunting marching beat that develops in a kind of
strange bolero. It takes you back in time as a flashback, when
everything started and the space mission was planned. The following
section, “The Last Goodbye”, is warmer and lightened by the sound
of Alessandro Papotto's sax that evokes the strong emotions of the
departure. On the third section, “The launch”, you can hear the
countdown while the rhythm takes off like a glider: here the music
reminds me of some counterpoints by Le Orme... Next comes “Outside
Nowhere”, the fourth section which describes in some way the
feelings that an astronaut can experience during his long flight...
Komarov: oh, what a Lucky Man he was! The last two sections, “Return
To...” and “...A New World”, take us on the way back with new
perspectives and a strong sense of hope.
“Broken
Shell” is a short acoustic ballad sung in English that tells about
the sense of solitude and restless inquietude that seizes the
astronaut when he thinks of his ex-sweetheart... “Now my life is a
broken shell / I need a place to go far away... But there’s no
place that is safe from you / And in spite of my strong will / You
will be anywhere, forever with me...”.
“Il
difficile equilibrio tra sorgenti d’energia” (The difficult
balance between sources of energy) is a beautiful track featuring
Italian vocals that evokes infinite spheres clashing one against each
other, ruled by mysterious laws that, sooner or later, will make them
melt in a black void... “Long is the fighting between sources of
energy / One against each other / One against each other...”.
“veS
ml’ tagHach” (Klingon War Dance) is track full of obscure energy.
It features some martial passages, some exotic touches and fiery
keyboards rides. The title refers to a fictional extraterrestrial
warrior species in the 1960s television series Star trek...
The
following “Pieces Left Behind” reminds me of some Pink Floyd's
atmospheres and features some vocal parts in English drenched with
nostalgia. Feeling alone and lost in the space, our astronaut is
looking forward to the return trip because he has realized that the
world leaves a mark on you and you can't really escape from it... “In
this place is it always day-time? / Is it always night-time? / I
really don’t know / World, I’m coming back...”.
“In
The Deep” is a short track full of tension that describes the dive
of the space ship towards the Earth. The mood is dark and in some way
you can feel an impending sense of tragedy in the air. It leads to
the final track, “Nexus” that recalls the early works of Franco
Battiato. It features some beautiful sax lines and filtered vocals in
Italian... “I sent signals as I was moving between sound waves /
Visualizing my dream among dark interferences...”. According to the
booklet the voice that you can hear in the background is really the
voice of Komanov, but you can't hear the final explosion. As you
probably know, the Soyuz 1 crushed on the ground...
On
the whole, an interesting work with a nice art-work by Davide Guidoni
that maybe describes its atmospheres and content better than all my
words.
You
can listen in streaming to the complete album HERE
Taproban:
Outside Nowhere (2004). Other opinions:
Dave
Sissons: While this is unlikely to top anyone’s “best of year”
lists, it is a pleasing work with much to offer the old school prog
fan. It manages to steer clear of the bombastic overkill employed by
Japanese proponents of similar music (Ars Nova, Gerard) and also
avoids the overt metal influences that are currently in vogue with
many Neo-Prog groups (Star One, Aryeon). All in all, this is an
agreeable album for all fans of keyboard prog... (read the
complete review HERE)
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