WOODS AND BISCUITS

The Buttered Bacon Biscuits were a band from Faenza, a town located in an area called Romagna, that had been active from 2008 to 2013 with a style rooted in the seventies and consisting in a mix of psychedelia, hard rock and a pinch of progressive. They had a good live activity and in 2010 released a debut album entitled From The Solitary Woods, with a line up featuring Riccardo Dal Pane (vocals, guitars), Alex Celli (guitar), Alessandro Aroni (bass), Stefano Olivi (keyboards) and Antonio Perugini (drums - later replaced by Andrea Palli). The album was distributed by the independent label Black Widow Records and got some good reviews but the band did not last enough for a follow up.

Buttered Bacon Biscuits

After the band split up, in 2014 from their ashes came to life a new band called Witchwood, a quintet featuring three former members of the Buttered Bacon Biscuits, Riccardo Dal Pane (vocals, guitars, mandolin, percussion), Stefano Olivi (Hammond, piano, synth, Moog) and Andrea Palli (drums, percussion) along with Samuele Tesori (flute, harmonica) and Luca Celotti (bass). In 2015 this new band, with the help of some guests, released an interesting debut album on the independent label Jolly Roger Records, Litanies From The Woods, where they managed to mix hard rock, progressive, psychedelia and southern rock in a personal way adding fresh ideas to vintage sounds and obscure atmospheres borrowed from the past. Their love for bands such as Uriah Heep, Jethro Tull, Deep Purple, Hawkwind or Lynyrd Skynyrd is apparent but the songwriting is good and the overall sound is full of energy and passion. The result is a nice example of what now is called classic rock and in my opinion it is really worth listening to...

The opener "Prelude" is just a short electric guitar intro that leads to the caustic "Liar", a heartfelt complaint against a world where appearances are more important than real values and democracy is nothing but an illusion conjured up by cynical politicians, a world where the lies of the media hide the dirtiest sins and where dreams fill the graves...

On the following "A Place For The Sun" the music and lyrics evoke the cathartic power of music and invite you to live day by day to tackle the adversities of life, always looking for the hidden place in your soul where the sun always shines...

"Rainbow Highway" deals with the wish of freedom and adventure of a boy who grew up in a small town, surrounded by boredom and old traditions. The music and lyrics here evoke the dream of a life without rules, a wish of absolute freedom, a fantastic ride on the shoulders of a rainbow demon to feel the wind blowing free and wild all around... Hey boy, pick up your heart and run! Before you lose your soul...

The hypnotic, psychedelic "The Golden King" conjures up the image of a caravan coming from a distant planet, sailing through endless skies... Listen to the litanies for the mysterious Golden King and let him take you away for a ride to his palace to celebrate a strange Sabbath!

Witchwood on stage 2015

The following "Shade Of Grey" is a dark, haunting track evoking Gothic atmospheres and a disquieting creature from an hidden world moving through the woods. You can listen to the songs soaring from the woods as you get lost in a starry night...

Next comes the romantic ballad "The World Behind Your Eyes" that is dedicated to Laura, the lovely muse of lyricist and composer Riccardo Dal Pane. It leads to the long, complex instrumental "Farewell To The Ocean Boulevard" featuring many changes in rhythm and atmosphere, a real epic where the band showcase all their musicianship and creativity swinging from calm, relaxed acoustic passages to fiery electric rides and vice versa. A wonderful track!

"Song Of Freedom" is a celebration of the life on the road, the song of a travelling man in love with his sweet freedom. This nice mix of country rock, blues, hard rock and psychedelic dreams à la easy rider leads to the long closer "Handful Of Stars", a beautiful suite divided into three parts that reminds me of the atmospheres of the Dream Cycle stories by H.P. Lovecraft and deals with haunting and dangerous dreams. On the first part, "The Gates Of Slumber" the music and lyrics conjure up the image of a dreamer lost in his room with floating planets all around while stars fill his mind and heart... He falls in a timeless abyss of dark dreams that the evocative music of next two instrumental parts, "Nox Erat..." (It was night) and "Epilogue: Litanies For A Starless Night", let your imagination free to build up...

On the whole, a very nice album! If you like bands such as Wicked Minds, I'm sure you will not be disappointed...

More info:

https://www.facebook.com/Witchwoodband 

THE COMET

Ison is the second full length album by Démodé, a very interesting "pocket size orchestra", as they love to define themselves, from Udine. It was self released in 2015, four years after the previous Le parole al vento, with a renewed line up featuring Francesco Zanon (violin), Andrea Zampieri (clarinet), Claudio Colaone (sax), Luca Laruina (piano), Carin Marzaro (bass) and Alberto Zenarolla (drums). In my opinion these four years of gigs and hard work in the studio have resulted in a very mature work where the band showcase all their great talent and musicianship mixing jazz and chamber music, avant-garde and tango, East-European folk and progressive, melodies and dissonances... The result is an excellent instrumental album that is really worth listening to from start to finish!

art cover

The opener "La fuga" (The escape) could evoke a joyful ride in the country after a hard week spent on the workplace. It starts with a nervous passage led by sax, drums, pulsing bass lines and piano, then the music begins to swing towards positive feelings and more relaxed atmospheres until the finale, when some delicate sax lines seem almost wishing you good-night.

"Ison", is darker and full of mystery. The title of this piece refers to the comet ISON, also known as C/2012 S1, a sungrazing comet discovered on 21 September 2012. In 2013 Ison broke apart when it passed close to the sun because of heat and tidal forces... According to the official website, between creation and destruction comets are symbols of metamorphosis and, as the passage of Ison coincided with a moment of deep renewal for the band, they chose to name after it not only this piece but the whole album.

Démodé 2014

"Arturo" is a short track that starts slowly and then evolves in a lively dance with klezmer influences that make me think of Louis de Funès playing the role of Rabbi Jacob in an old French comedy film... The following "Memento" is reflective, jazzy and cinematic. I don't know if this piece was inspired by the film of the same name directed by Christopher Nolan in 2000, but in my opinion it could be a really good score for a neo-noir psychological thriller with such a kind of plot...

The dreamy "Nuances" conjures up ethereal atmospheres and black and white memories. It leads to the magical beauty of "Il sentiero incantato" (The enchanted path) that seems to take you on a mystical trip in the Alps. The evocative music will lead you on a beautiful path, through breathtaking panoramas and ancient woods where rocks, trees and roots conjure up legends and old myths...

The title of the following "Il papiro di Ani" (The Papyrus of Ani) refers to a papyrus manuscript with cursive hieroglyphs and colour illustrations created during the 19th dynasty of the New Kingdom of ancient Egypt and that now lies in the British Museum. Egyptians compiled an individualized book for certain people upon their death, called the Book of Going Forth by Day, more commonly known as the Book of the Dead, typically containing declarations and spells to help the deceased in their afterlife, and this manuscript was compiled for the Theban scribe Ani... In my opinion, here the beautiful music could be a perfect score for a film based upon a novel by Wilbur Smith such as The Seventh Scroll or River God.

Démodé on stage 2015

"Split Inside" is a calm, introspective track featuring classical patterns veined of exoticism and romantic dreams. Every now and again it reminds me slightly of Le Orme's album Florian... Next comes the suggestive "Charlotte" with its sensual Latin flavour and its echoes of tango.

According to the band, the ever changing "Luna indiana" (Indian Moon) was conceived like a crazy radio station that changes continuously tune with irony and absolute nonchalance. It precedes the lively closer "Zucchero sotto sale" (Sugar under salt) wthat blands in a funny way classical passages, jazz and Latin rhythms driving you in a frenzied final dance...

On the whole, I think that this is a really good, mature work. Anyway, have a try and judge by yourselves: you can listen to the complete album HERE

More info:

http://www.wearedemode.com/ 

https://www.facebook.com/wearedemode 

TRANSITORY STATES

Amministrazione Caos Popolare began life in Rome in 2010 on the initiative of Luigi Ranieri and Nicolas Sabini, two experienced musicians with different backgrounds. At the very beginning they began playing cover but soon they turned their attention to the composition of original pieces and started playing live on the local scene sharing their interests with other musicians that completed the line up. At the end of 2014 the band self released an interesting debut album entitled Sendai Nebula with a line up featuring Luigi Ranieri (guitar, vocals), Nicolas Sabini (bass, synthesizers, flute), Andrea Aliberti (guitar), Andrea Di Giovenale (piano, keyboards, synthesizers) and Attilio Renzetti (vocals). The overall sound of the band is not stuck in the past and combines neo-prog with other influences such as psychedelia, hard rock or new wave. The music is accessible but never banal and every now and again could recall some recent works by Franco Battiato without being too derivative. According to the official website, the title of the album refers to the passage from normality to an emotional, altered state and comes from the combination of two words: "Sendai", a term taken from a cyberpunk novel by William Gibson that defines a cyberdeck, a kind of machine that allows transportation to an electrostatic cloud where the peripheral nervous system changes, and "Nebula", a Latin word that defines a vaporous, transitory state. The art work by Ivan Pedretti in some way depicts this concept dealing with dreams, emotions and thoughts...

The opener "Esistenzialista" (Existentialist) starts by a burst of energy that takes you far away on a cold starry night. A multitude of thoughts and feelings pass through your mind in a stream of consciousness as you are wondering about the mysteries of the universe, trying to discover fragments of your future in the oracles of an ancient divination text called I Ching... In this fantastic, galactic ride there's room for relax and reflection as the rhythm calms down and the atmosphere becomes dreamy. But there's still a deep sense of uneasiness lingering in the air before the rhythm takes off again. You have to open your mind to avoid falling down, you are the maker of your own existence...

The following "Onde" (Waves) features the guest Roberto Segala on drums and begins with the sound of the sea in the background and a delicate piano passage. Then the rhythm rises evoking lively dances and the far echoes of a summer spent on a solitary beach... The music and lyrics draw games of light on the water and dreamy, distant horizons, new sensations and melted dreams. Bright memories alternates with the dark shadows of remorse and everything is carried away by the raging waves of destiny...

The melancholic, introspective "Buio assoluto" (Absolute dark) is my favourite track on this album. The music and lyrics depict a heavy silence coming down that begins to freeze a river of dancing words between smiles and sadness... Well, imagine a man who is looking at his dying father: asking for a few more words he begins to fly down into deep memories, between waves and regrets, errors and fears, joy and tears...

The folksy "Liverpool" is sung in English and depicts the image of a lady on a ship in the port of Liverpool. She's got a flower in her hand. She's ready to set off on her journey and hopes to leave poverty and famine behind her, maybe she's directed to America... It's an old, dramatic story of emigration that unfortunately has not lost its actuality.

The long, dark instrumental "Abandon" every now and again reminds me of Pink Floyd and leads to the surreal, dreamy "E la luna fuma" (And the moon smokes) where the music and lyrics conjure up the image of a strange moon that comes down from the sky just to sit in front of a glass of wine, smoking a cigarette like a black and white diva in an old movie. Maybe you will find her in a desert coloured of utopia trying to make real what people believe is nothing but fantasy...

The notes of Jingle Bells open the last track of the album, the long epic "Noël" (Christmas) where the hopes and feelings of a little child on Christmas Night are compared with the hopes and feelings of an old man who has not lost all his dreams and hopes. Time and space are intertwined in a dance of memories... There are sounds to cover the silences and smiles to smother the screams as Father Christmas comes on a bolero rhythm just to put another brick in the wall...

On the whole a very interesting album, full of poetry and dreamy atmospheres! Have a try and judge by yourselves, you can listen to the complete album HERE.

More info:

http://www.acpmusic.net/ 

https://www.facebook.com/Amministrazione-Caos-Popolare-117963204977657/ 

THE RIGHT MOMENT

Blank Forest began life in Udine in 2012 on the initiative of Luca Moreale (guitar, vocals) and Valerio Simonini (keyboards) with the aim of creating original music blending different genres. Later the line up was completed by Michele Di Gleria (drums) and Carlo De Biaggio (bass) and in 2014 the band self released a debut album entitled Kayros. The title of the album refers to a word in Ancient Greek that means "the right or the opportune moment" and that can describe in some way the lyrical content of this interesting work. The overall sound of the band is varied and rich, the music swings from calm, acoustic passages to heavier moments but without growling or screaming voices. Although the vocal parts are not particularly theatrical nor operatic they fit the melancholic mood of the album...

album cover

The long opener "Drawing Lines" starts softly and sets the atmosphere. The music and words evoke melancholy and rage, doubts and determination, pain and rebellion. There are many changes in rhythm, strummed acoustic guitars passages alternate with more aggressive electric parts while the dreamy vocals every now and again remind me slightly of Anthony Kiedis...

Next comes "Passion Brings The Energy" where reflective moments alternate with fiery passages and some echoes of west coast sprinkled with a pinch of exoticism. Suspended between past and future, life appears different and you feel a fire burning inside under the light of a new rising awareness...

The following "Falling Stars" deals with roots and memories that come back. The loss of an important person in your life can't be the end of the world if the light of his (or her) example still shines on you and his (or her) soul can still show the way to follow... Then comes the introspective "Landslip", a disquieting, diluted ballad where dreams turn into nightmares and you can't decide what is real and what is not and where the ground is shaking under your feet on the edge of an impending change...

Blank Forest 2014

The long suite "Crystal Eyes" is the main course of the album. At over thirty one minutes in length, this is a real epic. It's divided into seven parts and is about growing up, trying to heal the consequences of deep traumas, fighting day after day against ghosts and shadows, choosing time after time between good and bad: the music and words drive you through the psychoanalytical analysis of a broken man, beaten by the wild winds of life, a man who now risks to burn out, and is on the edge of suicide... Eventually the short closer "Crucial" ends the album with a final jump into the night on a soft piano pattern.

On the whole, I think that this is a good album and it's really worth listening to. Although the vocal parts might not always be convincing and you could find some passages a bit uneven, the band have a good potential and I'm sure they will do better in the future. Anyway, have a try and judge by yourselves! You can listen to the complete album HERE

More info:

https://www.facebook.com/blankforestproject/