GOODBYE DREAMS

La Dottrina degli Opposti is the brainchild of Genoese composer and multi-instrumentalist Andrea Lotti, former member of La Coscienza di Zeno. The first fruit of this project is entitled Arrivederci sogni (Goodbye dreams) and was released in 2018 on the independent label Fading Records. It was recorded by Andrea Lotti (piano, keyboards, guitar, mandolin, accordion) with the help of Gabriele Guidi Colombi (former member of La Coscienza di Zeno and Il Tempio delle Clessidre) on bass, Paolo Tixi (former member of Il Tempio delle Clessidre) on drums while Francesco Ciapica (current member of Il Tempio delle Clessidre) took charge of the vocal parts. Along with them there's the orchestra of the conservatory Giorgio Federico Ghedini from Cuneo that provided a classical touch to the arrangements in tradition of Italian symphonic prog. The music draws on seventies influences with an updated sound and in my opinion fans of bands such as Premiata Forneria Marconi will surely enjoy this album, a conceptual work dealing with the transition from adolescence to adulthood, enchantment and disenchantment, dreams and reality...

The delicate, short opener “Dove Dio dipinge le nuvole” (Where God paints the clouds) is a beautiful instrumental track that sets the atmosphere perfectly blending piano and synthesizers with the sound of the orchestra. It leads to the complex “Nero, grigio e tu” (Black, grey and you) that describes in music and words a new dawn and the beginning of another dull working day. Night dreams get drown and melt away in a cup of coffee while in the streets people start to move following their usual routine like faceless, tearless shadows. You try to act like them but you can’t, you miss the freedom of your childhood and set your fantasy free, now the desire to take off and fly away in the sky is overwhelming... In my opinion, here some musical passages have been deliberately composed to pay a tribute to PFM and other sources of inspiration like Lucio Battisti but the piece is excellent despite a faint sense of déjà vu. 

“Equilibrio” (Balance) is an ethereal, short interlude with the orchestra in the forefront and the following “Sulla via del ritorno” (On the way back) is another good instrumental piece with strong PFM influences. Then it’s the turn of “La riconquista della posizione eretta” (The reconquest of the upright position) that depicts in music and words strange soaring forms, new identities floating in the air, between sky and earth, light bodies flying among the clouds, running one after each other trying to feed their soul with colours and hopes...

“Quiete” (Stillness) is another short instrumental interlude that introduces the last track, the long, articulate “Fra le dita” (Between the fingers) that tells of a meeting in a café between a young man and a woman. The young man is a shy student, a dreamer that can’t find the right words to express his feelings... Well, the art cover by Eloisa Giacosa in some way depicts this meeting better than my words and fits the music very well giving an idea of void and melancholy in a world where too often dreams clash against reality. 

All in all, Ithink that this is a very good album and that it is really worth listening to. Have a try and click HERE

More info:

https://altrockproductions.bandcamp.com

DARK ORIGAMIS

After a long period of silent work, in 2018 Daal expressed their creativity by releasing contemporaneously on Agla Records two excellent albums: Decalogue Of Darkness and Navels Falling Into A Living Origami. The first one features dark atmospheres and vintage sounds that could recall some seventies soundtracks of horror films. Here the line up features along with Alfio Costa (Mellotron, Moog, piano, synthesizers) and Davide Guidoni (drums, percussion) the guests Ettore Salati (guitars) and Bobo Aiolfi (bass). According to the liner notes, this work is dedicated to the memory of some dear persons that the musicians lost and miss but who are still present in their hearts. The art cover, taken from a 1508 woodcut portraying the devil taking the soul of a dying man, and the pictures in the booklet try to describe the musical content, conceived as an inner mirror reflecting the dark side of a man with his nightmares and fears…

Despite the gloomy subject matter and the Gothic art cover, the music has nothing to do with depressing black metal or dissonant passages evoking infernal sceneries. On the contrary, all along the untitled ten chapters in which is divided this long album, the music is always characterised by a sumptuous, symphonic beauty... Delicate, dreamy passages evolve into nervous parts with the rhythm section giving a strong sense of tension while light, soaring melodies alternate with sudden surges of dark, mysterious energy. At times bands such as Goblin or L’Albero del Veleno might come to mind, but this work has it’s own originality and deserves a very attentive listening from the very first notes to the last...

By chance, recently, while re-listening to this album I was reading a novel by Gaston Leroux and I stumbled in a passage that in my opinion seems to capture its spirit: “He called out, with all the strength of the sorrow that filled his breast... He called in the way in which you call not upon a living, but upon a dear dead woman, in the hope that she may appear to you. For there are moments when human sorrow does not dread ghosts and when it conjures up shades to press them to its heart, without trembling on the threshold of the great mystery; moments when love would have the dead come forth from the dark and when it is astonished - so loud has been its call - that the spirits do not come and kiss its lips!” (quote from Balaoo, by Gaston Leroux). Well, I think that this music is a kind of powerful call to the ghosts, a lay requiem mass able to stir emotions and even to express a sense of positivity by exorcising the evil spirits of melancholy and sadness. One of my favourite 2018 albums!

You can listen to the complete album HERE

Navels Falling Into A Living Origami if compared to the symphonic sounds of its 2018 “different twin” is more experimental and dissonant. Here the line up features along with Alfio Costa (keyboards, piano, Mellotron) and Davide Guidoni (drums, percussion, loops, soundscapes) the guests Simone Montrucchio (bass), Lorenzo Fasanelli (guitars), Salvatore Lazzara (oud, guitars), Marcella Arganese (guitars), Guglielmo Mariotti (vocals) and Mir Khista (violin). The album features just one long track, a disquieting suite that blends different influences such as psychedelic folk and electronic music with ethereal, eerie atmospheres and cosmic couriers. 

The albums begins by the sound of the wind blowing through the trees in what seems to be a forest, then an acoustic guitar arpeggio and a soaring melody conjure up a mystical atmosphere before a change of direction and a plunge into mystery. Every now and again you can hear Pink Floyd echoes or passages evoking exotic, nocturnal landscapes and incense smells. It’s like the soundtrack of a film where you have to add you own images...

The plot of this imaginary film is revealed in the short lyrics at the end of the suite. It tells about an introspective journey back in time and of the meeting with a very strange little creature. You’re walking in a forest coloured in autumnal, purple colours when you hear a strange noise. There’s little, furry creature sitting on a trunk. You pick it up and try to shave off its greasy hair and then you look at it, at its frightened expression... Then you see it implode and feel that something is atrophying your soul!

All in all, this is an intriguing, complex album that needs many spins and the right mood to be fully appreciated for all its inspiring, melancholic beauty.

You can listen to the complete album HERE

More info:

https://www.facebook.com/DAALMUSIC

JAZZ ROCK IMPRESSIONS OF ITALY

Möbius Strip are an Italian progressive jazz-rock band from Sora, a town in the province of Frosinone, in an area called Ciociaria. They came to life in 2014, rising from the ashes of another band called Yellowcake, with the aim of blending jazz improvisation with progressive rock structures and a strong sense for melody. Soon they started to compose and perform their music live on the local scene honing their skills and in 2017 they released their first eponymous album, self-produced and distributed by the Musea Records label, with a line up featuring Lorenzo Cellupica (piano, organ, keyboards), Nico Fabrizi (sax, flute), Eros Capoccitti (bass) and Davide Rufo (drums). The beautiful artwork by Francesco Tersigni portrays the band members as comic strip heroes and tries to give an idea of its musical content. In my opinion it’s a very good work that should please fans of bands such as Perigeo or Agorà.

The opener “Bloo” is a long track that starts softly with the organ in the forefront before going through many changes in rhythm and mood. I don’t know if the title refers to the character of Mac’s blue-coloured imaginary friend in the American animated television series Foster's Home but this is an intriguing track that can stir your imagination…

Mobius Strip 2017

The following “Déjà Vu” begins by a nice melodic piano pattern and is my favourite track on the album. The atmosphere is dreamy and light, the perfect score for an imaginary journey around the world...

The lively “First Impressions” is another nice track where you can hear echoes from the Dave Brubeck Quartet mixed with jazz rock and sprinkled with a touch of prog, then it’s the turn of a short piece for piano solo and bass, the dreamy, romantic ballad “Call It A Day”.

“Andalusia” is another great track where the band showcase all their musicianship mixing in a brilliant way jazz, Mediterranean flavours and rock digressions. The last track, “Möbius Strip”, is the band’s manifesto and ends the album with its almost nine minutes of fresh energy and inventiveness.

All in all, this is an instrumental album that’s really worth listening to. Have a try and judge by yourselves… You can listen to the complete album HERE

More info:

https://www.facebook.com/MobiusStripGroup/