Saturday 8 January 2022

FOLLOWING IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF FREEDOM

Aliante come from Pisa, Tuscany, and took form in 2017 on the initiative of two former members of Egoband, Jacopo Giusti and Alfonso Capasso. The same year they released an excellent debut album, entitled Forme libere, on the independent M.P. & Records label with a line up featuring Jacopo Giusti (drums, gong, percussion), Enrico Filippi (keyboards, piano, Mellotron, Moog) and Alfonso Capasso (bass) plus the guest Serena Andreini (narrative vocals). It’s an almost completely instrumental album where the musicians experiment and express their own ideas and musical formulas freely inspired by bands such as Le Orme or Emerson, Lake & Palmer. According to the band, the art cover by Jacopo Giusti, an oil on canvas painting, tries to describe the idea that there’s no need of something pre-conceptually established in any kind of artistic creation...



On the short opener “Forme libere” (Free forms) you can hear the narrative vocals of Serena Andreini introducing the subject matter. Life teaches us how to know shapes, colours, emotions, how to love them and make them our own, it also gives us the opportunity to invent new ones, to mix new shades but we always have to change perspective in order to have new forms to observe, free forms to model and paint... The short introduction fades into the following “Kilowatt Store”, a powerful track full of energy and dizzying keyboard rides...



Next comes “Tre di quattro” (Three of four), a beautiful piece with a spacey tinge that begins by soaring melodic lines and a dreamy atmosphere, then a pulsing rhythm section and more experimental keyboard sounds evoke dark, lunar landscapes and fantastic voyages towards far stars and unknown planets...

“Etnomenia” is sprinkled with exotic flavours and opens with ethnic chants in the background and a drum solo pattern, then the keyboards backed by the rhythm section draw dreamy melodies evoking far savage landscapes and adventure films of explorers and travellers...


 
“Kinesis” starts by a slow pace and a mysterious atmosphere, then the rhythm gradually rises for a nocturnal ride through the empty streets of a modern metropolis (at least it’s what the picture in the booklet associated with this piece might suggest) while the short “Coda: Marea 03” evokes a sense of impending change...

“L’ultima balena” (The last whale) conjures up scenes from whaling and could be a perfect score for a film about a dangerous voyage on a sail ship across forbidden seas and lands on barbarous coasts. Get ready for harpoon shootings and bloody fights against terrible creatures, imaginary or real...



The last track, “San Gregorio” (Saint Gregory) was inspired by the life of Gregory of Utrecht, follower of Saint Boniface and abbot of St. Martin's Monastery. Three years before his death in 776 he was hit by a paralysis that gradually spread over his entire body. At the approach of death he had himself carried into church, where he passed away. This excellent piece is divided into five parts - “Ottava nota”, “Utrecht”, “Il convento di San Martino”, “La paralisi” and “Kinesis (Reprise)” - but the plot, of course, is up to the music and your imagination...

On the whole, an excellent debut work.

You can listen to the complete album HERE

Aliante: Forme libere (2017). Other opinions:
Michael “Aussie-Byrd-Brother”: Running a welcome vinyl length of around forty-seven minutes which ensures it will be easy to re-spin often, here is an album that basks in its soloing-heavy proudly `proggy' heritage without being a mere uninspired or lazy vintage remake. `Forme Libere' calms and dazzles in equal measure, is intelligent instrumental music with endlessly memorable themes and full of warmth, colour and movement, and it's an album that reveals Aliante to be a group of talented musicians of restrained skill and great taste... (read the complete review HERE)

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Monday 3 January 2022

THE SPACESHIP MATRIARCH

Sticky Brain took form in 2014 in Schio, a small town in the province of Vicenza, on the initiative of Andrea Moro and Mattia Cavallaro, inspired by artists and bands such as Herbie Hancock, Weather Report or Snarky Puppy. After some time spent honing their skills and playing live on the local scene, in 2019 the band self-released an interesting debut album, entitled Looking Forward, with a line up featuring Giorgio Manzardo (sax), Stefano Nardon (keyboards, vocals), Andrea Moro (bass), Giovanni Caruso (guitar), Mattia Cavallaro (guitar) and Alessandro Barbieri (drums). For the art cover was chosen a painting by Lanfranco Frigeri, La matriarca dell'astronave (oil on canvas, 1973). Lanfranco Frigeri is an artist best known for the cover of Le Orme’s Felona e Sorona and in my opinion his dreamy subjects and surreal landscapes perfectly fit the musical content of this album...



The hypnotic opener “Fifty-Fifty” starts softly but soon the dreamy atmosphere gives way to a lively funky jazz passage before taking a darker, mysterious path... Many changes in rhythm and mood follow during a crazy ride of more than nine minutes that leads to the short, carefree “Today Is Friday”...

Next comes “Up From The Grave”, the only sung track on the album. It’s a beautiful piece blending jazz with a touch of psychedelia, Latin rock and reminiscences of the Beatles. It tells in music and words the experience of a revenant coming out of his grave, searching for a melody. His skeleton falls apart while he’s dancing under the moon, just like in a comic book. Then he takes off in a new coloured form escaping from hell...




“Stajass” is a long, complex piece that starts softly with romantic passages and a strong sense of melody. The vibrant middle section then gives way to a final part sprinkled with oriental flavours... The following “Viaggio alla roccia di Morosha” is a lively track with a pulsing rhythm that every now and again reminds me slightly of Area’s La mela di Odessa...

“Biveson” ends the album and features a dreamy first part with echoes of smooth jazz and bossa nova and a second part in crescendo where the rhythm takes off for a finale where you can hear some psychedelic touches.

On the whole, a good debut work in the vein of bands such as Mad Fellaz or Endless Season.

You can listen to the complete album HERE

More info: