FROM DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES

Ambigram came to life some years ago in Piacenza on the initiative of two experienced musicians such as Beppe Lombardo and Max Marchini who gathered around them a kind of super-group to give form to their musical ideas mixing seventies influences and up to date sounds. In 2021 they finally released an excellent eponymous debut album on the independent Ma.Ra.Cash label with a line up featuring Francesco Rapaccioli (lead and backing vocals), Beppe Lombardo (guitars), Gigi Cavalli Cocchi (drums, percussion) and Max Marchini (bass) plus the guests Annie Barbazza (vocals), Max Repetti (piano, keyboards), Marco Rancati (backing vocals), Paola Folli (vocals), Camillo Mozzoni (oboe) and Paolo Tofani (guitar). By the way, an ambigram is a word or drawing that retains meaning when viewed from a different direction or perspective and the art work by drummer and graphic artist Gigi Cavalli Cocchi gives an idea of this concept, with the name of the band on the cover that can be read the same way if viewed upside down...

 

The opener “A Mediterranean Tale” starts softly, the atmosphere is dreamy as the music and lyrics evoke ancient legends and myths related to the Mediterranean sea under a starry sky. From the images of Troy to a charming singing of mermaids, the sea seems to bring its secrets up to the surface and the wind carries them away on the changing rhythm of the waves...

Dreams turn into nightmare in the following “Cerberus Reise” that describes in music and words the meeting with an infernal three-headed beast raising from a concrete rock to angrily rape and kill. But the protagonist is a poisonous, lethal prey that wields a sword of light and is ready to fight back the evil creature...

 

“Pig Tree” starts by an aggressive electric guitar riff, then the music and lyrics lead you on the frontier between good and bad, where there are deep, dark waters under your feet and flashes above still clouds. It might be just a matter of points of views but we live in a world where money rules and where even Alice gives no pills for free to let you enter in wonderland, a world that hides many moons and where many suns shine...

“Sailing Home” every now and again could recall Yes in the first part while the middle section features the female vocals of the guest Paola Folli and recalls Pink Floyd. Your destination is still hidden by the horizon but, as you sail on a calm sea, you can already smell the air of home and dream of the end of your journey...

 

The reflective “Imaginary Daughter” portrays with visionary lyrics and nervous notes a rebellious girl who follows her wild nature and dreams of being a mother in a hostile, poisoned world... Then comes the dramatic “L’absinthe”, a piece dealing with the problem of alcohol addiction. The protagonist wrongly believes that alcohol can destroy his nightmares and help him fighting his inner ghosts. The absinthe sings with voice of a gentle giant lighting the candles of illusion and bringing lost songs from the sky. But eventually the protagonist’s soul cries as he’s led away by madness, broken down...

The introspective “Patchwork” depicts in music and words snowy landscapes and a frozen lake reflecting your thoughts. In just thirty seconds you breathe on curved air, it’s a time with no space nor meaning to create, the moment in which you must begin your personal search to love... Then it’s the turn of “Pearls Before Swine”, a short piece about the cruelty of pig killing: did God create a paradise for them?... A radio edit version of “Cerberus Reise” ends the album...

On the whole, a very interesting work.

You can listen to the complete album HERE

Ambigram: Ambigram (2021). Other opinions: 

Kevin Rowland: These guys should be considered crossover in its truest sense as they are mixing together loads of different styles, and while they often are in neo they definitely bring in other elements while never going to the style often associated with Italian bands of huge banks of keyboards. This is a debut prog album well worth discovering, which repays repeated listenings... (read the complete review HERE)

 

More info:

https://www.facebook.com/ambigramband/ 

IN AND OUT OF FOCUS

Bokeh is a double album containing the remixed and remastered version of Logos’ eponymous album from 1999 and the remastered version of the following Asrava, from 2001. It was released in 2023 on the Andromeda Relix label and distributed by Pick Up Records. According to the liner notes, this is a photograph of the early years of the band, when their artistic identity was still out of focus but their project was full of fresh energies and enthusiasm. As you can guess from the art cover, the aim of the band was to look back at their youth and save those memories from oblivion trying to improve the sound quality of the old tapes but avoiding re-recording and overdubbing to let the magic of the moment linger...

 

The eponymous debut album was recorded in the spring of 1998 and self-released in a few physical copies the following year with an art cover by Luca Zerman inspired by the style of the painter Giorgio De Chirico. According to the official website of the band, it was recorded live in the studio with an old 8-track deck, with all the members playing together, except for the overdubbing of the voices and some guitar solos. From a sound quality point of view the result was very far from perfect, but the band is still very proud of it, in particular of the long suite “Il grande fiume”, inspired by Herman Hesse's novel Siddhartha and of “Sentiero nel prato, porta nell’universo”, which tells of the meeting between a child and an alien. Given the quality of the sources, the band couldn’t do miracles but, in my opinion, the result is remarkable...

 

Logos’ second album, Asrava, was recorded in Verona between August 2000 and January 2001. The art cover by Luca Zerman tries to describe the musical and lyrical content, harder and darker if compared with their previous work. The overall sound quality is better since the band spent a lot of time in the studio working painstakingly to properly record all the pieces in a satisfactory way. Originally it was self-released in a few physical copies and, unfortunately, in 2001 it went under the radar but it’s an excellent work and the new version offers to possibility to fully appreciating it...

On the whole, I think this double CD is an excellent chance to complete your Italianprog collection with two very interesting albums in a restored version and a beautiful packaging. It’s a kind of gift the band made to their fans and I’m happy about it.

Judge by yourselves, you can listen to the complete album HERE

More info:

https://www.logosprog.it/

ARRIVAL AND RESTART

Moto Perpetuo began life in 1996 in Gallarate, a town in the province of Varese, Lombardia. They were mainly inspired by artists such as Chuck Corea, Pat Metheney, Yellowjackests or Weather Report and the name of the band refers to their ever changing attitude in mixing jazz, rock and classical music with their own creativity and sensitivity. After many years of live activity on the local scene and two self released works that went almost unnoticed, in 2023 they self-released an excellent album entitled Untitled with a consolidated line up featuring Alessandro Lualdi (piano, keyboards), Orazio Martino (guitars), Costantino Corbetta (bass) and Roberto Ragazzo (drums) plus the guest Matilde Lualdi (violin). According to the band, this is a small point of arrival and restart, a book with a question mark on the cover whose content is left to the imagination of those who will listen to...

 

The lively opener “Gasoline” takes you on a ride across American deserts and open landscapes full of vitality and positive energy while the following “Clave Surprise” is calmer and darker, with classical inspired piano passages and dreamy atmospheres preluding to unexpected changes...

“J.J. Blues” starts with the electric guitar in the forefront. There are some excellent organ passages, the rhythm is relaxed and takes you away, along a blue line for mystic miles... Then it’s the turn of “Lonely Walk” that, according to the band, would be an ideal background for a solitary walk to let off some steam...

 

The delicate “Irish Lullaby” is an excellent piece that features the guest Matilde Lualdi on violin and was inspired by Irish landscapes, Mother Nature and the strength of stability of maternal feelings... Then comes “Operation: Suitcase”, a piece that could describe the feeling of nervous expectation that you can experience before taking off for a holiday on a far exotic paradise, when you have just to focus on the content of your suitcase savouring the sense of freedom that’s going to come...

“Grain” has the soft, steady step of a pink panther while “Joint Point” is a lively track whose title evokes a point of union and communion. Funky rhythms and organ parts that could recall Jimmy Smith... Next comes “N.B.F.” whose title could be an acronym for Natural Born Fifteen or, if you prefer, Nervous Breakdown Fever. It’s a track that, according to the band, was inspired by a wild, odd teenager, combative and idealistic...

“Untitled”, the title track ends the album leaving to the listener the task to set his imagination free to give form to the images that notes suggest. It begins by a calm piano pattern, then goes through many changes as to evoke the different scenes of a beautiful dream...

On the whole, a very good work that it’s really worth listening to.

You can listen to the complete album HERE

More info:
https://www.facebook.com/motoperpetuoband/