Sunlight is the second
album by Drift Lab, a jazz rock project based in Rome and led by
Manuele Montesanti. It was self-released in 2026 with a completely
renewed line-up featuring, along with founder member, composer and
leader Manuele Montesanti (piano, synths), the new members Marco
Pistone (bass), Guido Della Gatta (guitars) and Roberto Porta (drums)
plus the guest Carlo Maria Micheli (sax). According to the official
website, this is music "written with rigour
but performed with freedom, where improvisation finds its home within
intricate harmonic architectures".Drift
Lab is
an open, constantly evolving
project, aiming
to shape a sound that
blends"jazz
roots and contemporary imagery, instrumental virtuosity and
electronic curiosity, composition and experimentation".
The art cover tries to give a visual form to the musical content...
Electronic
sounds and a brief drum roll introduce the album's title track,
"Sunlight". It's a bright piece, full of frenetic energy,
ready to wake us up to face a new busy day. A kind of urban ride
illuminated by the sunlight...
The
following "Yellow Fire" is a piece with a jagged rhythm but
full of warmth and melodic flares that leads to "Bump" a
jazz rock track full of nocturnal and disquieting atmospheres with
excellent interweaving of guitar and keyboard that share the solo
parts, supported by a never banal rhythm section...
"A-M-M-I-M"
somehow revisits and reinterprets a piece from the previous album
("M-I-M-M-A"). It's a relaxed track that at times invites
you to dance the night away while "Serendip" is a slow,
sensual piece featuring guest saxophonist Carlo Maria Micheli and a
certain oriental exoticism. The title refers to the ancient name of
the island of Ceylon...
"Chaste
Countrywoman" starts with the bass in the foreground that traces
a funky rhythm, then the electric guitar outlines melodic paths that
take the song in other directions... Next comes "Bleep" is
a complex and fast piece where all the musicians showcase great
technical skills and a notable interaction.
"bYpOLAR"
begins with an old video-game atmosphere and continues with
irrepressible freshness, alternating more relaxed moments with others
where the pace becomes pressing and lively. Ten, the dreamy
"Evolving" concludes the album. A beautiful official video
was shot for this piece, completing the sonic universe the band has
evoked with images of a disturbingly beautiful dystopian future...
Le Terre Lontane are a Roman band whose roots date back over ten years. After many difficulties and a long process of composing, studying and performing on the local scene, in 2025 they self-released their first studio EP, “Il viaggio, Parte I” with a line up featuring Daniela Palumbo (lead vocals, keyboards), Valerio Talevi (bass), Marco Venarotta (drums) and Simone Coria (guitars). According to the band, it is a conceptual work, the first part of a musical story that tells the adventures of a human being (the listener), transported on a journey within himself. From the ordinary madness of his daily life to the very core of his being, he must face countless challenges and temptations to rediscover his true essence… The overall sound of the band is built on acoustic bases and Mediterranean influences, but the ability to compose, arrange and propose personal musical ideas is remarkable and I am convinced that those who love bands such as Corde Oblique will find their music very interesting...
The album opens with "Cento dune (Panico)" (Hundred Dunes - Panic), which expresses a sense of loss and anguish through music and lyrics. In an ever changing world, a deeply rooted sense of fear emerges in a humanity alienated and accustomed to a life where there is no room for doubts or questions. However, the protagonist's need to discover the true nature of his being forcefully takes root. The journey begins in an inner desert. A hundred dunes loom on the horizon, you can see heavy footprints of unknown shadows and unfamiliar lights in the sky while lightning and thunder strike a fiery land. The protagonist enters a labyrinth whose exit leads to the truth. A hundred voices tell him to continue, and a hundred paths await him...
On the following "Miraggio" (Mirage) the protagonist appears lost in the desert that stretches out within and outside him. The landscape is surreal, with silken dunes and fiery air, empty lands and a hazy view. A snake comes out of the blue, then in the protagonist takes hold the desire to escape to an island of hope, a source of truth. The island can be seen on the horizon, brilliant and precious as the sea approaches. A ship unfurls the sails ready to sail... But it's only a dangerous mirage the protagonist must free himself from. The finale, with the piano in the forefront, is excellent. It's a pity that the instrumental coda wasn't developed more...
“Terre lontane” (Distant Lands) brings up nocturnal atmospheres. The music and lyrics depict strange waters and a land with two clear blue moons. If you find it, drop anchor in the icy water and try to reach it. It's the land of eternity where time stands still. It will quench your thirst and your soul will sleep. But do not trust the call of the mermaids. The heart often deceives...
“Sulla riva” (On the Bank) marks a decisive step to the final destination. The music evokes the colour and smell of orchids as the wind passes between blue amber rocks. The protagonist makes up his mind, he will leave on the shore what he was and what he knows, then he will follow the flight of a hundred fireflies to seek for freedom. There’s a mystery to unravel in his heart, and he finally feels like he belongs to himself again...
The sound of the sea waves crashing on the beach and a delicate acoustic guitar arpeggio introduce us to the last song on the setlist, “Lidia,” where the vocal lines and lyrics evoke a strange female character, a goddess waiting for the protagonist. If she sings, the soul comes out. She flies without wings, lonely, and she leads to dreaming. She's a goddess who’s always waited for the fragile heart of a fragile creature...
On the whole, an album that’s too short and leaves a sense of incompleteness. The story of the journey’s end is missing. Let's hope that the band don't make us wait too long to tell it and complete this truly interesting work!
After
therestartin
2014 on
the initiative of founder member and main composer Pericle Sponzilli,Lame di luce is the second studio album of Reale Accademia
di Musica’s new course. It was released in 2022 on the Sony Music
label with a renewed line up featuring Pericle Sponzilli (vocals,
guitars) along with Fabio Liberatori (piano, Hammond organ, synth),
Erika Savastani (vocals), Fabio Fraschini (bass) and Francesco Isola
(drums) plus the guest Danilo Pao (Fender VI). The overall sound is
noticeably distant from that of the 1972 debut album, but that
doesn't make it any less interesting. Vintage sounds alternate with
more modern ones, and the female voice fits particularly well into
the sonic textures. Pericle Sponzilli’s songwriting skills have not
been tarnished by the passage of time, and the final result certainly
lives up to expectations...
The
opener “Onde di sabbia” (Waves of sand) begins softly by a
delicate acoustic guitar arpeggio soon backed by the keyboards. The
music and lyrics evoke a strange dream. The object of desire of a
real passion appears like a mirage in a strange parallel world where
you can see waves of sand and dunes into the sea...
The
beautiful “Ascesa al Fuji” (Ascent to Fuji) takes us to Japan for
a spiritual experience. In fact, climbing the Mount Fuji is more than
a nature hike, as the mountain is not just a tourist attraction, it
is a sacred place. The music and lyrics evoke a silent place where
time stands still. Along the path, step after step, between oak trees
and bamboos, you’re are left breathless as you try to hide the fear
of falling. Then, at the top, you can listen to the wind around you
instead of the echo of your fears. Eventually, comforted by a friend,
you can enjoy the sunrise...
The
ethereal “Due pietre preziose birmane” (Two Burmese gemstones)
depicts two gems. One reproduces an eight-legged dragon, guardian of
the sky, while the other represents a tiger, symbol of earth. The two
beasts are fighting each other. The image of the fight evokes the
contrast between the desire to chase one’s dreams by leaving for
distant places or accepting the reality that the present reserves for
us and staying in one’s comfort zone, giving up on adventure. It’s
a kind of gambling game where the stake is your time...
“Lame
di luce (Blades of light) is a melancholic piece about the fear of
the unknown. The music and lyrics evoke the image of a man gazing out
to sea from his home, transformed into a bunker of concrete and sand.
Blades of light reflect off the walls and play with the shadows as
the protagonist aims his gun at an imaginary target emerging on the
horizon. Painful and tumultuous memories haunt him. Time cannot be
stopped and the blue water turns blood red. The finale restores calm
on the sea, as nature takes over under a starry sky...
The
jazzy “Si parlerà” (They will talk) brings us the image of a
hero from another civilization inventing an ageless world, a musician
and poet whose sounds and words are not just notes and voices but
trees that grow and do not bend. It's the dream of a better world
where people talk to each other instead of waging war. Battles made
of words and smiles to shed new light and illuminate emotions...
“Una
ferita da disinfettare” (A wound to disinfect) is an introspective
song that talks about feelings and relationships that are transformed
by time. There are wounds that slowly heal, changing perspectives
between regrets and thoughts turned to the faded magic of a smile
that time has veiled with indifference...
Reale Accademia di Musica, 2022
“Ore
lente” (Slow hours) is a beautiful piece about a train journey
shrouded in mystery. A crowded station on a cold winter's day, a seat
next to a silent, sleepy stranger, long hours without speaking, then
a look that melts the ice in a breath...
“Incontri”
(Meetings) is in the same mood and paints in music and words a love
understood as art and perfection, a series of days and experiences to
remember forever, a series of moments you wish you could capture and
that never grow old, precious memories that will never leave you
alone...
“Ossessione”
(Obsession) is a lively and nervous track that describes a kind of
metropolitan nightmare while the concluding track, the ethereal “Il
cavaliere del cigno (L’addio)” (The Knight of the Swan - The
farewell), is a touching farewell to someone who disappears forever
in deep waters, a shadow that can no longer love, a hero that cannot
be forgotten...
Jemma is a collective of
musicians from Velletri, a town near Rome, whose roots date back to
2017 when, on the initiative of Federico Buccini, they began to jam
together inspired by jazz, Mediterranean folk, funk and progressive
rock. After a good live activity, in 2023 they released an
interesting eponymous album on the independent Emme Record label with
a line up featuring Federico Buccini (keyboards, piano, guitar),
Sofia Ara (flute, sax, vocals), Agnese Antonelli (violin, vocals),
Ludovico Franco (trumpet, flugelhorn), Daniel Ventura (sax, flute -
from VEMM), Alessandro Recanati (electric guitar), Marco Bruno
(bass), Shanti Colucci (drums - from Ingranaggi della Valle and
VEMM), Guglielmo Molino (bass), Davide Fabrizio (drums) and Rosario
Ceraudo (percussion) plus the guest Gianluca Petrella (trombone).
According to the band, it’s a concept album about the sea and the
culture of the sea where original compositions alternate with
traditional folk songs re-elaborated with a jazz rock modern taste in
the vein of bands such as Perigeo, Agorà, Snarky Puppy or Weather
Report: Jemma speaks of earth, sea, wind through intimate, tribal,
rock, groove and ethnic atmospheres seasoned with an overflowing
energy. It is a “crossover” work where jazz, world, rock, funk
blend naturally into an original and innovative sound, a mix of
identities, a crossroads of styles and souls. For the lyrics, the
band chose languages and dialects from the Mediterranean sea like
Italian, Portolotto, Salentine Grecanic or Ancient Greek but the
focus of this project is more on the music than on the lyrics...
The
beautiful opening piece, “Timelapse”, is completely instrumental
and is paradigmatic of the musical direction followed by the band. It
ranges in different musical territories with continuous changes of
rhythm and atmosphere. Maybe, it’s not by chance that the title
refers to a photographic technique in which the frequency at which
film frames are captured is much lower than the frequency used to
view the sequence. When played at normal speed, time appears to be
moving faster and thus lapse...
“Kaneloriza”
is a famous traditional song from Asia Minor, in the past
interpreted, among others, by Domna Samiou, a prominent Greek
researcher and performer of Greek folk music, or Nana Mouskouri. This
version blends Rebetiko music style and jazz. The song evokes the
dangerous charm of a beautiful cinnamon girl...
From
the east shores of the Mediterranean Sea then we sail to the western
coasts, towards Spain. “Hija mia mi querida” is apiecethat
comesfrom
the Sephardic tradition and
shows us an example of a poetic and musical
genre developed in the Iberian Peninsula since the
Middle Age. Although it starts by an
acoustic pattern and
ethnic flavours, there is no room for
flamenco sketches here and soon the music veers into a different
direction with a great electric guitar
solo...
“Love
Road Song” begins softly and the atmosphere is dreamy, with piano
trumpet and violin in the forefront. Then the rhythm rises, the pace
takes speed and you’re off on the road, ready to new musical
adventures, like Pytheas of Massalia, a Greek geographer, explorer
and astronomer who made a voyage of exploration to Northern Europe in
about 325 BC. He was the first known Greek scientific visitor to see
and describe the Arctic, polar ice, and the Celtic and Germanic
tribes. He is also the first person on record to describe the
midnight sun. Pytheas introduced the idea of distant Thule to the
geographic imagination, and his account of the tides is the earliest
one known that suggests the moon as their cause...
I
spent all the previous words about Pytheas to introduce the following
track, “I Iriden Så”, an old Swedish folk song full of pagan
symbolism. From the Mediterranean Sea to North Europe and snowy
landscapes. An Italian band singing in Swedish? To appreciate Jemma’s
work I invite you to compare this piece with the version of the same
song by prog folk Finnish band Gjallarhorn in their 1998 album
Ranarop - Call Of The Sea Witch...
“Ossi
di sabbia” (Sand bones) is a beautiful original piece sung in part
in Italian and in part in an ancient dialect called Portolotto that
was spoken in all the ports of the Adriatic sea because it was the
“lingua franca” of the navy. It was derived from the Venetian
language and was almost incomprehensible to most of the people on
land. According to the band, “it tells the story of the
journey of human beings across the sea, a fabric that connects lands
and cultures. To pay even more homage to its meaning we wanted to
write the lyrics in Portolotto, a language used by sailors of the
Mediterranean. The sand bones are the mineralization of human
stories, adventures, difficulties and everything that the sea and the
wind can tell about our lives”...
“Winding
Way” is an original instrumental track that features the guest
Gianluca Petrella on trombone. It takes us with a light pace through
jazz rock territories and leads to the final piece, “Nenia Grika”
a delicate lullaby that ends the album leaving us amidst dreamy
atmospheres in a pleasant sense of peace with a coda in crescendo
that might recall PFM...
Via Modesta Valenti is a progressive rock band based in Rome that
took form in 2017 inspired by the likes of Genesis, Yes or Pink Floyd
with a line up featuring Matteo Zanuzzi (vocals and lyrics), Adriano
Sabatucci (acoustic and electric guitar), Francesco Mongatti (piano,
keyboards), Gianmarco Palma (electric bass) and Luca Santi (drums).
The name of the band refers to a homeless woman who, in 1983, died in
poverty and in the cold of Rome Termini station, arousing much
indignation for her state to the point of becoming a symbol, a kind
of secular saint to whom the homeless people of the Italian capital
turn. In 2002 the Municipality of Rome named in her memory a
fictitious street where the homeless can apply for residency
registration, via Modesta Valenti.
In 2024 the band self released a debut EP, entitled Suite For The
Last Prophet, containing just a long piece divided into twelve
short sections for a total length of twenty-three minutes. It tells
in music and words a surreal story, a kind of psychedelic dream where
the band showcase their instrumental skills and a strong sense of
humour. To be honest, in my opinion vocals and lyrics are not the
strength of this work but the music is good and worth listening to, a
nice patchwork of different styles and atmospheres stitched together
with passionate coherence even if following a plot a bit confused...
Via Modesta Valenti, 2024
The suite begins by a piano solo introduction. Then the vocals on a
marching beat evoke the image of a boy who enters in a public library
and asks for a book about the human common denominator (“The
Eternal Story”). The librarian gives him a copy of the Quran and
while reading it the boy falls asleep and begins to dream. In fact,
the following section tells of a crazy journey on camel back through
the Arabic Desert (“Desert Trip”). When the boy arrives in La
Mecca he can hear the voices and noises of the bazaar in a foreign
language (here the lyrics turn from English to Italian) (“Bazar
Blues”). Then the protagonist enters in a Turkish bath and the
dream gets more and more blurred (“Jazzy Smoky Snake”) going on
between mystical ravings about gods and prophets (“Pristine soul”),
tempting and deviously enchanting women (“Barbara”),
pseudo-scientific digressions (“Origins”), delirious political
rantings about a borderless and endless world (“Silk And Mohair”),
mysticism trapped into the unconscious (“The Final Fork”) and
geometrical transcendentalism (“In The Mist Of Tempo Changes:
Trying To Connect Two Dots”). Then it’s time to wake up, the
protagonist is back in the library, in a world where you can find the
words of God in the bookshops for sale (“La Mecca Conquest”). A
short instrumental section (“A.C.U.C. Almost Completely Useless
Coda”) ends the suite...
Preda is the third studio album by Mad Crayon and was released
in 2009 on the independent AMS Records label. Ten years after their
previous work, Diamanti, the band came back with new ideas and
a renewed line up featuring Daniele Vitalone (vocals, bass),
Alessandro Di Benedetti (vocals, piano, keyboards, percussion),
Federico Tetti (vocals, guitars) and Daniele Agostinelli (vocals,
keyboards) plus the guest Stefano Crudele (drums). In fact, this
album marks an important evolution for the band. The musical fabric
is richer, more refined, the vintage influences are still present but
updated with a touch of modernity and freshness. It’s a complex
concept album about a personal crises set in a dystopic world and the
art cover and the pictures in the booklet can give an idea of the
musical and lyrical content. Unfortunately there are no liner notes
to explain the plot and you have to fill the gaps in the story with
your imagination and the feelings that the music conveys...
The opener “Re Schiavo” (Slave king) introduces the subject
matter. It begins by background voices and a disquieting atmosphere.
The rhythm is slow and the lyrics evoke sweet, hard-to-die memories
and an old photograph. Then the wind begins to blow, blotting out the
dream. The protagonist realizes of being part of a timeless subhuman
system, a mountain without a top that will sooner or later crumble.
As the rhythm rises you can almost perceive a burst of indignation.
Man devastates and ravages his environment night and day without
mercy, turning it into a gloomy place. When the rhythm calms down
there’s room for a melancholic mood and for an epitaph to humanity
before a final surge of anger...
The long, complex “Preda” (Prey) is divided into two parts. The
first part starts by pulsing bass lines and a funky rhythm, but soon
the atmosphere becomes darker, almost suffocating. The music and
lyrics tell of an unresting night with the protagonist surrounded by
the threatening, oppressive lights of a city that in his eyes looks
like a prison. He has to act like everyone else, wearing a mask to
hide his true feelings. But now the time has come, he plans to escape
and he feels just like a prey... As the rhythm rises the hunt begins
and is up to your imagination to follow his efforts. The second part
opens with a heavy electric guitar riff and dark organ waves, the
protagonist keeps on running and you’re left with the image of a
mask hanging from the a willow tree as the wind is blowing. A man is
really trying to cheat death or is this just a desperate dream of
freedom?
“Gabriel” is a melancholic track that evokes faceless shadows and
screams drowned out by the noise of civilization. Something is
burning without flames and there’s room for regret and rage, sweet
memories and gloomy omens... Then comes the beautiful instrumental
“Xoanon” that seems to take you on an imaginary journey through
space and time. The title refers to a wooden cult image of Archaic
Greece associated with the legendary Daedalus...
The delicate “L’isola di Sara” (Sara’s Island) brings out aching memories and misunderstood words carved into stone, in places out of reach. The music and words evoke burning scars and painful regrets but there are also melodic hints of hope. The bandcamp special version of the album features a track for piano and narrative vocals that you can’t find on the original CD, “Isola di Sara Intro”. It’s an introduction to this song with the guest Benedetta Degli Innocenti playing the role of Sara, composed for the live version of the album in 2012 but never performed. It’s the letter of a rebellious daughter to her father who once was an idealist and now is part of the system, changed by his part in the ruling power...
“Sovrano dell’illusione” (King of illusion) is divided into two parts. The first part begins by a delicate piano passage, the atmosphere is dreamy and melancholic. The music and lyrics describe the sad reflections of a man of power who becomes aware that his kingdom is just a world gloomy misery where is weakness what keeps men together. He’s alone in his solitude, greediness has turned his rule in a kingdom of tears but now he dreams of a new dawn and turns his eyes to the mountains of the moon, where the illusion is perfect... In the second part the rhythm rises, the sounds are harder but the feeling of confusion and restlessness never goes away...
“Re Schiavo Reprise” concludes the album with a brushstroke of repentance and regret. The protagonist vows to make his best to repair all the errors he made...
On the whole, a wonderful album that is really worth listening to.
Mad Crayon: Preda (2009). Other opinions: Jim Russell: In 2009 Mad Crayon reinvented themselves with a much more technically complex and harder edged modern sound on Preda. Most of the Tony Banks inspirations have been replaced by something closer to Ozric Tentacles, D.F.A., Yugen, and even a few bits of Porcupine Tree (Deadwing era, with some metal influence but not quite metal). It is pretty obvious that the guys labored hard over these tracks, they are filled with ambition and complexity... The variety of styles and the wide swings in intensity provide a package that will surely satiate adrenalin seeking prog fans. I think "Preda" is a good album by a very tight band... (Read the complete review HERE)
Drift Lab is a jazz rock
project based in Rome that took off in 2020 with a line up featuring
Manuele Montesanti (piano, keyboards), Federico Malaman (bass),
Daniele Chiantese (drums) and Matteo Mancuso (guitars). According to
their website, they were inspired by Bach, Miles Davis,
Frank Zappa and by fusion music and
the connection with these musical worlds is exactly the reason
why they met. In 2023 they self released an interesting
instrumental debut album entitled Moonlight where Manuele
Montesanti’s sound design experiments and synthesizer programming
are the basis of musical compositions developed by the creativity and
virtuosity of the all musicians involved in the project...
The
beautiful title track, “Moonlight”, opens the album with pulsing
bass lines, hectic drumming and delicate melodic breaks that drive
you through metropolitan dreams under the moon and the city lights...
Next comes “Murano”, another excellent dreamy track full of
dappled colours and soft atmospheres. The title refers to a locality
in the Venetian Lagoon, best known for its glass making...
“King
Of Nothing” is darker. It opens with the bass in the forefront and
goes on with a perfect interaction with the other instruments evoking
a strange sense of uneasiness while the following “M-I-M-M-A” is
lighter and carefree, almost suitable for dancing...
“Chatterland”
is calmer and with a laid back attitude. The great technicality of
the solos never clouds the sense of melody and musicality of the
piece... Then it’s the turn of “Japanese Experiment” a piece
that slowly grows to take you to distant territories where all the
members of the band showcase their great musicianship...
The
brilliant “My Os” blends jazz rock with a touch electronica
evoking the development of a very particular operating system and
leads to the final track, the reflective, intense “Rebirth”...
Il Cambio della Guardia (the
name means Changing of the Guards) took form in Fiano Romano, a town
near Rome, in 2016 on the initiative of composer and lyricist
Alessandro Papili with the aim of playing original compositions
inspired by seventies prog bands such as Banco del Mutuo Soccorso,
Premiata Forneria Marconi or Le Orme. After a good live activity on
the local scene and a painstaking work in the recording studio, in
2023 they self released a very interesting eponymous album with a
line up featuring Samuel Marchionni (vocals), Alessandro Papili
(keyboards, acoustic guitar), Marco Centini (electric and acoustic
guitar), Davide Magalotti (bass) and Angelo Lo Porto (drums) plus the
guest Chicco Martini (vocals). It’s a concept album that, through
the imaginary story of a Crusader knight, tells of the absurdity of
wars fought in the name of God...
The
beautiful instrumental opener “Prologo” sets the atmosphere
alternating frenzied, aggressive parts with the keyboards in the
forefront and calmer, reflective passages. It leads to the dreamy
“C’è un’armata che mi aspetta” (There’s an army waiting
for me) that starts by a delicate acoustic guitar pattern. The music
and lyrics depict the feelings and the expectations of a Crusader
knight who embarks on a ship to join the Christian army in the Holy
Land. The crew raise the sails heading south as the scirocco wind
brings sand and songs from afar. Now the ship sails across the
Mediterranean sea heading for the promised land and new adventures...
“Il
crociato - Parte prima” (The crusader - Part One) takes us into the
horrors of war. The music and words evoke borders marked by time and
desperate women and children on the move who leave behind cities and
villages reduced to rubble. Their pace is slow and they have the fear
of the Crusader soldiers in their eyes since the fight is merciless.
However, there’s no way to stop the holy mission, there’s a siege
and the Crusaders break into a fortress through a breach in the wall.
They kill all the infidels inside the castle and the dried blood
forms a kind of red path. It’s a cruel slaughter but the Christian
soldiers trust God’s forgiveness and celebrate their victory under
the sign of the cross...
The
epic “Il duello” (The duel) depicts the challenge and the mortal
confrontation between the protagonist and a Muslim knight. It begins
with the confidence of the Christian knight who is longing to kill
his unfaithful adversary, a desecrator of altars who thrives on lies
and hatred. However, as the fight goes on, his perspective changes.
He can see no angels ready to help him and guide his sword nor
virgins waiting to cradle the soul of his enemy in an exotic
paradise. It is simply a man like him, the Christian knight now can
see the fear and the cruel reality with all the atrocity of war. In
the end the Christian knight wins and kills his rival but experiences
a strong sense of mercy and pity. His faith wavers and he feels that
something in him has changed...
The
melancholic, reflective ballad “In fondo al mare” (At the bottom
of the sea) evokes the pain and torments of the Christian knight. All
he really wants now is to be buried at the bottom of the sea, with
sand and salt weighing down on him and the sound of waves crashing on
the rocks under the moonlight. Like a leaf carried by the wind that
doesn’t know where to go, now he seeks for the peace of the sea...
“Gerusalemme
- Parte prima” (Jerusalem - Part One) starts by conjuring up the
images of a battlefield scattered with corpses, broken spears,
blood-stained shields, heads severed from the corpses. The landscape
after the final battle is gloomy, the cost of freeing Jerusalem from
the infidels rule is high and the taste of drinking from the Holy
Grail is bitter. At night, when the emotive storm calms down, the
music and lyrics focus on a camp nearby where the Christian knight
can be seen embracing a beautiful Muslim woman. It’s the beginning
of a very difficult and complicate love story, thwarted by the moral
sense. The absurdity of war reveals another dark side...
The
long, complex “Gerusalemme - Parte seconda” (Jerusalem - Part
Two) tries to emphasize in music and words the strong contrast
between deeds and ideals. The cross on the helmet and shield of the
Christian knight recall the purpose of his mission. A crusader like
him does not fight for gold or out of thirst for power but for an
ideal. He offered his faith and his life to God but now, while his
bloody axe is red as the sunset, he can see nothing around him but
men hanging to life without strength in their fingers who loosen
their grip and fall down. “God, what have we done in thy name?” -
Asks the knight. But there’s no answer, he can’t hear the voice
of God...
Cambio della Guardia 2022
“Il
crociato - Parte seconda” (The crusader - Part Two) takes us back
to the present but the view, after all the time that has passed since
the Crusades, is in fact not very different. The music and lyrics
depict a new kind of Crusader knight, without armour and horse. He
wields a machine-gun and for him there are no mysteries. He comes
from New York or maybe from Moscow and he was told that he’s on the
right side. He’s ready to shoot a man fearing that he might be a
terrorist. A voice seems to echo in the air telling him to press the
trigger and kill, then to cross himself so God will save his soul...
The
excellent instrumental “Oriente” (Orient) evokes a dark sense of
beauty and with its Mediterranean flavours leads to the last track,
“Il ritorno” (The return), where the rhythm rises to describe a
wild horseback ride toward home, through forests and narrow paths.
The knight is in hurry, behind him he steel feels the ghosts of the
dead chasing him. He wants to know if what he left behind is still
there. At last he throws away his helmet and breathes the air of
home, then the sweet memory of a familiar face appears in the
courtyard of his manor and a smile eases his pain...
On
the whole, a very interesting debut album that deserves credit.
Frammenti is the first
(and, for now, the last) album by Mirage, a band active in the early
nineties and based in Genzano, a town near Rome. It was released in
1994 on the Mellow Records label with a line up featuring Marco Di
Benedetto (piano, keyboards), Giuseppe Iampieri (piano, synth),
Roberto Cesaroni (bass), Stefano Cupellini (drums) and Walter
Cimoroni (vocals, flute) plus the guests Massimo Frittella (vocals,
backing vocals), Diego Confortini (drums), Paolo Mari (guitar) and
Rodolfo Maltese (guitar). Their style was mainly influenced by bands
such as Genesis, Yes, Jethro Tull, Pink Floyd, Banco del Mutuo
Soccorso and the other progressive rock masters from the seventies...
The
opener “Madre dei pensieri” (Mother of thoughts) might
occasionally recall Jethro Tull and takes you on an inner
journey across dark, cold landscapes. As in a dream, on the raging
waters of an unknown sea, the protagonist longs for a harbour where
he can feel safe and put the pieces of his broken personality
together. Finally he finds the right place and he can listen to some
strange songs during an evening celebration. There he asks the
priestess to shout up his name while she sings his fate...
The
dreamy “Prisma” (Prism) evokes a precious gift falling from the
sky, the end of the winter and the return of spring. In the night the
protagonist can already see the light of dawn and, as in a kind of
trance, he can breathe his own thoughts as if they were nothing but
air. Now, outside every form of reality, he feels happy...
The
complex “Il suono del tempo” (The sound of time) depicts with
notes and hermetic lyrics the relationship between man and time, the
desire to be reborn after death and the search for the truth behind
useless appearances. As the protagonist unsuccessfully tries to stop
the movement of the golden pendulum that marks the rhythm of life,
infinity gathers his thoughts...
“L’eco
dei sorrisi” (The echo of smiles) opens softly with vocals on a
church like organ background evoking a game of memories, then the
rhythm rises dragging you into a vortex of visions... It leads to the
epic “Il giardino del re giullare” (The garden of the Jester
King) that depicts in music and words a surreal, timeless inner
shelter where you heal your wounded pride and recover your dignity,
shout for your joy and cry for your pains without fear, aware of all
your mistakes and doubts...
“Le
cose del nulla” (The things of nothingness) starts by a short bass
solo and tells about an otherworldly and cathartic experience, a
hypothetical meeting with Cerberus and an infernal journey to find
where the fears and all the things that never arrived are hidden...
Then the dreamy, acoustic “Illusione” (Illusion) ends the album
with an ethereal atmosphere.
On
the whole, an interesting work that deserves a try.
After
the band split up keyboardist Giuseppe Iampieri continued his musical
career under the pseudonym of Mistheria turning to metal but he has never
denied his first love for Italian prog. Giuseppe Iampieri a.k.a.
Mistheria: You might not know that, before to begin my career as a
classical/metal soloist and before launching my Vivaldi Metal
Project, I got started with an Italian Prog-Rock band called
"Mirage". The one shot work "Frammenti" is the
album that was released in 1994, the first ever album of my career,
an album for which I wrote five songs out of seven, both music and
words. It's an album that I therefore remember with great affection
even though my musical journey went elsewhere later on...
In 2008 Raccomandata con Ricevuta di Ritorno, one of the many one shot bands of the Italian progressive scene of the early seventies, came to life again on the initiative of singer and guitarist Luciano Regoli and in 2010 they released a new album on the independent label BTF, “Il pittore volante” (The flying painter). Along with Luciano Regoli the line-up on this work features the veterans Roberto Gardin (bass, guitar), Nanni Civitenga (bass, guitar, keyboards), Walter Martino (drums) and some prestigious guest musicians as Claudio Simonetti, Fabio Pignatelli, Lino Vairetti, Nicola Di Staso, Maurizio Pariotti and Carl Verheyen to name just a few. Anyway “Il pittore volante” is mainly the brainchild of Luciano Regoli who wrote the music and lyrics and conceived it as a concept album inspired by a book of the same title, a kind of travelogue that he wrote and published some years ago and that he dedicated to the late Iginio Gonni, a painter and a friend, who died in 2003. The basic idea was that of an old painter who flies and looks at his life from above. In the booklet you can find not only the lyrics but also a picture for every piece painted by Luciano Regoli himself. As for the music, the overall sound is not stuck in the seventies and in this work you can perceive even metal influences along with a more typical Italian progressive style. Well, during the nineties Luciano Regoli had been a member of the prog metal band DGM and he doesn’t disown this experience...
The opener “Il cambiamento” (The change) tells of a spiritual metamorphosis. It starts softly with a mystical atmosphere, then hard guitar riffs and harmonica introduce the change... “It happened in those days / Something revolted inside me / Fast as a blizzard... Alone in that room I fell asleep / Dark dreams / Alone in that room I woke up in discomfort... Ah! I was changing and I didn’t want it / But I was coming to life again / Yes! I was coming to life again...”.
“Il vecchio” (The old man) begins with a piano solo introduction. It’s a tense, melancholic track depicting the meeting with an old friend who has just had a stroke... “They had cut off his hair / That old madman was trudging up the hill / Marked by the paralysis that had darkened his mind, his limbs, his fingers / I remember him just a few months before / Enormous, disdainful, with a magnificent beard...They had cut off his hair...”.
“Il fuoco” (The fire) features a duet with sweet, dreamy female vocals and an ethereal, suggestive nocturnal atmosphere. The lyrics and music depict fire as a metaphor of fear before a natural impending event, a fire burning false fairy tales, pains, fears, desires and thoughts... “The night was over there, in front of me / Some rocks were burning / Above me gentle wings were flying away / They were flying high, they moved the air with a dull noise / So I followed them, with the light behind my shoulders / Towards dark clouds...”.
“Eagle Mountain” is a long, complex track that tells about a journey through the desert in North America. A good acoustic guitar intro by Nicola Di Staso (former member of Libra and in the line-up of Daemonia) leads to new horizons and spectacular panoramas where two friends enjoy the quiet, strange atmosphere of the desert until, in the middle of a magnificent, silent landscape, they find an old truck. There’s a sudden change in mood. The truck stands still but the engine is running, the driver is naked and... dead! “He let us stare at him while the night was falling in us / The day after in a café people were whispering about him / But the air was clear / We went out / I switched the engine on...”.
“La mente” (The mind) features a dark, nervous mood. It’s a kind of dive into madness and the lyrics draw images that seem to come from a Stephen King novel. An enormous wasp trying to enter the room, an agoraphobic scene in the subway... “My God! What is happening to me? I’m alone, with my only enemy / I’m alone, with my ego...”.
“L’uomo nuovo” (The new man) is another beautiful track. It was arranged by Claudio Simonetti and it seems conceived as a thriller score. It is about fear, the fear that a man has to overcome to reach knowledge... “At the beginning of the tunnel, under the subway / That noise of water running, under the subway tunnel / I paid attention but I couldn’t understand the origin of that noise...”.
“Le anime” (The souls) features a slow pace and a haunting mood. It depicts a nocturnal landscape. It’s midnight on Elba Island and while the protagonist walks back home along a narrow street he can see the people that used to live there when he was a child and that now are nothing but shadows... “They can’t see me / But I recognize them all...”.
“Raoul” is set in Paris. It’s a complex piece that starts as a strange mix of hard rock and Italian melody (a particular blend between Aerosmith and Quartetto Cetra I dare say), then the rhythm calms down and the atmosphere becomes dramatic. The music and lyrics depict a drunken clochard that’s sleeping under cardboard... “What made him still appear as a man was just a name / That name tattooed on his wrist / Only that name, Raoul...”.
“La spiaggia” (The beach) is set in Portugal. It’s an amazing short ballad featuring a swirling flute and a vocal style that could recall the Italian minstrel Angelo Branduardi. It tells of a strange meeting on a solitary beach on the Atlantic Ocean with a threatening sea that seems like dog on a chain, desperately barking because it couldn’t go any further, blocked by the high cliffs... “I felt as if I couldn’t breathe on the beach / The rocks behind me and the thundering sea in front of me / All night long with that dull noise...”. A good finale for an excellent album.
La Nuova Raccomandata con Ricevuta di Ritorno: Il pittore volante (2010). Other opinions:
Jim Russell: A well rounded album which perhaps could be accused of trying to put too many ingredients in one dish, but I'm sure that some of these ideas have been percolating for years and restraint/minimalist considerations were not among the goals of the project. Thank goodness for that, as musical extroversion is usually put to great effect by RPI bands! "Il Pittore Volante" offers great variety, superb musicianship, and gorgeous packaging/artwork. This is one of the most interesting releases of 2010 and should make some end of year lists... (read the complete review HERE)
Tribal Domestic is a studio album that was released by historic Roman band Il Rovescio della Medaglia in 2016 on the Cramps - Sony Music label with a line up featuring founder member and main composer Enzo Vita (guitar) along with John Macaluso (drums), Cristiano Micalizzi (drums), Gianluca Catalani (drums), Fernando Petry (bass), Nalle Pahlsson (bass), Rino Amato (keyboards), Vivien Lalu (synth), Chris Catena (vocals), Pino Ballarini (vocals), Jannes Stark (guitar) and the Orchestra Filarmonica Calabrese directed by Alexander Frey. This work mainly comes from the initiative of Enzo Vita, as can be guessed from the art cover where he’s portrayed in the forefront with is guitar ready for action while in the background you can see many gears and wheels turning to support him. It marks the return of Il Rovescio della Medaglia to the complex structures of the band’s heyday after the disappointing pop rock oriented 2011 album Microstorie...
The opener “Tribal Domestic Suite” is a long, complex piece divided into nine parts respectively subtitled “Le note degli idoli” (The idol’s notes), “Tributo agli dei” (Tribute to the gods), “Raduno dei vecchi” (Gathering of the old men), “L’ultimo dei sogni” (The last of dreams), “La notizia” (The news), “Il diario” (The diary), “Simbiosi” (Symbiosis), “La chiave inglese” (The wrench) and “Il crepuscolo delle illusioni” (The twilight of illusions). In my opinion, it’s an excellent piece, composed by Enzo Vita and arranged with the help of Rino Amato, where the guitarist and his group of rock musicians perfectly interact with the orchestra. The music flows without drops in tension as the lyrics, well interpreted by Chris Catena, conjure up images halfway between a confused stream of consciousness and divertissement. Shocking, alarming articles about a world where solidarity and freedom crumble provoking rash reactions, the sad reflections of a man on the brink of a personal crises leading to madness, the search for balance and the refuge in an inner-self able to create its own world, regret and bewilderment and finally the image of a man running barefoot in the evening without the tools to fix up his life...
“L’origine” (The origin) is another beautiful track where orchestra and rock instruments interact. The mysterious incipit sets the atmosphere, then the music and lyrics take us on inner journey to the origin of life. Birth is a big bang for everyone, it’s the moment of the perception of the whole, a truth we progressively forget giving names to things and identities to persons...
On the instrumental “Mutazione X” (Mutation X) Enzo Vita’s guitar is in the forefront and takes the listener on a fiery ride through the hard rocks of Sodom and Gomorrah and to the atmospheres of Il Rovescio della Medaglia 1971 debut album, La bibbia, although with an updated sound. Then it’s the turn “La sacra eternità” (The holy eternity) explicitly inspired by La bibbia, in particular by its last two tracks, “Il giudizio” (Judgement day) and Il diluvio (The flood). Here, introduced by a dark marching beat and a hint of liturgical choir, the music and lyrics describe the protagonist’s soul entering the afterlife where it joins the whole, beyond good and evil. It’s a place where there’s no one to judge, no measure or need to invent anything, here come those who have the dignity of looking straight in the face their own oblivion, beyond the sky and the sea, because the eternity is holy...
“L’apocalisse” (The apocalypse) is the only track featuring the vocals of Il Rovescio della Medaglia old singer Pino Ballarini. It’s an ironic piece that blends hard rock, classical influences and a touch of operetta evoking a daily, raging apocalypse in a world where media confusion rules. In a story containing many other stories, restlessness carries away the protagonist, on the wings of madness, towards a place where he can enjoy a panoramic view on his memories and regrets... Last comes the sparkling instrumental “Proclama II” (Proclamation II) that concludes the album with a lively beat and electric guitar fireworks.
On the whole, an excellent work that marks a rediscovered creativity for Enzo Vita and his new and old companions.
Quella Vecchia Locanda’s second and last album “Il tempo della gioia” (The time of joy) was recorded in 1974 with a different line-up featuring veterans Giorgio Giorgi (vocals, flute), Massimo Roselli (piano, organ mellotron, moog, vocals), Patrick Traina (drums, percussion) and Raimondo Maria Cocco (electric and acoustic guitars, vocals) plus Claudio Filice (who replaced the American violinist Donald Lax) and Massimo Giorgi (who took the place of bassist Romualdo Coletta). The strong classical influences are still there but the overall sound is slightly different from the eponymous debut album and features a jazzier, darker atmosphere. The art cover is magnificent and tries to describe the content of this work where the music and words weave nightmares and dreams.
The intense, dreamy opener “Villa Doria Pamhili” begins with a beautiful piano pattern, then acoustic guitar and violin delicately come in and melodic vocals try to describe the feelings that you could experience going to a pop festival in the early seventies... A sweet harmony plays with nature, soaring and gliding on the grass while joy makes people vibrate...
“A forma di...” (In the shape of...) is a classically inspired short instrumental that could recall “Traccia” by Banco del Mutuo Soccorso. It starts softly, as if the music was coming from a distant place... Violin, counter-bass, flutes and harpsichord, then soaring vocals used as an instrument to colour some melodic lines... An amazing track!
The title track is more complex. It begins with a delicate, romantic melody. A sundown on the sea, a magic carpet ride towards new horizons... Then a sudden change in rhythm and mood brings in dark shadows... “It’s as if you were beating the time of joy / And never the time of pain / Your smile is already there... Suddenly the air is trembling / Fear has already taken you...”. Some vocal passages could recall the gloomy atmospheres of “Ys” by Il Balletto di Bronzo, while others recall Hans, PFM’s merchant of dreams, and his coach... A very particular dream full of colours and musical nuances...
“Un giorno, un amico” (A day, a friend) features jazzy touches and violin rides, delicate calm passages and fiery ones. It’s a long, complex track full of changes and colours. Take a deep breath and imagine running to the sun, just to find new sparks of life and old fears, hidden words and thoughts concealed in a secret jewel-case...
The last track “E’ accaduto una notte” (It happened one night) is dark and gloomy. It describes in music and words a nightmare. It begins with a choir setting a gothic atmosphere, then the music goes on quirkily while the lyrics depict a snake crawling through the rocks in the night, a car falling into the void, bad omens and vanishing hopes... “A roar bursts out / A flash of fire / That suffocates voices already extinguished...”.
Quella Vecchia Locands: Il tempo della gioia (1974). Other opinions:
Jim Russell: This would have to be one of the top candidates to suggest to someone as an essential Italian album and one that covers most of the traits that make them special: creative songwriting fusing the rock, classical, and jazz genres; immaculate production with great attention to recording details; exceptional use of violins, flutes, and other classical elements; warm and passionate Italian vocals; and perhaps most importantly an unabashed willingness to project a most romantic style of music... (read the complete review HERE)
You can read an interview with some members of the band HERE
Io come io is the second album by Roman band Il Rovescio della Medaglia and was released in 1972 on the RCA label with a consolidated line up featuring Enzo Vita (guitar), Stefano Urso (bass), Gino Campoli (drums) and Pino Ballarini (vocals, flute). It’s another concept album in a hard rock style that in some way confirms qualities and flaws of its predecessor, La bibbia. The music is full of energy but the overall sound quality reflects the hurried recording sessions and an approximative production. To explain the concept, the liner notes quote some lines from German philosopher Hegel... “In philosophy the determinations of knowledge are considered not unilaterally, only as determinations of things, but together with the knowledge to which they refer, at least together with things; i.e. they are taken not merely as objective determinations, but also as subjective determinations, or rather as determinate species of the mutual relation of subject and object...”. However, do not worry! Despite the ambitious liner notes and the subject matter (an introspective quest for Truth), the lyrics are not abstruse nor pretentious and Hegel’s thought here is filtered and interpreted very loosely and with a particular hippy style point of view...
The opener “Io” (I) starts by the sound of gong, then drums and electric guitar set a tense atmosphere. The music and lyrics evoke strange visions. Things and people, places and feelings come through the mist of time, something is coming closer. It’s the memory of a past experience, a shadow. It’s a man who once taught to the protagonist the secrets of life, he was old then but now he’s much younger than the protagonist himself. It’s like in a strange dream where the protagonist has to face the thought of life and death, he has yet to understand how beautiful life is and he trembles because he can’t understand what death really means... “You say that everything I said to you is true / But I’m scared when you say you don’t know how good it is to die!”...
“Fenomeno” (Phenomenon) is a long track divided into two parts respectively subtitled “Proiezione” (Projection) and “Rappresentazione” (Representation). It begins by a strummed acoustic guitar pattern broken by heavy electric guitar riffs and a choir that could recall Il Balletto di Bronzo’s Ys. The music and lyrics conjure up the image of the protagonist lost on a mysterious road, wandering in a thousand directions without a clue, desperately trying to understand what’s false or true. The world around him is empty, amorphous and lifeless, in the morning there’s no sun, in the evening there’s no moon. After a calm middle section, suddenly the rhythm rises. The protagonist can see a light and someone calls him, a door opens for him... “Time, space, now I no longer live / Am I the real me?”...
The cathartic “Non io” (Not I) opens the second side of the original LP. It begins with a delicate acoustic guitar arpeggio and soaring flute notes, the atmosphere is peaceful and dreamy. The music and lyrics depicts the new awareness of the protagonist who can see his past days unfold behind him. Now he hates money and reflects about the true values of life such as the love of a mother for her children. Naked, barefoot, the protagonists wants to go where the sky ends and the sea begins in search for ideals that can’t fade away over time like beauty or richness... “I still want to go on my way, where the sky joins the sea / Leaving alone behind me that man who has no truth...”.
The last track, “Io come io” (I as I), is divided into two parts subtitled “Divenire” (Becoming) and “Logica” (Logic) and marks the achievement of the inner journey of the protagonist. He’s found the light and the light is burning in him like a sun that will never die. The positive energy of the long instrumental coda describes the power of Truth and self-awareness...
On the whole, an interesting concept and a good work.
Il Rovescio della Medaglia: Io come io (1972). Other opinions: Tarcisio Moura: There are some hints of good ideas here and there, and the general notion that the musicians might be good at their instruments. The main problem is that of the production: it is so bad is hard to tell what´s really wrong here. I heard this CD as many times I could stand, just to believe it was even released with such a poor sound. Hard to tell if they would come up with something really interesting had they got a better studio or producer or both, but certainly it could not be worse... (read the complete review HERE).
In 2020 vocalist Pino Ballarini announced the release of a new work entitled Io=Io 2020 featuring the re-recording of the whole album from 1972 with some new tracks to complete the concept and some re-recorded tracks from Il Rovescio della Medaglia’s albums La Bibbia and Contaminazione. So far, all we know is the cover, the line up, the track list and there’s a video promo. Not the album yet... I’m looking forward to listen to it!
