FLYING ABOVE THE BORDER

 Sul confine is the second studio album by Aliante and was released in 2019 on the independent M.P. & Records label with a consolidated line up featuring Jacopo Giusti (drums, percussion), Enrico Filippi (keyboards, piano, Moog) and Alfonso Capasso (bass) plus the guest Marianna Vuocolo (violin). It confirms all the good qualities of its predecessor while the art cover by Jacopo Giusti and the liner notes signed by Alfonso Capasso give us a clue about the atmosphere and the subject matter of this work: “When you live in a borderland, you meet different languages and cultures that mix in a universe of contrasts and proximity. Staying on the border is not just a geographical issue and is not always a choice. There are people who play their whole existence with it, while others seek refuge in safe hinterlands, made of balance and certainty, from where they will never see the thin line that separates smile and sadness, wealth and poverty, pain and joy, dialogue and silence, understanding and indifference. The border does not protect those who live there but opens up a range of possible alternatives, where the night of the fear of making choices surrenders to the breaking of the light of courage. Therefore, if there is a place where I want to stay, it is on the border…”.

 

 

 

 The album opens with the long, articulated eponymous suite divided into seven parts, a kind of instrumental travelogue that takes you on a musical journey across the world, following ancient maps. The first section, titled “Viaggio nel vento” (Journey in the wind), sets the atmosphere and with its dreamy mood leads you to “Metzada” for a gaze towards the sky. The title of the second section refers to a mountain-top fortress complex in the Judaean Desert that became the final holdout of the Jewish rebels during the First Jewish–Roman War (66–73 AD). Here the rhythm rises while the music every now and again reminds me of Le Orme and evokes epic rides and endless wars in a ravaged country... The third section, titled “Ai confini del mondo” (To the limits of the world), is dark and slow with the notes of violin painting melancholic shadows on a desolate road while on the following one, “La rana” (The frog), the light turns up again and the rhythm takes off. Then it’s the turn of the section titled “Il cigno nero” (The black swan) where you can hear echoes of classical music suggested by delicate piano parts, Mediterranean flavours with moments reminiscent of the Concierto de Aranujez and jazzy passages. Th title of this section refers to the figure of Odile, the Black Swan, a character of the famous ballet Swan Lake who perfectly embodies seduction and deception... Next section, “Il quadrato” (The square), is a frenzied spacey ride through the dark latitudes of the universe and leads to the final beautiful section, “Tenente Drogo” (Lieutenant Drogo) whose title refers to the main character of Il deserto dei Tartari (The Tartar Steppe) a novel published in 1940 by Italian writer Dino Buzzati that tells the story of a young officer, Giovanni Drogo who spent his life guarding the Bastiani Fortress, on the border with a desolated desert.

 

 

 

After the long, complex 48 minutes suite, a shorter track closes the album. “Nel cielo” (In the sky) begins by a delicate, dreamy piano solo passage, then synthesizers and rhythm section take over and gently lift you up to the sky as a prelude to a new musical journey...

 

On the whole, an excellent work!

 

You can listen to the complete album HERE

 

More info:

https://www.aliantemusic.com/ 

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)

More info:

https://www.facebook.com/Aliantemusica/

ROCKS AND STONES

Nicola Pardini is a talented multi-instrumentalist and composer from Pisa who in 2016 self-released a very interesting debut album entitled Archimede, featuring the precious collaboration of vocalist and lyricist Stefano Simoncini. On the album Nicola Pardini plays all the instruments showcasing not only a great musicianship but also a songwriting full of inventiveness and an extraordinary sense of rhythm while the vocals and poetry of Stefano Simoncini add colours and visionary images, strange melodies and exotic flavours. You can hear here influences ranging from jazz rock to prog, from classical music to folk and more, all mixed with gusto and freshness...

The long opener "Pietra e sasso" (Rock and stone) is a magnificent epic about the mystery of life and the origin of the universe seen through the eyes of a child. It begins by the description of a spectral landscape and the threatening images of a wild nature on a primordial plante, the atmosphere is dark, the rhythm pounding and tight. There are eruptions and thunders, you can see shapes of broken rocks swept by the wind under a heavy black sky while you're slowly dragged into a nightmarish world, towards new borders, new mysteries, new certainties, new passages, new tides, new entities, new currents, new horizons... Now new stars shine over you and in the depth of the earth you can perceive a hellish power without humanity stirring under your feet as the whole universe dances following the rhythm of the gravity force... Then the atmosphere becomes more relaxed and a new image appears: there's a little boy under a tree in front of a mountain, he takes a stone from the ground and observes it, the stone seems able to speak and he asks the stone from where it comes from... The stone answers, it's like in a dream, there's magic in the air as the music runs through a jazzy area before coming back to the starting point with a reprise of the first part. A wonderful track that every now and again could recall Banco del Mutuo Soccorso and Area!

The dreamy "Bilbo Song", inspired by a J.R.R. Tolkien's character, tells in music and words of an endless journey through dark, timeless woods, where you can walk by light steps upon fallen leaves, touching softly invisible shadows, following the notes of a spring song carried by the wind with joy in your heart and hope in the future... Over the clouds there's a silver ship, come on board!

The following "Baffoman" tells of a music that is able to melt Time as you try to escape from bad memories, running away from carved smiles and greediness. The music flows halfway between enthusiasm and nostalgia as you are hiding away, trying to break through the walls of a busy city where you can never find a quiet moment. Then comes "Nostalgico" (Nostalgic), a piece where the lyrics evoke the memory of a smile that can give birth to melancholic shivers and powerful emotions pushing you to seek for new musical dreams...

The title track, "Archimede", was inspired by the character of Archimedes of Syracuse, a famous Greek mathematician, physicist, engineer, inventor and astronomer. The music is rich in ideas, changes of rhythm, games of balance and other delicious intricacies while the lyrics evoke a spectacular sundown and the weight of dreams. Here ideas and concepts are compared to precious treasures to discover, imagination is what can really lead to a better future following an abstract path that will surprise you!

Stefano Simoncini

"Hoima" is a piece that conjures up exotic sceneries and the rhythms of Africa. The title refers to a city in Uganda, near the Lake Albert, and the lyrics describe a landscape of incredible beauty, full of positive energy. The following "Solitario" (Solitary) is another colourful track with strong ethnic flavours that could drive you from Africa to Jamaica and back to Europe in a while, almost making of distance an empty word...

The closer "Memo" is a calm, reflective track that tells about lost chances and disappointments that you can cure thanks to the healing power of music. There's always a gap between dreams and reality that you have to fill during your life. Sometimes let the music drive your way and take it easy: with a new awareness you can really look at the world under a different point of view!

On the whole, this a very interesting album and if you like bands such as Deus Ex Machina or D.F.A. I'm sure you'll love it!

More info:

http://jofinestra.wixsite.com/nicolapardini

https://www.facebook.com/PardoMusic/

LONG TRAIN RUNNING

Pensiero Nomade is mainly the brainchild of Salvo Lazzara, a guitarist and composer from Pisa (although now based in Rome), former member of Germinale. The project took form in 2006 and the year after a debut album entitled Per questi e altri naufragi was released. This first work was followed by Tempi migliori (2009), Materia e Memoria (2011) and Imperfetta solitudine (2013), all blending in different doses - often with a strong minimalist approach - relaxing New Age atmospheres, ambient, jazz, a pinch of electronica and dreamy, ethereal guitar passages that every now and again could recall artists such as Riccardo Zappa or William Ackerman.

Da nessun luogo, the fifth Pensiero Nomade's studio album, was released in 2015 on the independent label Filibusta Records and features a richer sound and, for the first time, lyrics and vocal parts. For this work Salvo Lazzara gathered around him an excellent bunch of musicians who helped him to weave an intricate musical fabric full of nuances and delicate musical colours: in fact, along with Salvo Lazzara (9 strings touch guitar, electric guitar, synth guitar, bass, arrangements and programming) the line up features precious collaborators such as Fabio Anile (piano, synth, electronics), Michela Botti (vocals), Davide Guidoni (drums, percussions, gongs - from Taproban, Nuova Era, Daal), Andrea Pavoni (piano, synth, bass, guitar, vocals, arrangements and programming - from Greenwall and Inner Prospekt), Luca Pietropaoli (trumpet, electronics) and another former Germinale member, Alessandro Toniolo (flute, midi horns). According to an interview with Salvo Lazzara, this work is a concept album that tells in music and words of a deep sense of loss, a crises that you can overcome only by looking for the true sense of life in the reality that surrounds you...

The instrumental opener "Dove comincia il giorno" (Where the day begins) sets the atmosphere by taking you on an ethereal trip, at dawn... A slow train is breaking through the mist and you can smell exotic flavours and let your mind fly... The following "A tensione costante" (At constant tension) is another instrumental track. Here the rhythm slackens, the mood becomes darker, you can feel that something is going to happen...

On "Più lontano, più forte" (Farther, harder) we can hear for the first time the voice of Michela Botti as the music and lyrics evoke a sudden change of direction in the curve of time. Now everything flows and floats around you, old memories come back as your heart is beating harder than ever... Then "Niente, finalmente" (Nothing, finally) brings a sense of unreal peace. You can perceive a step of dance not far from you, a different rhythm makes you forget for a while painful regrets and dark memories while the promise of oblivion begins to shine through the clouds of a rainy day...

The melancholic "La coda dell'occhio" (The sidelong glance) breaks the illusion by evoking another regret while the shadows of other people look like foam of lost waves, distant echoes of broken dreams... Then it's the time of the long title track, "Da nessun luogo" (From nowhere), that begins softly and takes you on the merciless rhythm of Time through infinite labyrinths and games of mirrors. Here the music and lyrics tell of days spent without hope and without hurry, days lost in the daily grind between private pains and ephemeral joys, days you dropped out like the pearls of a broken necklace, shaped by the warm hands of new desires and by the cold embraces of loneliness and emptiness... A long solitary journey lightened every now and again by an imagined love...

The poetical "Il verso che non trovo" (The verse I can't find) marks a new start taking you on the border of a new dawn. You realize that a whole world is slowly moving around you, on the horizon you can see the landmarks of a city that's still asleep and that soon will wake up like an enormous octopus trying to draw you with its tentacles towards a new challenge... Male and female vocals here conjure up almost a sense of desperate hysteria as you look for something that you can't grasp...

The jazzy, surreal instrumental "L'apparente allegria" (The apparent cheerfulness) leads to the beautiful closer "Cercalo in fondo agli occhi" (Look for it straight in the eye) where the soaring vocals of Michela Botti urge you to catch the day... There's still time for dreaming, do not sleep! "Look back and look at me / I'm nothing but a hidden shadow / But I can still talk to you / Of what I know / Of what you can't still understand...".

On the whole, I think that this is a very good album, full of nuances and poetical lyrics. It probably needs more spins to be fully appreciated but at last I'm sure you'll be rewarded.

You can listen to complete album HERE

More info:

https://www.facebook.com/Pensiero-Nomade-171367252928078/ 

MOVING WAVES

Germinale were formed in Pisa in 1991 and their name was inspired by an Emile Zola novel. After an interesting but still immature eponymous debut album in 1994 and some line-up changes, in 1996 they released on the independent label Mellow Records what is reputed their best work so far and one of the best Italian prog records of the nineties, “...e ancora il suo respiro agita le onde...” (And his breath is still moving the waves). The line-up here features Salvo Lazzara (electric guitar, devices, vocals), Marco Masoni (vocals, bass, classical and acoustic guitars, mellotron), Andrea Moretti (piano, Hammond, moog, synthesizers), Alessandro Toniolo (flute, sax, vocals) and David Vecchioni (drums, percussion). The overall sound is rich and inspired, in the best tradition of Italian prog rock while the beautiful art cover by Marta Bibbiani tries to capture the explosion of colours which the music expresses...

The short opener “Il già sentito e il non ancora” (The already heard and the not yet) is introduced by the sound of sea waves and seagull calls. Then, from a delicate acoustic guitar pattern soars a particular invocation... “We forgive you, Euterpe, for bringing us up here / Goddess of music, lyric poetry and the flute / We ask you now to let us use your regenerating pathos...”.

Next comes the long, complex “1° maggio” (May Day), subtitled “dialogue between a worker and a warrior”. It was inspired by an essay written in 1934 by the French philosopher Simone Weil about the reasons for freedom and social oppression, “Réflexions sur les causes de la liberté et de l’oppression sociale”. Dreamy, reflective passages alternate with aggressive and dynamic parts underlying the contrast between the dreams of freedom and equality of the worker and the angry, disdainful reaction of the warrior, symbol of power... “My resistance compels you to think about equality / I’ve always had to work but I want to do so with dignity... I know the revolt of the oppressed / It explodes only occasionally but it’s always bubbling / And it increases your pain if it forces me to use my power...”. A wonderful track!

“D’ombra, vapori e sabbia” (About shadows, steam and sand) is an excellent instrumental in three parts. The first is dominated by keyboards, the second features swirling flute passages soaring from a drum solo pattern while the last is driven by an ethereal guitar solo. It could be a perfect soundtrack for an adventure in the desert...

“Eleonora” is a nice instrumental featuring delicate acoustic guitar patterns. It leads to “Le onde, il respiro del mare” (The waves, the sea breathing), a complex, dramatic piece in two parts. The lyrics are freely taken from “Alkestis”, a poem by Rainer Maria Rilke inspired by ancient Greek mythology. The atmosphere is dark, narrative vocals tell a dark story... A diabolic messenger appears as an uninvited guest at a nuptial banquet announcing that the groom has to die, on the spot! The unlucky man implores, asks for mercy, asks for more time, a year, a day, even just one more night! No way, the task of the messenger is clear... Sometimes the music is powerful and flows like a raging river, every now and again it stops and gives way to disquieting dreams while the groom is carried away by the river of despair. Every effort to grip the rocks is vain, the poor man is swallowed by the obscure sea of predestination. Eventually... “The messenger got up and walked into the water / He sank himself in victory / And his breath is still moving the waves...”.

“Diòniso inquieto” (Restless Dionysus) is a melancholic track describing in words and music how time is spent in youth. “Another exciting suicide to rejoice boring dusks...”. The lyrics tell of nights wasted in fake happiness during parties and bike rides but also of nights spent in a more bucolic, pensive way, stretched out on a lawn watching the stars, tasting the pleasures of mother nature...

“Malcreanza” (Bad behaviour) is a nervous track featuring many influences (from Jethro Tull to jazz, from bossa nova to Jean Michel Jarre). The visionary lyrics depict a smoking heart thrown to the winds and a desperate wandering under the stars... “I’m still losing myself / I do not talk very much / I never ask for explanations / I discuss to understand / The sea around us where we have to swim towards cliffs of sand helps us to ride the tiger of life...”.

Germinale, picture taken from their Myspace profile

“D’io” (Of me) begins softly, just a guitar arpeggio and a voice taken from a radio broadcast... Then recitative vocals begin to declaim a long list of useless things as heavy drugs, light words, football matches, obsequious waiters, complete scores, human flies, counted hours... All things that you can do without!

“Avànt – grado” is an excellent long, complex track. The music begins calmly with a swirling flute and a dreamy atmosphere. The lyrics were inspired by the character of Peter I “The Great” Romanov. The title is a mix between the French word “avant-garde” and Leningrad, the Soviet name of Saint Petersburg. There is no judgement about the “modernist despotism” of Peter I but a reflection about “a revolution from above”, directed by the Tsar of Russia... “It’s the energy of desire for concreteness... The vanguard and the complete renovation of customs...”.

“In Aeternam Veritas” (The truth in the eternal) is a short, dreamy guitar instrumental that concludes a beautiful album. The re-release on CD features also as a bonus track the cover of “Meurglys III (The songwriter’s guild)”, originally recorded for a tribute album to Van Der Graaf Generator released by Mellow Records.

From Rock Progressivo Italiano: An introduction to Italian Progressive Rock

 You can listen to the complete album HERE

 

TOSCANA (part 2)

On the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea we visit the Province of Massa-Carrara. The city of Carrara, famous for its marble quarries, gave us some interesting prog bands such as the neo prog Cage (Facebook), Lethean (MySpace) and the prog folk Bededeum (Facebook) who in 2009 released an excellent committed album, Oltre il sipario, dedicated to the memory of Sacco and Vanzetti, two Italian anarchists executed without a fair trial in the U.S.A. in 1927. Another prog folk band from this area worth mentioning is Antiqua Lunae (Facebook), while Fivizzano, a walled town in the Lunigiana area, not far from Carrara, is home to another interesting prog band called Oxhuitza (MySpace).

Travelling south we now go to PISA, the city famous for its Leaning Tower and hometown of the physicist, mathematician and astronomer Galileo Galilei, son of lutenist and composer Vincenzo Galilei. The best known artist from this area is probably tenor Andrea Bocelli who reached success with Con te partirò, a piece composed by Francesco Sartori who from 1992 to 1997 was a member of the Venetian prog band Le Orme. Pisa is home to prog bands such as Egoband (MySpace) and Germinale (MySpace). At the moment Germinale are on hold, so their guitarist Salvo Lazzara started an acoustic side project called Pensiero Nomade (MySpace). Other artists and bands from Pisa are Nicola Pardini (Facebook), Homo Ex Machina (Facebook), the folk prog Filarmonica Municipale Lacrisi (MySpace), the retro-avant-garde Delay Lama (Facebook) and the psychedelic Ceke (MySpace) and Milvus (MySpace) while the nearby town of Pontedera is home to Merry Go Round (Facebook) and Le Turbe di Howard (Reverbnation). Another town in the province Of Pisa, Volterra, is home to the metal influenced Quintessenza (MySpace) and the heavy, bizarre Il Maniscalco Maldestro (MySpace).

From Pisa to LIVORNO, the birthplace of opera composer Pietro Mascagni. In the seventies Livorno gave us Capitolo 6 (but half of the members of the band were from Viareggio) and Tugs (Facebook), a band with a strong theatrical approch that recently reunited. Another band that was formed in the seventies and that recently have come to a new life are Aurora Lunare (Official Website) that are finally going to release their first official album on the independent label Lizard Records. Other local bands that are worth mentioning are Raccolta Differenziata (Facebook), Alfa Nefer (MySpace) and Est Morgana (MySpace).

From the nearby town of Cecina come Decuplico (MySpace), a band formed in the mid eighties who recently reformed. Still heading south we visit GROSSETO, where we can listen to some interesting emerging bands such as Gran Turismo Veloce (MySpace), Mosaico (Facebook), Gramma (MySpace) and Opificio Sonoro Maremmano (MySpace).

We head north east now, towards the beautiful city of SIENA, best known for a special horse race that dates from the middle-ages, the Palio di Siena. In the seventies Siena gave us an interesting Christian-prog band called Genfuoco (Official Website) who, after a long hiatus, came to life again in 2000 for some live performances.

Siena is also the home city of an interesting acoustic project that blends classical and folk, Inchanto (MySpace), and of a well known progressive rock webzine, Arlequins. The Province of Siena is the base for some interesting prog bands such as Profusion (MySpace) and Acqua Libera (Facebook), in Colle di Val d’Elsa, Zundapp (MySpace), in Chianciano Terme, Focus Indulgens (Facebook), in an area called Val di Chiana and Labirinto di Specchi (MySpace), in Chiusi.

Still heading north east we conclude our visit to Toscana in AREZZO, home to a very promising dark organ driven project called Three Monks (MySpace), to Tacita Intesa (Facebook) and to the psychedelic Sycamore Age (MySpace).