PICCHIO DAL POZZO

Dedicato a Roberto Viatti, huh? These little Italian pygmys were a bit more selective with their musical forefathers. Instead of Yes and Genesis, one can distinguish influences from canterbury bands like Hatfield and the North, traces of Gong and especially Robert Wyatt, the mysterious Signor Viatti. What I really like about Picchio dal Pozzo is that while many songs sound so very different from each other (for example the repetitious, spacey Seppia from the Soft Machine -influenced collase of Napier), the album never falls apart. Along with Stormy Six, the most important band to emerge from Italy in the late 70's.