DESTINAZIONI OBLIQUE

New direction for me here on PA, as my yearning to give greater coverage to the lesser known, unheralded, and therefore deserving prog artists is becoming overpoweringly necessary. As per norm for the past 20 years or so, I will concentrate on positive reviews for albums that have blown me away, immediately upon first listen or with a timing mechanism that would make an SAS commando proud. There will be a whole series of hidden polished musical jewels for you all to discover and perhaps even enjoy, as much as I have. The bigger known prog names have their devoted fanboys (as well as their critics) to rely on, hence they do not need me to flatter their ego any further.

First up, a rather recent revelation in Aliante from Italy, that has caught my attention as well as my ears with their stunning 2017 debut 'Forme Libere', an instrumental trio featuring keyboard whiz Enrico Filippi as well as the solid Egoband rhythm section of Alfonso Capasso and Jacopo Giusti, a lineup that would also release 2 years later the equally masterful 'Sul Confine'. Both of these albums come very highly rated and deservedly so, as the technical prowess is off the charts and the style refreshingly attractive at all times. Their third one offers a change in personnel with a new keyboard player in Michele Lenzi and a fluid guitarist named Davide Capitanio, both previously unknown to me. The stable rhythmic duo stays put and just keeps the beat nice and steady. The addition of a guitarist has altered their instrumental style, moving away from the keyboard centric power trio format to another level altogether, more classic symphonic style, with a little more grit perhaps. This is exemplified by the stunning 9 minute + opening track, where the keys, bass and drums keep on shining brightly but the electric axe offers up some considerable sizzle. A communion of passion and technique, expounded with absolute gusto and subtle fire, expertly weaving the dramatic ebb and flow of contrasts, this kind of adventurous mind music is simply beguiling. Close your eyes and float away into this crushingly gorgeous celestial heaven. Rapture.

Slight change of pace for the next track, pastoral (flute) beginnings morphing into a sleek shuffle before another twist turns this into a darker mood, splashing Floydian guitar phrasings with a jazz-rock keyboard foundation, powerful bass and marshaling drums in tow. A wilder flute passage reboots the arrangement into another bucolic setting, showcasing incredible restraint before exploding once again into a psychedelic frenzy. Magnificent. Echoing e-piano flurries set up the tic-toc tone nicely, as the slow groove bass line establishes the foundation, atmospheric and jazzy, like some kind of thriller soundtrack. A pause, and a solitary church organ (such a majestic instrument) makes a cameo appearance, conjuring up images of solemn reverence, as new keyboardist Lenzi likes his Wakeman albums, as he gifts his entire battery of keys on this track, with additional organ and synth blasting ahead, unprovoked. The solo e-piano waves a final arrivederci. Thrilling.

The sweet and brief title track (Sideway Destination) is a complete shift, a female voice narration in Italian with a sunny acoustic guitar, defining why we use the word 'intermezzo' to describe an interlude. Smooth as silk caressing velvet, Capitanio is a true minstrel in the gallery. The previous track's gentle fragility flows effortlessly into a more epic composition, where the acoustic guitar halts and the mellotron takes over, a splash of basson and off we go to the races.' Cartmandua' is another 9-minute mammoth of melodic beauty, as the gut-wrenching guitar scours the soul, escorted by some slippery synthesizer forays. Gripping. A feline violin spars with echoing guitar phrasing, as the piece evolves into a jazzier setting where the e-piano is in partnership with the synths and mellotron. The tortured violin spotlight is quite an ear opener, as well as the drum solo but when the quivering guitar shoves the arrangement into the stratosphere, 'Coda Marea 04' is ingenious, investigational, and out there! Refreshingly original jam.

Time to settle down for another contemplative section, mostly piano and a distinct Floydian climate where serenity is incarnate, time for bassist Alfonso Capasso to show his mettle as he leads the lads into a stellar and resolute guitar solo that would make the prog guitar giants beam with appreciation, as the passion and verve just inundates the procession, the ultimate reflex to be sure. Flamboyant. How about a bluesy rocker workout? Va bene, we can play that too. But they will turn it upside down with some swerving forays, insistent riffs and a wicked corkscrew synth flight that makes a blender sound like a toothbrush in comparison. 'La Salita' is lively and bouncy, it nevertheless showcases an absolute comfort level in delivering interesting new music, with a few modern sound and voice effects to keep things on permanent edge. The highly atmospheric 'Tra Cielo e Terra' delves into an ambient and pastoral realm, with jazzy overtones and a tic-toc rhythm that ultimately, at the behest of a sweeping mellotron, morphs into a more symphonic, bass-led groove section. Lenzi gives his synth another massage, rotating and twirling his deft fingers gently, as the arrangement becomes even more insistent and passionate. He is pretty adept on the basson, so why not give that mistreated instrument a platform to shine? The final track just maintains the unimpeachable quality of all, I repeat, ALL the preceding tracks, a jazzier, almost serene mood armed with impeccable notes and an out of the blue molten lava guitar solo that will sear your ears, mind, and heart, pretty much in that order. Shuffling drums, bouncy bass lines, and slithering keys complement the deal.

76 minutes of blowing, flowing and glowing adventure, one can only hope that the prog audience catches on to these masterful Italians as I have rarely crossed paths with such overt and focused talent. To make matters worse, the two previous Aliante albums are just as stellar, albeit in a different, perhaps more conventionally restrained style. Something to discover for fans of instrumental prog of the very highest quality.

5 sidewinder gliders

Although they are active since 2017 that's another Rock Progressivo Italiano band I never had a connection to ... until this gem was released by them in August 2022 via the Italian Mellow Records label. Just like RanestRane as one example, besides the expected symphonic and neo prog flavour their music is also offering proper ambient and psychedelic ingredients. I would say that presumably helped making it an attractive thing for me. And this immediately points to the perhaps most important trademark, the variety, in style as well as expression. Which also includes the incorporated instruments. Originally constituted as a keyboard dominated entity by Alfonso Capasso (bass) and drummer Jacopo Giusti, the band line up on this occasion also comprises multi-instrumentalist Michele Lenzi and guitarist Davide Capitanio.

Man, this comes over with really compelling stuff! Most appropriate for having some relaxed time while intending to enjoy well conceived prog music, over a course of far more than a vinyl playing length. Jacopo Guisti also has contributed the front cover painting by the way. But what appeals so much the more is his straight to the point percussion work, chapeau! To name a preferred track here ... simply prohibited. Some church organ appears on the interstellar meeting. They are already surprising right at the very start, I mean this charming piano intro that soon makes way for a proper rocking behaviour aso aso. Buon divertimento! 4.5 stars, Well, the more I listen, I'm feeling some intense masterpiece appeal.

A band of veteran musicians from Piacenza, Italia, here releasing a colorful album of masterfully understated prog rock.

1."Il Mondo di Fronte" (9:24) gentle solo piano is replaced by dirty bluesy guitar riffs before full band joins in. Awesome synth-saw solo to open the festivities, then taken over by guitar. Very nice--and tasteful. At the end of the third minute we move into a beautifully melodic motif; the instruments are all woven together so nicely! Then it's back to the blues rock for the second half of the fourth minute. Great drumming. Man! this keyboard artist excels! (Alfonso Capasso) Expansive space-synth solo in the sixth minute. Eventually Alfonso is joined by band in a slow, very spacious late night weave. Gradually the guitarist's play comes forward and becomes the focus of attention. A simple but tasteful solo over some nicely-embellished drumming. At the end of the eighth minute the guitarist's intensity--his passion--really ramps up until relaxing at 8:35 whereupon synth and rest of band jump in to even out the distribution. Nice. A top three song. (18/20)

2. "Frammenti di un Giorno" (7:03) full-band participation in this excellent melodic RPI piece. Keyboard play, guitar soli (especially the second one in the seventh minute), and drummer's embellishments are again highlights with the addition of flute in a very humble, supportive way (even during its extended solo in the fifth and sixth minutes). The flaw is in the rather simple, boring rhythm track. (13.25/15)

3. "Home Trip" (9:10) slow, soft jazz-bluesy bass-led "Papa Was a Rolling Stone"-like music within which bassoon and "distant" electric guitar gently solo. Then, at 2:46, we shift into a very moving guitar slo which elegantly combines David Gilmour's "Time" solo with Steve Hackett's famous riffs from Genesis' "Firth of Fifth." In the fifth minute we return to the "Papa/ Rolling Stone" motif for a bit before opening a door to a completely new passage--one that is initiated by prolonged solo church organ. This ends at 6:56 and is then followed by a Hammond organ into a heavier blues-rock section (with DAAL-like low end melodic base) over which synth solo until all quit for the final 30 seconds of gentle Fender Rhodes notes. Weirdly disjointed song which must be very personal to its composer. (17/20)

4. "Destinazioni Oblique" (3:17) gently played/picked acoustic guitar is soon joined by the narration of Serena Andreni--whose message is lost to me due to its delivery in Italian. As a guitar instrumental, it's okay--nicely meditative. (8.5/10)

5. "Cartimandua" (9:10) I love the more acoustic start to this but then get bored with the middle third in which a long bluesy jam band guitar solos. The third motif established for the final third allows the keyboardist some frontline time to shine but it's weak. Too mundane and straightforward. (15.5/20)

6. "Coda Marea 04" (6:04) delivered in an odd time signature, violin has its turn as the leader until the hostile takeover of the Arp synth at the one-minute mark. At the end of the second minute we move into the heavier, more dramatic "chorus" for some wild (though notably restrained) violin screech playing. Jacopo Giusti's drum solo pretty much fills the fourth minute. (Personally, I think drum solos on studio albums are a thing of the distant past and should not exist--unless they are something extraordinarily ground-breaking or innovative--which this one is not.) After the solo, we dive back into the rock format for a semi-passionate guitar solo. (8.5/10)

7. "L'ultimo Riflesso" (7:42) opens with the first four minutes as a very pleasant, jazz-loungey exposition of pretty background music. Then the lead guitar enters in the fifth minute and slowly teases some powerfully nostalgic emotions out of us with its bluesy somewhat David Gilmour-like solo. Very pretty. Almost a top three. (13.25/15)

8. "La Salita" (7:23) what starts out as a kind of upbeat bluesy psychedelia finishes in full glory of German Kosmische Musik. Nice drumming. (13.25/15)

9. "Tra Cielo e Terra" (9:03) mood-manipulating, steady-on "lounge prog" similar to the music on MAD CRAYON's 2009 masterpiece, Preda. There is a smooth, jazzy feel to this enjoyable RIVERSIDE-paletted song, though instances of PINK FLOYD influence are present as well. I love the horn synth in seventh minute! A top three song, to be sure. (18.25/20)

10. "I Pomeriggi di Armida" (8:03) more laid back lounge-like smooth jazz with some very gentle pacing and even mostly gentle, unpretentious soloing. Very pleasant and relaxing if not so very memorable. Again, the mature confidence of the keyboard player is very impressive--a thing that becomes even more evident in the sixth and seventh minutes. He might be my new favorite--heir to the "Jørgen Grüner-Hagen Award" for consummate-yet-unobtrusive keyboard support. My final top three song. (13.5/15)

Total Time 76:19

B/four stars; an excellent addition of very pleasant and melodic progressive rock music. Nice work, Aliante!