ECHOES FROM A DISTANT LAND

Maina is another of those many artists on ProgArchives where landing on their artist page can send the most grizzled veterans of rock reviewing into an instant panic attack. He is prolific to a point that is almost eye-popping. When discovering artists like this for the first time, sometimes I will just grab the most recent title to remove my penchant for indecisiveness. No deciding which looks the coolest---just take the newest one and start where the musician currently resides artistically. And so here we are immersing in Echoes from a Distant Land, and what a life-affirming sonic journey it is.

Maina was born in Milan (there's Milan again, I swear there's something in the water), and he is a completely self-taught multi-instrumentalist and composer. He is probably most well known in RPI circles for his 1977 debut, Il Canto Dell'Arpa E Del Flauto, but he has released over 30 albums since. He plays most everything with exception of the occasional guest musician. Someone commented that he has mostly successfully stayed in an authentic, truly progressive and searching instrumental electronic music lane as opposed to falling into the crowded abyss of mind-numbing New Age/World scene product that got very popular years ago. He has maintained his own vision and not worried so much about commercial concerns. I've not talked to him, but that assessment would seem accurate on surface.

While some reviews mention Mike Oldfield when describing Maina, I don't feel this album is that close to the most well-known Mike material, which is more rocking with guitar taking lead and with more structured rhythm sections. What came to mind listening to Echoes from a Distant Land was Merl Saunders's "Blues from the Rainforest" from the album of the same name. I would almost describe it as psychedelic-electronic mood music. Over a base palette of lush keyboards and acoustic stringed instruments (guitar, others, maybe some harp?) and ever-shifting, free range hand drumming, you often will hear flute and cool electronic samples as the featured instrument. Other times there will be some tasteful but restrained electric lead guitar, again, reminiscent of what Jerry Garcia provided as a guest on "Blues from the Rainforest." Quite in the background and supportive. Amidst all of this loveliness are occasional ambient environmental sounds, birds, rain, et cetera.

The mood or feel of some tracks carry an Eastern vibe perhaps, an exotic feel, while other tracks are more in that general relaxing realm of the listener's imagination. There is a sense of travel, that you are listening to the representation of a living world somewhere, more prominent than catering to traditional melodic rock song intent. One must also comment on the jaw-dropping fantastic cover art for this album. The wide-load, bubbly bass present on "Otto Goes to None" seems to magically make the cover art come to life and dance. I wasn't even baked, but this would be a fun album to pursue in that frame of mind. Maina strikes me as someone with a passion and commitment to create a lifelong body of work that will inspire adventurous listeners long after he is gone. I really enjoyed hearing some music that drops below the sphere and expectations of rock music yet still retains an engaging personality rather than going somewhere sonically off-putting or abrasive. Even the production is well above average for what I assume is a self-produced, self-everything affair.