ENSEMBLE HAVADIÀ

Attention fellow RPI fans. Here is another deep (and crazy) RPI album in the same wing of the villa as Stormy Six, Opus Avantra, Gruppo D'alternativa and some of the other wilder titles that I'm struggling to recall from my out-of-the-loop-for-too-long brain. It's a difficult spin that may drive you batsh-t crazy the first couple times you play it, but it will alter your synapse connections eventually and suck you in. Think of an avant-garde chamber collective blending neoclassical music with Italian folk music and literally all manner of highly creative and over-the-top vocal arrangements, strings, and horns. As cool and disorienting as the music is, it is the vocals and the vocal arrangements that make this a classic for me. How do the vocals present? Throw a dart. Operatic, folksy, theatrical spoken word, beautiful and calming, laughter, children singing, various types of choir harmonies, nonlyrical mouth noises, on and on.

As a great lover of the Traditional Latin Mass and the sacred music offered by some at the beautiful High Masses, it is the hymn-like vocals on "I benandanti" that grabbed my attention initially. The sound quality of the album is just fantastic. There are no rock guitars or loud rock drums involved, so all attention could be placed on micing and capturing and mixing the strings and intricate vocals in the best possible manner for the early '80s. I also appreciated that, while there is certainly weirdness here, they don't do the deep dive into cacophonous "noise" that makes some albums land like a migraine. There is a lot of melodic beauty here in between the strangeness, and the balance of the two makes for a great listen. These guys weren't around long, but when you birth a piece of work like this one, maybe it's for the better. It's happened a few times in rock history. Sometimes you make such a unique work that you're unlikely to top it. Just a hunch.

Highly recommended for fans of avant-garde, anti-rock Italian weirdness. As I don't believe they have a website, I've linked to their music on YouTube via the "Website" button on their artist page---this album is the first nine tracks of that compilation. It is followed by five tracks (10-14) from their later EP, which is not as compelling. There were also vinyl and CD releases.

Otherwise, musicianship is steady and the sound quality is fairly good but as said; this is overall not as interesting as their debut album other than the last track. This EP got re-issued with their debut on CD in 2006. 2.5/5

The first release from this absolutely unique Italian ensemble is definitely an obvious pick for some of the most promising and interesting albums I have heard recently, or even during this year. After stumbling over these guys/gals I must admit that it took me a while before it really growed on me, but when it did it went from from just interesting to incredibly facinating. A true standout within the Italian RIO/Avant scene if you ask me. What about describing the music, you ask? Well, it could best be described as a very melodic kind of folk music mingling with some very prominent avantgarde and classical influences, with very interesting vocal use and additional instrumentation. The music is challenging but also very ethnic and beautiful up to several times, and while the avantgarde still is present quite often here this album is very accessible although it might take some time to fully get into it. It would be difficult to pick out some particular excellent moments from this album but I have to say that I especially like Il serpente burocratico, Gocce amare and Fuma el camin. Otherwise, it's a fairly cohesive album that should be listened from start to finish to fully experience it. Comparing Ensemble Havadià to another band would be easier, think of a slightly less avantgarde Opus Avantra (Introspezione-era) and there you go!

Before ending this review, I have to say that I was particulary impressed by the vocal arrangements on this album. The arrangements of the male/female vocals are excellent and manages to fit the complex music perfectly, and I can also sense some Zeuhl influences in the vocal work as well, although being less repetitive. The musicianship is about the same as the vocals; well- handled and systematically competent put together, including some really fine eclectic instrumentation on several of the tracks. So basically, Im saying that if you dig adventurous vocal oriented avantgarde, folk and classical music that is original and well-put together, then I urge you to check out this album. Highly recommended! 4.5/5