The Italian Prog Appreciation den

Listened to Rocky's Filj twice today.I will as long as i live think of Todd when i play this.It's funny but i like the four shorter tracks more than the long opening song,but they're all so good.Love the horns in this one.

Oh my god - there is so much music I´ll need to get my hands on. This is crazy! But thank you very much for the recommendations, because I am too a sucker for South American music. Do you by any chance know of this little beauty:

It´s funny how big a difference there is when Areknames suddenly gets played live in 1982. It´s so gentle compared to the more nervous and angst-filled studio version:

You should definitely give Vampyrs a chance. I reckon it might not exactly be your cup of tea, but look at it as a proof of how versatile the band can be.
... and because I did not expect too much from the album, I was pleasantly surprised when I finally gave it a spin.

I found Aquile e Scoiattoli to be their least impressive album, even Vampyrs is more lively, in a San Remo '94 kind of way. :D But despite this, like Todd said, it is still a great album. I particularly enjoy that cheesy first part of Beethoven's 1st.

I've been listening to Latte e Miele's "Aquile e Scoiattoli" today, and despite the almost completely new lineup (only drummer Alfio Vitanza left over from the first two albums), it's a great album!  Any thoughts about this one?  Perhaps not up to the level of the first two, but still great stuff. 

Edited by Todd - August 29 2011 at 19:28

Thank you very much, Pierre!  Your words make me happy, and I understand how nice it is to see your work appreciated by people so far away!

Hello everyone.

First, my apologies. I’m a frog. My english is terrible. So I’m just here to say hello... and goodbye.    

I’m not in prog, not more than in classical, pop, rock, jazz, soundtrack or brazilian stuffs.

A year ago, looking for new music, I started to listen to RPI albums of the seventies. Gosh ! What a revelation !  What an elevation ! I didn’t expect this. Not at all. “Those painters, those sculptors ... just as in Renaissance Italy.”

BMS, PFM, Le Orme, QVL, Stefano Testa, Panna Fedda, Cervello, Battiato, Odissea, Samadhi, Delirium, Alusa Fallax, I Giganti ... and so many others.

As in a Gustav Mahler’s symphony, I was not only listenning with my ears, but with my eyes. Both were wide open. It was a miracle, or maybe not. These sounds, shapes and colors were waiting for me. I was just looking in another direction.

So thanks to you, Jim,  Andrea and everyone for the great help. Reading you was very important these last twelve months. And I’m sure there’s many more to come. Rencently I’ve heard samples from albums by La Assemblea Musicale Teatrale, Gramigna or Barabba. They sound terrific and I can’t wait for CD’s reissues and your reviews.

 

Before I shut my mouth, I would like to give you some titles of albums with  a RPI flavour :

 

These Trails . These Trails (1974). A folk band from Hawai. Very strange. Great accoustic guitar and synths. Fantastic vocal harmonies.

 

Melody Nelson : Serge Gainsbourg (1968). A true prog album and the most terrific violins arrangements you will hear in your life.

 

Eden’s Island. Eden Ahbez (1960). The composer of Nature Boy. Simplicity and beauty. Not a disc for the desert island. The desert island itself.

 

Goodbye ... and hello.

 

Pierre.

^No such thing! I love your ramblings JIm...

Many thanks for your kind comments about Ocean, David. Sorry to hear you won't be reviewing for a while but hopefully we'll still see you around the forum. Good luck with your philosophy studies.