LA NUOVA ERA

Not to be confused with the legendary act of the same name from Tuscany, La Nuova Era was a mysterious group from Italy that released only one self-titled, privately pressed LP in 1984.The material was written by La Compagnia dell'Anello's keyboardist Marinella Di Nunzio for a Christmas event and it is rumored that the performing group is actually La Compagnia dell'Anello under a different name.The album was re-released in 1994 by Mellow Records in CD format.

The connections and rumours with and around LA COMPAGNIA DELL'ANELLO do not stop here, as La Nuova Era actually sound quite close to Di Nunzio's regular band.This is dreamy and ethereal, mostly instrumental Prog Folk with borderline New Age aesthetics, basically played on flutes, piano and acoustic guitars with a somber mood and some trully imaginative soundscapes created by the musicians...not really suitable for a Christmas event actually.The instrumentation includes also a fair amount of synthesizer lines and mandolin.The tracks are short but beautiful with a trippy, almost psychedelic atmosphere at moments, recalling PEPE MAINA's late-70's albums, albeit a bit more minimalistic and 80's-sounding through the cosmic use of synthesizers.There are some great flute parts in a few tracks with a light symphonic flavor.However the majority of ''La nuova era'' passes through rural textures with acoustic guitars and piano as the leading instruments, producing lovely images somewhere between Folk and soft Electronic Music with compatriot RICCARDO ZAPPA being often a good comparison as well.

Very far from rich or adventurous music.However ''La nuova era'' is more than a respectable album.It's a great and inventive combination of two ages, the modern one with its new-established synth sound and the old one with the totally acoustic armour.Nice and recommended stuff.