ECCO L'IMPERO DEI DOPPI SENSI

PICCHIO DAL POZZO is my favourite Canterbury/Avant band from Italy with THE WINSTONS and HOMUNCULUS RES also getting plenty of attention from yours truly. Can a band be any happier than these five guys? Bright and catchy with Italian vocals and plenty of harmonies. Some Canterbury organ here but I wish there was more. Fifty minutes and ten songs and how about the cover art, those blue and purple shades.

I'm not sure where I'd rank this in their catalogue. Five studio albums over ten years. The debut is my favourite and the only one of theirs in my Canterbury top 30 list but the second one is right there too. I also really liked the album before this one I'm reviewing today but these guys are consistently good. The thing about the debut is the melancholy. The first track on that one is an example of the style they would focus on in the future, that bright and happy sound but that cd always impresses me, in fact I listened to it last night for comparison sake. Their best in my opinion.

There's something like 15 guests on here helping out so lots of sounds coming and going, nothing new here with this band as they always have had plenty of guests filling out their sound. We get some brief distorted organ on the opener but my top four begins with tracks four and five. That fourth track opens and closes with some innovation I'll say that with their usual sound in between but those cool ideas make this stand out in a positive way to me. The next one "Fine Del Mondo" just has this steady flow of sounds and the guitar solos a couple of times both when the singer steps aside.

The final two tracks on the album make up the last of my top four. "Fiume Dell'oblio" just sounds different early on and in fact is a bit of an odd-ball track ending with someone whistling the melody of this song in the shower. The closer is the longest by far at just over 10 minutes and it opens with a feel good vibe before turning somewhat silly after 2 minutes but at 4 1/2 minutes it settles right down to a spacey mood before building with vocal melodies. Kind of haunting actually. Strings too and experimental. Soundscape music! Yes this band can surprise.

Easily 4 stars and more joy to experience this holiday season.