CERCANDO L'ORO

While we can argue the merits and pitfalls of free trade from a political perspective, few would dispute that, musically speaking, open borders are the way to go. I admit to a certain bias, as foreign crooners make me swoon. But I'm late to the table, and, until recently, I had not heard of ANGELO BRANDUARDI. It took a couple of mentions here on PA (thanks Raff) and a sample tune sent by a friend (thanks Paco) to awaken my interest, so I set about to acquire a first Branduardi album, which led me to "Cercando l'oro".

It didn't hurt that my perennial favourite ALAN STIVELL guests on a couple of tracks, the better being "La giostra", where the verdant fields of Brittany and Wales are evoked even before the pipes burst in. In general, this is a soft classical folk album with more than a few soft rock colours and a progressive foundation. Within that seemingly narrow range, Branduardi fans out in all directions like a modest peacock, from the infectious opener "Il Lobro" to the quasi Caribbean title cut to pastoral "Natale" to the Irish Italian marriage of "Profumo D'Arancio". My personal choice is "La Volpe", thanks partly to its sultry rhythms and brass. This is thinking person's music that gently imposes itself. Don't expect an initial outburst of "wow", just a quiet "mmm".

Whether "Cernando L'Oro" is the most representative of Branduardi's work, or the best place to start, I have no idea, but I think it will satisfy those of you with a penchant for mellow Italian soundscapes in search of a heart of gold.

As I have written in my review of "81" I have missed Branduardi in the 80s, but the label has reprinted the whole collection in a nice price series so at least in Italy you can find all his 70s and 80s production at 5euro each.

"Il Libro" (The Book) has a strong medieval flavor as many of Angelo's songs. The chorus says "Turn the page and tell me what you see". It's a sort of madrigal. The book is a book of fairytales and the one who turns the page is a child.

"La Giostra" (The Carousel) is a soft dreamy song just whispered over a classical guitar base.

"L'Acrobata" (The Acrobat) has a south-american arrangement. Also the melodic line seems coming from Chile or Peru. Chilean folk had a strong influence on Italian music staring from the 70s when musicians escaped from Pinochet's putsch, the Inti-Illimani were exiled to Italy.

"Piano Piano" (Slowly) sounds a bit recycled. It features the Alan Stivell's celtic harp but the main melody is very similar to "La Lepre Nella Luna".

"Natale" (Xmas) has a Russian classical influence. Pizzicato violin and contrabass for a tune reminding of Prokovief.

The title track "Cercando L'oro" (Searching for Gold) has a calypso rhythm given by acoustic guitar and tambourine with a pan pipe adding a touch of Andes. Nice and solar.

"L'Isola" (The Island) is a typical Branduardi's minstrel ballad. Very melodic, so melodic that's quite trivial in some parts. Not my favorite song in this album but not bad at all.

"Profumo D'Arancio" (Smell of Orange) restores the medieval dreamy ambient that's what Angelo does better. If you like this song you'll likely like all his early production.

"La Volpe" (The Fox) is one of the Angelo's fables about animals. Very medieval, specially in the lyrics, including the darkness. The fox is symbolic of a nightly predator like the medieval personification of Death. Surely the best album's track.

"Ora Che Il Giorno E' Finito" (Now that the day is gone) starts as a piece of classic contemporary music. It's a pity that Angelo doesn't indulge enough with this kind of music as he has all the skill to sound like Ligety or Stockhausen". It's a very interesting song from the musical perspective. When it developes it turns into melodic but with a hypnotic rhythm. I would define it "magnetic".

I have really missed something good in the 80s.