DEL PERDUTO CORAGGIO

There are very few groups in Progland quite like these simply amazing Italians, choosing to ply the oft traveled waters of symphonic prog with a whimsical take on the style, bringing in all kinds of intriguing touches. Their previous album "Distratto Dal Sole" was a real jewel, fueled by Davide Pisi's rather original guitar style, some unique singing in the traditional language of the land and some very attractive arrangements that kept away from synthesized bombast, preferring a jazzier experimentation slant. "Del Perdutto Corraggio" is even more leftfield, exploring peculiar soundscapes with unabashed curiosity , propelled by Pisi's magic axe and masterful interventions from the remaining crew, Marco Gusberti relying mostly on ornate yet slightly dissonant piano and hissing synths in an almost ultra-modern electronic style, as opposed to traditional sweeping virtuoso approach. The material sparkles with a hypnotic feel, singers Massimiliano Galbani and Mario Bramé (who is an excellent drummer as well) offering up some sense of lyrical balance to arrangements that veer dangerously close to sheer madness. At times minimalist (especially when the piano plays a major role) and at others effervescent, their brand of ISP is wholly original, extremely affirmative and slightly provocative as proven by the "Yugoslav" radio samples that collide with bubbling synths, mechanical drum beats, closer to experimental electronica than anything symphonic, as amply demonstrated on the manic "Dovuti Effetti di Una Sola Causa". The next track "Neon" returns to the supple delivery of their brand of psychedelia, with Pisi's twangy 6 string foray, twirling politely with Massimo Necchi's booming bass guitar, this is Mary Newsletter at their most cohesive and unique. The title track reverts to the realm of creative bizarreness, weird electro burps shuffling relentlessly, zips and zaps all over the place with an exalted vocal rant that is downright creepy, until Pisi kicks in a wickedly schizoid guitar blast, full of muted rage and insanity. This will not play on the radio, I assure you. "Amica Venus" is a disjointed affair that reveals some disturbing traits, burping bass heralding in a marshalling vocal that seem to float in luscious rancor. A slashing harmonica sardonically winks at the intense wah-wah guitar explosion, a definite descent into delirium. "Wittgestein 31" is another sterling electro breeze with swooning washes of synthesized wind, floating over some simple guitar picking, a brief but magnificent piece of divine music. The concise "Déjà vu reprise" revisits a previous album mainstay, the playful "Déjà vu", a sing along ditty full of fun and brawn. The boys like to have some fun, occasionally sprinkled with some odd ball configurations which continue on the rather Tullian "Prospektiva Nevski", echo vocal and all. While not as immediately appealing as their stunning predecessor, credit must be given to their inbred sense of "progression". 4 issues.

MARY NEWSLETTER is a band i've looked into more than once over the years but I could never find much in the way of reviews so I always passed. Then tszirmay came along praising this Italian Psychedelic band which coincided with the "Mellow records" sale, so I got this one and the followup fairly cheap. I'm so glad I finally pulled the trigger. I was able to find an old interview with this band which was enlightning because all the info and lyrics are in Italian in the liner notes. Mario the drummer says "We tried to compose a dark, psychedelic, minimilist album. We chose sounds able to drive the listener into a mental trip". This is a concept album about the incapacity of human understanding when it comes to infinity, nothingness, death, eternity etc. The title "Del Perduto Coraggio" stands for "Losing hope". The idea is that this (losing hope) is the final consideration of the human mind that struggles with these concepts (death, eternity etc.) and gives up.

"Atomic Deja Vu" is silly and seems so out of place on this album, especially as the opening track. The band even called this "a stupid song about death". It's only 2 minutes long and is quite catchy. "Ah...sssch!" is atmospheric with sparse piano. This becomes haunting as other sounds come and go. Drums before 3 minutes out of nowhere. Vocals and a powerful soundscape follow. I like the guitar before 5 minutes. Vocal melodies then synth-like sounds follow. "Andrea Emo Nel Suo Studio" opens with these experimental sounds that are repeated over and over as synths play in the background. I like it. Vocals 1 1/2 minutes in come and go in a relaxed manner. It's experimental again. It kicks in around 4 minutes. A calm before 6 minutes as it turns spacey with vocals. Piano before 7 minutes to end it.

"Dovuti Effetti Du Una Sola Causa" is my favourite and it features fast paced spoken words with a haunting background. Sounds like footsteps coming and going. The song turns into sounding like a cross between FLOYD and TANGERINE DREAM. Vocals 4 1/2 minutes in and it becomes louder after 6 minutes. "Neon" kicks in with a good rhythm before 2 minutes. Nice guitar too. "Del Perduto Coraggio" opens with pulsating sounds as other sounds come and go. It's eerie and dark. A beat comes in. Spoken words after 2 1/2 minutes or is it yelling. Haha. The raw guitar before 4 minutes is cool.The pulsating sounds of the intro return to end it. "Amica Venus" kicks in around a minute. Great sound ! Guitar solo 3 1/2 minutes in. Nice. Atmosphere to end it as it blends into "Wittgestein". The atmospheric synths continue. A beat comes in then vocals. "Deja Vu Reprise" is next. Why !!? Haha. "Prospettiva Nevski" features FLOYD-like bass as vocals come in. It turns powerful after 1 1/2 minutes as vocals continue. It ends as it began.

I think there's enough here to give it 4 stars.

Don't get deceived with the first delightful and groovy song "Atomic Deja Vu". :)

MARY NEWSLETTER would shoot a dreamy d'j' vu via this whole album world. Just after such a pop, catchy one, the real psychedelic world by an Italian superior combo has been waiting for us. "Ah ... Sssch!" is a heavy, dark rock world with a bit Krauty experimentalism here and there. Impressive are dark guitar footsteps and slimy chorus ... along with ethnic flavoured beats / melody line. In the following one "Andrea Emo ..." we can get drenched in electronic deep dread kicks and enthusiastically plaintive solo voices. Exactly into a dream flooded with a mixture of a dramatic "rock" and a magical mystery tour.

"Dovuti Effetti Di Una Sola Causa" is kinda electro-hypnotic space rock tinged with crazy ethnic beats and magical spellings or something. Electric percussion gives us comfort and superior grooves. Whilst the last phrase sounds like a hard edged rock blaster, a very colourful one. "Neon" is one of the most interesting, most Italian-charactered one, with brilliant sound squeezes and wacky, warped dark ambience. On the contrary, the following titled track "Del Perduto Coraggio" consists of Kraut-ish experimental guitar chase-game and metronomic rhythms electronica ... flooded with their experimentalism, an addictive one that grabs our heart obviously.

"Amica Venus" might be created with heavy rock riffs blended with delightful chorus and psychedelic but dramatic sound mysteries. The heavy guitar solo sounds sooo enthusiastic enough to drive us crazy into Italian psychedelic atmosphere. "Wittgestein 31" is another stable space rock like Hawkwind with sensitive word sounds and electronic slices ... and we get awake in a sound of a strawberry alarm clock. Through the reprise of "Deja Vu", we get serious again in front of the real world via such a dark, deep, heavy quake "Prospettiva Nevski".

In this album "Del Perduto Coraggio" (and the splendid sleeve!) we can understand another appearance of RPI in MARY NEWSLETTER. Yes cannot call them as a typical RPI combo but simultaneously cannot avoid them in RPI scene at all. Listen.