LIMITI ALL'EGUAGLIANZA DELLA PARTE CON IL TUTTO

Homunculus Res hail from Palermo and in 2013 released an interesting début album on the independent label Altr0ck/Fading Records with a line up featuring Dario D'Alessandro (guitar, vocals, minimoog, glockenspiel, percussion), Davide Di Giovanni (piano, organ, keyboards, drums, percussion, acoustic guitar, vocals), Daniele Di Giovanni (drums, percussion, acoustic guitar, vocals), Domenico Salamone (bass), Mauro Turdo (guitar), Federico Cardaci (minimoog, organ) and Dario Lo Cicero (flute) plus some guests and a special guest such as keyboardist Paolo Botta from Yugen, Not A Good Sign and Ske.

According to the band, their main sources of inspiration stem from artists linked to the Canterbury scene of the seventies such as Soft Machine, Robert Wyatt, Caravan and Hatfield and the North. Anyway, in their music and artistic approach you can find also the legacy of an Italian band from the seventies as Picchio dal Pozzo and echoes from contemporary bands as Yugen or Breznev Fun Club. Homunculus Res' style is bold and eclectic, they showcase a great musicianship and creativity but even in their most extravagant, challenging sonic experiments they never lose the sense of melody with brilliant results.

"Limiti all'eguaglianza della parte con il tutto" (the title could be loosely translated as "Limits to the equality between the part and the whole") features eighteen tracks very different in mood and length but that flow away as if in a long suite where you can find everything and its contrary. The lyrics swing from the funny nonsense of the opener "Culturismo Ballo Organizzare" to the poignant sarcasm of "(Che ne sai tu di un) cerchio nel grano" where they jokingly quote "bunga bunga", Lucio Battisti and Fabrizio De André.

In "Jessicalaura" the band mix Pink Floyd and Gianni Morandi in a funny, original way while the instrumental "Rifondazione unghie" recalls seventies atmospheres and an Italian band called Calibro 35. You can find a parody of a psychotic D.J. fan of Michael Jackson ("Dj Psicosi") and an ironic love song as "La ballata dell'amore stocastico". There's also a short quote from the "Happy Accidents" by Rascal Reporters ("Accidenti"), some echoes of bossa nova ("Estate 216 solstz") and many more interesting ideas.

By the way, the main composer of the band, Dario D'Alessandro, is also a painter and maybe his paintings and drawings that you can find in the booklet could describe the music better than my words. Have a try!