PHOENIX

Well once more I get to use the phrase “underwhelmed”. In this case that feeling is ascribed to this early nineties release of some studio tracks originally recorded in the mid-seventies when Zauber were still an active band. The reason I believe was the reformation of the band around 1990, and they released another album of early recordings (‘Est’) shortly after this one. There’s yet another titled ‘Aliens’ that appears to be similar; I don’t know much about that one but it has the markings of also being a rehashing of stuff the group couldn’t get released when it was first recorded in the seventies. Their only actual release back then was the decent and more folksy ‘Il Sogno’, but this album is only mildly in that same vein. Most of the members of Zauber also recorded a couple of albums under the name Clarion in the mid-nineties, presumably named after keyboardist/guitarist Paolo Clari who played in Zauber and is given most of the artistic credits for the Clarion albums.

The only justification I can hear for calling this a progressive folk band are the vocals of Liliana Bodini, who also plays guitar and some percussion here (triangles and such). She has a fairly comfortable folk voice but lacks much range and at times sounds more like a lounge-act singer thanks mostly to the slightly cheesy organ and electric piano arrangements. Otherwise I would call these guys something closer to contemporary adult or even easy-listening music but with the added twist of mellotron and lots of keyboards.

None of the compositions are very complex or original though, and after a while the overall sound borders on being slightly insipid. I like the flute passages, but frankly there’s been precious little flute music I’ve ever heard that wasn’t appealing on at least some level, so that’s not exactly a ringing endorsement. And like most Latin music the acoustic guitar work is expressive, though in this case also quite placid which is great for transitions or short interludes but gets a bit boring nearly forty minutes on in an album.

Like I said the electric piano tends to be a bit cheesy and over-the-top at times, particularly on the almost nightclub-jazz sounding long instrumental part of “Uomo” and the slow, requiem-like “Dalla Finestra”, which are also the two longest tracks on the album.

There’s not really a highlight here, and for the most part the album is quite consistent musically – it’s just that it’s consistently unexceptional. The only other album of Zauber’s that I’ve heard is ‘Il Sogno’, and while that one isn’t an essential classic or anything either, I would recommend it over this one for anyone wanting to discover the band. Maybe I’ll try and hunt down some of those Clarion albums to see if they are any better. Two stars for this one though (despite the excellent artwork).

peace