PORTABLE MADNESS

Man if I didn't know these guys were from Italy i'd swear they were from Germany. As hdfisch says there is a definite "Krautrock attitude" with their style of play. The songs all blend together, and it's an all instrumental affair.There are synths galore on this album and they sound so beautiful, in fact I thought that they must use mellotron, but it's actually eminant (string organ). The guitar is very upfront the way I like it, as is the bass. By the way the bass player Richard Ursillo also played bass for CAMPO DI MARTE under the name Paul Richard (thankyou Tom Ozric).

"Smooth And Round" sounds very cool with the bass lines and the spacey string organ. Guitar 2 minutes in starts to solo over top. "Fullglast" opens with some dark but tasteful guitar as bass throbs and drums pound. The guitar starts to light it up 1 1/2 minutes in. It stops a minute later as synths take over. Bass and drums continue. "Phase One And Phase Two" opens with aggressive guitar as bass and drums continue. Synths and string organ follow when the guitar stops. Nice bass before 2 minutes. Lots of bottom end 2 1/2 minutes in, then guitar returns followed by synths again. Great sound after 3 1/2 minutes as the synths and guitar lead the way. "Underwater" is led by synths throughout, although the guitar comes in soaring over top 2 minutes in. The guitar style changes before 3 1/2 minutes, the song ends with solo synths.

"The Next Place Of Nobody" is quite spacey with lots of atmosphere. "Pasty Day Resistance" reminds me of TANGERINE DREAM. Bass and synths lead the way. Some nice drumming before 2 minutes followed by some excellent guitar that grinds away. Great tune. "Leave My Chemistry Alone" has this cool melody to start with then guitar comes in around a minute, but it's brief as synths dominate the rest of the song. "Strange About The Hands" is a much spacier soundscape without any beat or rhythm until after minute in when bass and drums come in . It gets louder, and the synths get more intense 2 1/2 minutes in. Guitar arrives 3 minutes in. "Relative Jump Into Water" is very calm and spacey. Like waves of synths in an almost haunting soundscape.

I wish they would remaster this record, the sound isn't terrible but it is a little muddy. A must for Krautrock fans.