The expedition of the sound hunters starts off in Milan where the sounds are successfully captured amid dangers and difficulties. The sounds preciously guarded in the tapes are tamed & mastered in London
written, composed & produced by the great Roberto Cacciapaglia fer a young Croswell, Michigan native named Anne Lindke who traveled to Europe on a modelling contract in the 70s & transmogrified into the futuristic synthpop diva Ann Steel. more perfectly wonderful reading on this superb slab just hither. 320 blips
01 - devil's nightmare 02 - the dark castle 03 - dark dreamer 04 - demon arise 05 - demon night 06 - demon night ii 07 - deadly beauty 08 - demon night iii 09 - hell nightmare 10 - demon night iv 11 - caressing 12 - demon night v 13 - erotic demon 14 - end titles
trippy soundtrack from famed yet unheralded italo-composer Alessandro Alessandroni, best known for his incessant whistling on Morricone westerns i suppose, but also a fine guitar player who lends a couple compositions to the previously dropped underwater-themed library joint Ittiologia. here he teams up with sister Giulia Alessandroni on vox for this campy, cinematic masterpiece. 320 seductive scintillations
nuttin new bout the presence of this sinistral slice o' cosmic italo baroque prawg to the greater bog o' sphere, save fer the fact that my rip of the thang reigns supreme
'Maurizio Bianchi from Milano, Italy, started working in 1979 using pre-recorded filtered sounds and in 1980 bought his own electronic equipment to 'produce technological sounds to work for a full awareness of modern decadence'
this is the go-to jam of late when we're painting or making some visual art over there in the corner. murky
'The album is made up of just 4 pieces. One sidelong and three that are around 5 minutes. The sidelong opener "Sequenze E Frequenze" features plenty of Battiato's signature VCS3 & vocals. At first it sounds like it might fit perfectly on either of the previous two albums, until this drops away and a single thump of percussion becomes a static backdrop for walls of beautiful pulsating feedback, twinkling piano & synth washes. Definitely more abstract than his previous work, it lacks none of the creativity, grace and attention to minute detail that makes his compositions so enthralling. The shorter tracks are also great. 'Aries' has some fantastic horn playing and 'Aria Di Rivoluzione' is a classic. Battiato delivers an impassioned vocal performance over a ponderous, spacey rhythm with more great horn work.'
'All in all, the album has a very 'holy' feel to it, a spiritual feel. It's like an ancient archeological find, a piece of art that is soothing and unsettling. It's about texture, ambiance, and mood....it is not about rock and roll songs. A masterpiece in my humble opinion.' ~ source
polycarb remaster of me favourite battiato joint, ripped at a robust 320. the other one owlready lives here. the mood on this album is spacier, slightly more mellow & maybe even spiritual? the man has a lovely singing voice & aint shy about using it effectively. even the occasional saxophone sounds good in this context. i have no insightful words, this record should prolly just be experienced. initially heard it on a sunday morning, coming down
incendiary single recorded just after his 'Fetus' LP in '72. the big synths, rawkin riffs n' multi-tracked vocals on the first number almost make it sound like an Italian version of the band Sweet, only way more sinister. can i git a witness? heavy
'This very interesting recording of experimental/avant-garde/prog released by Franco Battiato in 1973, is one of two proggish albums he made in the early 1970's [the other being Fetus, 1972]. Given the complexity of this music, it is inconceivable that Battiato could have ever been a pop star, yet he was before 1972. He pretty much threw the pop approach out the window for this recording however, which consists largely of experimental passages on synthesizers including the VCS 2 [this is a new one for me] and the VCS 3, in addition to a tiny bit of pipe organ on Il silenzio del rumore. With regard to synthesizers, every band member with the single exception of the drummer plays one form of the VCS or the other. Furthermore, even though the VCS3 was used more as a sound generator than a melodic instrument, the tones employed are smooth, lush & clean. The pieces on the album are arranged such that tracks 1-4 form a suite of sorts that starts with a recording of classical music [it sounds like a waltz] over which Battiato provides spoken word passages in Italian [spoken word passages also close the suite]. The four pieces alternate heavily rocking sections of drums/bass/guitar, with experimental passages played on synths. Plancton starts of with some spacey sounds on the VCS3 and then gradually, acoustic guitar is incorporated along with some gloomy vocal parts. The closing segment of Plancton is heavily influenced by Italian folk music albeit with the added twist of odd sounds generated on the VCS3 [notice a pattern here?]. The title track Pollution provides more of the same, and at 8'48" is the longest piece on the album. The closing track is a personal favorite and just consists of heavily echoed/delayed, very sad and gothic sounding classically influenced synth lines [it almost sounds like a choir but not quite], on top of which Battiato half sings/half weeps his way through the piece [which ultimately gives way to his completely breaking down in fits of sobbing]. Highly recommended to all fans of Italian prog and experimental rock.' ~ jeff park
one of my favourite albums from this genuis of Italo psychedelique analog prog. if you thought the ems vcs3 or 'putney' was only capable of Hawkwind & Pink Floyd style signal processing, gleeps & gloops, hear they shine in owl their harmonically capable glory. happy & honoured to bring the definitive320version of this monster to the greater interwebs. give a hute, don't pollute :)
moody mid-paced monotone vocal minimal synth duo from Italy that gets love around here. this is the only record the band released & twood seem like it used to live here but that link est mort. even owls & their immediate kith & kin are not immune to the rare charms of moody minimal synth & this is surely some of the very finest italo schtuff. even if you don't dig it, yer girlfriend just might or vice versa. one to grow on
01. Il Clan Dei Siciliani 02. Snack Bar 03. Mostra Dei Gioielli 04. Dialogo N.1 05. Jeanne E La Spiaggia 06. Dialogo N.2 07. Tema Per Le Goff 08. Per Nazzari E Delon 09. Tema Itallano N.2 10. Francobolli 11. Il Clan Dei Siciliani [Finale]
when i did a radio programme back in the glory daze of yore, i would often play morricone stabs between sets of more 'difficult' musique. in the end this soundtrack was by far the most inquired about thang i ever dropped on that show. that might not mean it's one of his lesser known masterpieces, but what's certain is within the first few seconds of the first (((boing))), the phone lines would light up. noiseniks should note the anti-noise symbol on the bottom right of the 'tray card'. cam are having none of it. 320k str8 to the head
