ignore the stupid AMG reviews that describe those late albums as playing "the same chord" over and over again (all you have to do is, you know, offer 20 minutes of your time and attention to not write something stupid like that) ... the whole point of the exercise is the overtones ... and geez and gosh are they beautiful.
― Stormy Davis (diamond), Saturday, 1 April 2006 08:05 (eighteen years ago) link
― Jack Cole (jackcole), Saturday, 1 April 2006 08:06 (eighteen years ago) link
The whole point is the overtones and the way the pianist he employes on all these records -- this guy Antonio Ballista -- employs the damping pedals to like, remove one set of overtones, or allow one set to ring out ..... it's totally great stuff. So, yeah, Feldman-like in the sense of space and determination; bet yet not in the sense that, I don't think Feldman played around with damping pedals in this way... it's totally intoxicating, I think. I dunno .. Milton parker much smarter about this stuff than me, obv..
― Stormy Davis (diamond), Saturday, 1 April 2006 08:40 (eighteen years ago) link
― Patrick South (Patrick South), Saturday, 1 April 2006 14:27 (eighteen years ago) link
― Beta (abeta), Saturday, 1 April 2006 14:56 (eighteen years ago) link
milton, i've only heard motore immobile, but i'd also like to know who's heard the later guisto pio stuff and how it compares to the first.
beta - i know exactly how you feel about za! i had heard it after only hearing sulle corde di aries and maybe another similar album, and it was not what i was expecting. however, i really love it now.
― killy (baby lenin pin), Saturday, 1 April 2006 19:06 (eighteen years ago) link
― killy (baby lenin pin), Saturday, 1 April 2006 19:10 (eighteen years ago) link
― team jaxon (jaxon), Saturday, 1 April 2006 20:05 (eighteen years ago) link
About late pop Battiato of the '80 you miss too much if you can't understand the incredible lyrics (i'm italian), it's a pity, imagine listening to Pulp or Scott Walker without understanding the lyrics, you miss so much...... .... that's because for non italian the mostly instrumental '70 album are obvioulsy more considered (and listenable) than the '80.
― francesco brunetti, Saturday, 1 April 2006 20:14 (eighteen years ago) link
it opens with the exact same spiral moog melody that Battiato opens with and returns to on 'Fetus'. a different performance. Vorhaus runs it through a few variations.
which makes me suspect that they're both lifting it from a classical piece -- does anyone know what it is?
― milton parker (Jon L), Tuesday, 6 June 2006 20:24 (seventeen years ago) link
need to find copies of the later minimal Battiato albums as well
― milton parker (Jon L), Tuesday, 6 June 2006 20:33 (seventeen years ago) link
― Ricki Belloni (Pangolino 3), Tuesday, 6 June 2006 21:09 (seventeen years ago) link
Battiato, Franco-Melle Le Gladiator $10.00Battiato, Franco-Battiato (aka Za) $10.00Battiato, Franco-Juke Box $10.00Battiato, Franco-L'Etitto Prima Del Sabbie $10.00
definitely buying the last one -- which other one would someone recommend?
― milton parker (Jon L), Tuesday, 6 June 2006 21:20 (seventeen years ago) link
― Teh HoBBercraft (the pirate king), Tuesday, 6 June 2006 21:30 (seventeen years ago) link
so i was gonna sell this, and decided to listen to it again. i actually don't hate it. it kinda reminds me of some low energy HI-NRG, if that makes sense. like some of the poppier Lime but not as dancey. could see it used in some Cosmic mixes.
― jäxøñ (jaxon), Tuesday, 6 June 2006 21:40 (seventeen years ago) link
― milton parker (Jon L), Tuesday, 6 June 2006 21:52 (seventeen years ago) link
― Patrick South (Patrick South), Wednesday, 7 June 2006 04:01 (seventeen years ago) link
― flëétwøöd måçk (jaxon), Tuesday, 27 June 2006 19:57 (seventeen years ago) link
― Tom D., Thursday, 15 March 2007 14:00 (seventeen years ago) link
― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 15 March 2007 14:06 (seventeen years ago) link
― Marco Damiani, Thursday, 15 March 2007 14:26 (seventeen years ago) link
― Tom D., Thursday, 15 March 2007 14:27 (seventeen years ago) link
― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 15 March 2007 14:29 (seventeen years ago) link
― Marco Damiani, Thursday, 15 March 2007 14:33 (seventeen years ago) link
― Tom D., Thursday, 15 March 2007 14:35 (seventeen years ago) link
― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 15 March 2007 14:45 (seventeen years ago) link
― Marco Damiani, Thursday, 15 March 2007 19:47 (seventeen years ago) link
is there anything out there that sounds like fetus ?
― oscar, Wednesday, 18 August 2010 21:13 (thirteen years ago) link
not really but if you want an idea of how weird mainstream Italian pop had gotten around the same time, you'd probably like Lucio Battisti's 'Anima Latina', which gets more eccentric with each track. & Riccardo Zappa's 'Chatka' (& also 'Celestion').
Clic - artrock, the songs buried in dense collages but the tunes are still there with weirder production than ever, definitely my favorite. dedicated to Stockhausen and pulls it off, the last five minute track is a brilliant fastpaced montage of shortwave music from around the world, it's a pop music version of Hymnen
listening to Clic again recently I realized that most of the world music samples Battiato uses in this piece are all taken from Volume 1 of Henry Cowell's 'Music Of The World's Peoples', one of the first track-by-track continent skipping world collage compilations: http://www.folkways.si.edu/albumdetails.aspx?itemid=902
I did download the later two Giusto Pio records -- a lot more pop, more digital synths. Nowhere near as timeless as 'Motore Immobile', every time I come back to that one I love it more, it's so minimal / ambient / simple but it knows exactly what not to do
― Milton Parker, Wednesday, 18 August 2010 21:31 (thirteen years ago) link
also Alan Sorenti's "Aria" & Claudio Rocchi's "Essenza". 2 amazing folky, proggy art pop albums.
― jaxon, Wednesday, 18 August 2010 21:34 (thirteen years ago) link
side one of that Sorrenti record is pretty strange. will check out that Rocchi album.
& there's your thread here: Does a Noise dude know anything about Luciano Cilio?
― Milton Parker, Wednesday, 18 August 2010 21:38 (thirteen years ago) link
& Dominique's post on that thread jogs my memory 'cause he was right, anyone who's crazy about Fetus will probably want to hear Leprino's 'Integrati Disintegrati'.
http://www.discogs.com/Franco-Leprino-Integrati-Disintegrati/release/2302758
― Milton Parker, Wednesday, 18 August 2010 21:46 (thirteen years ago) link
better link - http://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=14536 & it is on mutant sounds
― Milton Parker, Wednesday, 18 August 2010 21:48 (thirteen years ago) link
thanks guys. i have the sorrenti and the battisti records and i love them both.
now ill have to check out that zappa, rocchi and leprino.
― oscar, Wednesday, 18 August 2010 23:43 (thirteen years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zex3iVWikpw&feature=related
― oscar, Thursday, 19 August 2010 00:31 (thirteen years ago) link
Flamen Dialis' only album sounded a bit like early Battiato - but they were French, not Italian.The first two Sorrenti albums are good, they have a strong Peter Hammill/ Tim Buckley vibe, with lots of acrobatic vocals.
― Marco Damiani, Thursday, 19 August 2010 09:19 (thirteen years ago) link
I always wondered whether the acrobatic vocals are what endeared Hammill to the Italians
― It dreamed to Tom D. of the Caucasus (Tom D.), Thursday, 19 August 2010 09:23 (thirteen years ago) link
Definitely. VDGG were huge here mostly for this motive: I think their combination of technical dexterity and gothic sensitivity was also a big plus.
― Marco Damiani, Thursday, 19 August 2010 09:29 (thirteen years ago) link
By the way, Sorrenti had a couple of huge disco hits towards the of 70's, like this one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-PjsarOf2k
― Marco Damiani, Thursday, 19 August 2010 09:33 (thirteen years ago) link
Yes, listening to a lot of Morricone songs I'd noticed that a lot of Italian pop singers tended to forgo subtlety in favour of vocal chord rupturing hysterics
― It dreamed to Tom D. of the Caucasus (Tom D.), Thursday, 19 August 2010 09:37 (thirteen years ago) link
Blame it on a) our operatic tradition and b) a consolidated national habit of taking pleasure in showing off.
― Marco Damiani, Thursday, 19 August 2010 09:44 (thirteen years ago) link
listened to Riccardo Zappa's 'Chatka'. not really feeling it tbh. it's got a nice vibe to it. sorta resembles a bit of ashra stuff w/the delay, but it's a bit too happy/major key for me. and not really digging the classical guitar tone he uses.
― jaxon, Monday, 23 August 2010 23:02 (thirteen years ago) link
I was watching old Eurovision performances and wondered about the guy with Egon Spengler/serial killer vibes that sang for Italy in 1984:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3q9DVCfERk
Took me a while to realise it was the same guy who made Clic! Anyway I hadn't checked out any of his other albums and am now happily burrowing down a Battiato rabbit hole. Here he is on TV in 1972:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCoUNjjjlEQ
― kriss akabusi cleaner (seandalai), Sunday, 1 March 2015 18:22 (nine years ago) link