| CD REVIEW Alkemist Fanatix Europe special, August 2011, Part 3 : – Radiazione – Riotown – Soundust – Spasmodicamente |
|
|
This time around an exclusively Italian special of bands from this promotion and management agency, but with very different bands indeed, going from (Underground) Punk to (Dub/ Electronics) Reggae/Ska-Rock, and from Classic Rock to (Jazz-influenced) Post-Hardcore/ Post-Rock! You just might've heard about these bands here first, even if some of 'em have been around (on a local level in their native country) for a while! ----------------------------------------------------- This “Underground” Punk act from Aosta, NW Italy (it's the first bigger town you encounter when you've gone through the tunnel under the Mont Blanc) was formed on a cold February day in the year 2000 by founders Daniele “Lele” Zanin (lead vocals and rhythm guitar) and Daniele Sgarbossa (drums). The songs they write are at the same time personal, happy, cheerful, worried, and nervous, and by Winter 2003 the band had a set of 11 prime songs which they all had at heart, but would never record. Some of the very first songs were somewhat special, as “Strega Di Blair” was written as a tribute to the movie The Blair Witch Project, and “Strisce Incandescenti” actually talked about something which was to actually happen a year later (the 09/11 thing, see?). All the while, the youngsters did not falter to go see some of their favourite bands (Pennywise, Offspring, Backyard Babies, and others) when they came a-passing through their neck of the Alps...and eventually the band started playing small gigs in their hometown. Prior to the first actual recordings (for the 2005 4-track demo Furia Rock), the band sees a change at the lead guitar position, but soon after the demo's release a hiatus befalls the band. During that period of inactivity Boomerang Records picks the band's debut demo's title track to be featured on their Virus Alternative Vr. 2006 compilation album...and a year later the demo's song “Demoni Dentro” is used in the soundtrack of the movie Lacrime Di Sangue. The line-up then again goes through a change at the lead guitar position, seeing the entry of Andrea “Palo” Palumbro into the fold (which also already included bassist Bobin). With him, the band records their debut full-length album Radiazione (apparently also known as Tragicomania), which is released in Spring 2007. In December of that first year, the band finally pulled together the courage to travel outside their own valley for a gig at the Music Village event in Monte Campione (some 225 km to the East, after all!). In the first months of 2008 the band records the two new songs “Filtro Rosso” and “Rosa Nel Fango” for a “single” (by the name of the first track) which would also contain the most important 3 songs from the 2 previous releases, and 2 songs which would eventually also make it to upcoming full-length Fantasmi In Città. That album was recorded at Westlink Studios with the aid of Alessandro Paolucci and Alessandro Sportelli (the first formerly of Italian Hardcore legends Raw Power, and together responsibles for production on albums by the more Punk-oriented bands on the Alkemist Fanatix roster – obviously, the band's link to the agency goes back to before those recording sessions) during 2009, and mastered in early 2010. Oh, if you hadn't figured out already, this band sings in its native language, and they play an up-tempo Punk Rock with frequent leanings to the more Punk side of the genre (hence also their own “Underground” titling of their music)...samples of which you can find (full-length versions, mind you) in the “discography” section of the band's own (www.) radiazione.net at at (www.) myspace.com/radiazione. If you're into basic Punk, and don't mind the Italian lyrics, then by all means check this band out! 85/100 ----------------------------------------------------- As soon as the sixtet comprised of Giacomo Cavallo (vocals & guitar), Peppe Romano (keyboards & synths), Luciano Spada (saxophone), Emiddio Onorato (trombone), Marco Rabuano (bass) and Francesco De Tata (drums) got together in the Spring of 2009, they went about developing their musical ideas, to make compositions which use Reggae and Ska-Rock (with occasional Punky flavourings) with contaminations from Dub and electronics. Thus, they got themselves in a very enviable position, being the only band of its genre in Italy (I'm sorry, this time I have no idea where they're based). Following their joining of the Alkemist Fanatix agency in January 2010, a deal was made with CNI, Tomato and Venus for the band's debut album to be distributed on a national level, with a production of the recordings at Westlink Studios (Pisa) in the hands of Alessandro Paolucci (just to repeat myself : of former Raw Power repute). Mixing was done by Paolucci's “partner-in-crime”, Alessandro Sportelli, and the mastering was done in the German Principal Studios (by one Vincent Sorg). Which brings us back to the band's music...and the only thing I'm left to mention (because I've already let the band's sound out of the bag), is that the individual songs have changing intensities without ever getting all-out aggressive or, contrarily, balladesque. Lyrics are in Italian, and the vocalist evidently follows suit with the intensity of the music. To get a good idea of what the band sounds like, check out the 3 songs posted at (www.) myspace.com/riotown. “Gente” will give you the more adrenalized band, while “Il Silenzio Delle Mie Stelle” is calmer overall, and shows you the band's Dub mode. “Lontano Da Qui” (for which the band is currently finishing the production of a video) is more Dub-Ska geared. And together these three tracks give you a very good picture of this band's qualities...indeed! 95/100 ----------------------------------------------------- The quintet known as SounDust (and mind how you write that, pretty please!) was formed in June 2005 in the Middle-Italian (by all means, do not confuse this band for the one by the same name from Oklahoma City) village of Teramo (situated some 47 km NW from Pescara – hum...they live very much in the vicinity of The Lotus...check first special of this month). As they put it themselves in their bio, “...the vibes of Matt McGregor...” (stage name of Matteo Di Gregorio) “...and the in-your-face soloing of Randy Pazz...” (whome goes through normal life as Angelo Angelozzi) “...soon find completeness and balance with the histrionism of Any Speedball...” (real name Andrea Nicolai), the groovy drumming of Jackil Black...” (Lorenzo Spataccini) “...and the catchy riffing of Izzy (The) Joker...” (in layman's terms : Andy = vocals, Randy = lead guitar, Izzy = rhythm guitar, Matt = bass/ backing vocals, Jackil = drums). With a set of songs by the likes of Led Zeppelin, Guns 'N Roses, Aerosmith and others, the band promotes itself in a series of live shows which are always well-received by the attending audiences. Eventually the will to make and release their own Classic Rock material grows to the birth of the first EP, Made In 15 Hours (care to guess what prompted that title?) in May 2007. Live activities increase, and so does the creativity to write new songs, partially thanks to a growing musical empathy. Soundust's name gets spread further and further, and in 2008 Versailles Records chooses a song of the band's EP to be included in a Led Zeppelin tribute album, which eventually sees the participation of musicians of Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, and Whitesnake (to name but the most resounding ones – hey, a bit of name-dropping here and there, you know...!?). In 2009 Izzy quits the band, and the decision is made to continue as a four-piece. Early in the next year, the band spends time at a couple of studios (both from their hometown!) to record the 10 tracks on their self-produced and self-released debut album, which was released somewhere in Spring 2010 with almost immediate positive reactions from the first Italian web music media. Soon enough others would follow, including a Belgian website (not us, yet) and eventually even a review in English came through. Meanwhile, everyone can get acquainted with the band's Blues-infused Hard Rock through 4 studio songs (and an additional live video) posted at (www.) myspace.com/soundust. You'll find a fairly honest music based in the classic Hard Rock tones of the late '70 and early '80, topped with a slightly high-pitched singer. Oh, and of course there's an obligatory ballad, but that song (“Rears Of Rain”) ain't posted. Anyway...if the above described is in any way “your thing”, check the band out, by all means! Hum...these guys should go over well in Germany. And with that being mentioned, the band knows which way to push their management and promotion agency, don't they!? 84/100 ----------------------------------------------------- I have no exact date on when this trio consisting of Matteo Mancini (vocals & guitar), Giulio Catarinelli (bass) and Lukas Tiberio Klopfenstein (drums) started this Perugia based band (oh darn...I forgot to check that town's positioning within Italy), but the band's MySpacepage was started in May 2007...so that's a good estimate, I guess! The trio has been participating in several important band contests and national festivals since 2008, and has shared a stage at some time with the likes of Il Teatro Degli Orrori, I Ministri, Calibro 35, Dubsync, Olly & The Fire, The Hacienda, The Greenhouse Effect, 99 Posse, Amour Fou, and the American Eagle And Talon. I also happen to know there's another release, also issued by Rokkaforte Records (in essence a recording studio which started its own label, with now about 10 releases to its name), but have no further details on it. I'm guessing this second release by the band was recorded/ mixed/ mastered somewhere late last year, and released in early 2011. Style-wize, the band has been compared to country fellows I Ministri and 99 Posse, but perhaps you'll understand better when I tell you Spasmodicamente comes from the same corner as such luminaries as Melvins, Mike Patton (in all his “solo” band incarnations). In other words, what you get here is a mixture of Ambient Rock with changing intensities and frequent Jazz-influences. That the trio is incredibly tuned-in to each other is clear from the fact that they guys used their instruments in sometimes minimalist guitar/ bass settings (meaning, the guitarist may drop out completely to have the bassist put his sounds up front) on top of a real nice drum/ percussion background...which, in fact, is the solid foundation on which all the rest stands strongly...or delicately, depending on the temporary mood of the songs (because what starts as a calmer track may have furious passages, and vice versa). That the instruments can stand their own without the vocals, is proven on this EP by the instrumentals “Coda” and “Viel Lärm un Nichts” (the first less than 2 minutes long, but together with the ensuing other one, you get a near 6-minute instrumental interval on the 18-minute EP). At (www.) myspace.com/spasmodicamente, you can find the complete EP (with mixed-up track-listing) posted, as well as 3 live videos (two of which songs from the new EP). In the “ascolta” section of the label's website (www.) rokkaforte.com, you'll find pre-production samples of some of those songs, as well as samples of 3 songs from the band's previous outing. If the comparisons were of your liking, you're most definitely an open-minded music listener, and you won't mind this band's vocals being done in their native language (lyrics are provided in the booklet, by the way), I'm sure. So, check this out now! To me personally, this was one of the top bands (if not THE top band) in the whole lot of (was it 28?) albums sent to us by the agency! So, don't let the top rating of this EP slap you in the face by surprise, okay? Darn, I love this (and in the background a soft voice whispers “And yet another band gets its album set aside in the year-lists...)! 98/100 Tony. |
