Damiano Mercuri is the guy behind Rose Rovine E Amanti but he's also a trained classical guitar player. He has studied at the age of 13 under the guide of the great Italian guitarist Carlo Carfagna and took his musical degree at S. Cecilia Conservatory of Music in Rome with maximum score cum laude. Studied flamenco with Juan Lorenzo at S. Cecilia Conservatory of Music in Rome. EUROPEAN MUSIC AND BALLADS FROM THE REINASSANCE AND BAROQUE ERA is the first album for The Eastern Front sub-label "Folk" and as far as I how it is his first album where he performs this kind of music. The CD is divided into three sections: early English music, early Italian music and early Spanish music and gathers music by John Nowland, Robee Johnson, P. Cutting, Philip Rosseter, Vincenzo Capricola, Ludovico Roncalli, Cesare Negri detto il Trombone, Vincenzo Galilei, Alonso De Mudacca, Luis De Narvaez, Gaspar Sanz plus various anonymous. The twenty seven tracks played with acoustic classic guitar have been performed in different places and show well Damiano's passion for this music and are enjoyable also by ignorant people like me and this is a great gift for a musician...

Anticipated one year ago by the CDr single "Horus Calling" (song which opens this new album), five years after "The Teacher And The Man Of Lie", The Green Man release their new album "Musick Without Tears". The new album, as usual for the Italian duo formed by Marco Garegnani and Eliahu Giudice (here helped out by Chiara Alice Lorenzini on additional vocals plus different guests of which I'll write later), has the lyrics that are as important as the music. Their performances always gave me the idea to be a sort of musical reading. You know, a sort of modern version of what beat poets did back in the 50s/60s: poetry readings with music improvisation. In the case of The Green Man we have a mix of lyrics inspired by the lives of Aleister Crowley and Kenneth Grant (he died the last year and headed the magical order previously known as the Typhonian Ordo Templi Orientis which is now referred to as the Typhonian Order) with music parts that remember me Velvet Underground on some tracks ("Blindness Is Bliss", "In The Desert Chaos Loved Me With A Knife", "(Sweet) Candy) or British folk-rock bands of the 70s on others ("Horus Calling", "Cefalù - Song For Raoul", "At Stockholm", "Freedom Is A Two Edged Sword", "67-69 Chancery Lane") with some exceptions like "Chat Blanc" which mix jazzy atmospheres to krautrock synth noises and "Tetelesthai", a dark tune based on hypnotic melodic piano loops which slowly turns into an infernal soundtrack based on violin, metal noises and echoes, after a couple of minutes of silence. About the guests, we have Patrick Leagas on backing vocals, keyboards and samples on "Blindness Is Bliss". Carlo Gilardi on trumpet and Geneviève Pasquier on vocals on "Chat Blanc". Francesca Crotti on violin on "Freedom Is A Two Edged Sword". Last but not least, Gianluca Beccuzzi's noises and samples have been used on different tracks but there isn't written which they are.

Active on early 80s in Rome, Italy, Style Sindrome was formed by Anna and Stefano, both coming from TM Spa, a rock band that won the first Italian Rock Festival in 1980 and Giorgio, who played with Electroshock, a well known Italian rock band active in the late '70s. The line-up found its final set up when Massimo and Raimondo joined. Deeply influenced by post punk and early new wave (of the likes of Joy Division, The Cure and Siouxsie & The Banshees), the band recorded only two demo tapes (the song "Waving In The Dark", coming from the second one, was also included into the compilation produced by the magazine Rockerilla titled "Gathered"). They also participated to a national television show called Mister Fantasy with a video produced by the show itself. For whom may be unaware of that show, it was a sort of experiment lasted from 1981 until 1984 born from an idea of Paolo Giaccio and hosted by Carlo Massarini. It was the first show based on video clips but they also documented different Italian local scenes (Pordenone's The Great Complotto it's the one I remember the most) and produced many italian bands and artists' videos. After thirty years Synthetic Shadows succeeded into getting a copy of the seven songs of the two demos which seemed to be lost forever. Side A contains "Thinking About", "We Two" and "Pressing Desire". The influences of bands like Siouxsie & The Banshees are mostly evident on Stefania's vocal style because musically they had refined arrangements where sax inserts and intricate guitar parts where the main elements and the atmosphere was sensual and dark at the same time. Side B contains "Waving In The Dark", "Shining", "To Stretch" and "A Mysterious design". The songs are mixing new wave upbeat rhythms to almost funky guitar riffs, new wave arpeggios and sax solos. They succeeded into personalizing a sound that revolutionize the alternative musical scene over the world on that period, if you think that on those years Siouxsie & The Bansheed released "Juju" and "A Kiss In The Dreamhouse", The Cure released "Faith" and "Pornography" and Factory just issued the posthumous Joy Division's record "Still".

The strong assonances between this impressive release by Rob Mazurek, who shuffled his cards of talented collaborators to give birth to a majestic octet, and monumental sessions like "the notorious "Bitches Brew" by Miles Davis are fortuitous as the sparkle for "Skull Sessions" came when the We Want Miles exhibition at SESC Sao Paulo asked Mazurek to highlight the propinquity of his musical research with the one by the legendary Miles Davis. Instead of recreating themes of that great jazz innovator, Rob revamped some compositions by himself by rearrangement which could fit the peculiar features of each musicians and the whole sound of the octet. The final result goes beyond any better expectetions and the different stylistical drives he managed to aggregate in this octet sound so perfectly balanced that you could have the impression to listen a proper crossbreed between Sao Paulo Underground's rhythmical tropicalism, Exploding Star Orchestra's sonic orbits and Starlicker's mesmerizing energy. Such a motley metabolic variegation derives both from the "syncretic" attitude of Mazurek's compositional approach and from the different "alma mater" of each musician of the octet, who already belong to the above-mentioned ensemble and come from North and South America, including drummer John Herndon, vibraphonist Jason Adasiewicz, whose finespun hits play a key-role to bridle listeners in the charming weaves of these sessions, Guilherme Granado on electronics and keyboards, skilled flutist Nicole Mitchell, guitarist Carlo Issa, Sao paulo Underground's Mauricio Takara on percussion and cavaquinho (Brazilian ukulele) and Thomas Rohrer on C melody saxophone and rabeca (a rustic viola from North-eastern Brazil). The role of Mazurek's cornet is somehow close to Davis' trumpet in the above-mentioned "Bitches Brew" as it often seems to tune other instruments on a melodic sketched line before giving emphasis to the sonic spirals they generate by means of a ring modulator, which seems to function as a catalyzing agent together with the fleet of drums and percussions. This coagulant effect is quite clear in the opener "Galactic Ice Skeleton", a wonderful piece Mazurek composed for Exploding Star Orchestra where cornet seems to direct the ebullient molecular soup of the other voices, which sound shaking within a plasmatic cloud, and the following "Voodoo and The Petrified Forest", an elemental dancing whirlwind whose main theme seems to resurface from rough water, even if it often runs into the highly energetic whirling impetus the octet succeeds in bursting forth as it happens in the amazing crescendo of "The Skull Caves of Alderon", which follows a pacific entrancing introduction on a disabled vibraphone which sounds like a Balinese gamelan, or unleashes other elements like in the lopsided ballad "Passing Light Scream", a composition Rob tributed to the legandary French/Chilean filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky, whose initial folk theme and elaxing chimes turn into a mindblowing twist. Some surreal setting of Jodorowsky's movies could be resembled by the final gossamer improvisation for flute, rabeca and electronics of "Keeping The Light Up" as well. Strongly recommended listening.

First I should say that I probably shouldn't have been the one to review this, not because I can't grok the music (most of it anyway) but because Italian is a language I have no proficiency in, and to fully appreciate this, it's likely essential. (I know we have some paisanos here at Chain D.L.K.; Marc, Mario, Vito.) Be that as it may, Deadburger Factory is actually Italian avant-rock band Deadburger, with some help from their friends on this triple-disc deluxe box set, hence the 'factory' added to the name, as a musical experimental laboratory of sorts. When I say deluxe, I definitely mean deluxe- a neat gray-lavender box with artwork by cartoonist Paul Bacilieri (also different works by him on the individual CDs), a 64 page booklet with lyrics (in Italian of course), color photos of the band, more Bacilieri artwork, and other odd and interesting stuff, plus a foldout mini-poster of Bacilieri's cartoon art from the three individual CDs assembled for continuity. This must have cost a fistful of Euros to put together, and having no idea what it retails for, nor how big a following the band has in Italy, I don't know if they'll ever recoup their investment, but for some, it's sure to become one of those 'must haves'. Even the one-sheet accompanying this is in Italian, so I had to go elsewhere (several elsewheres) searching for information to be able to convey to you, the potential listener.

The title ' 'la fisica della nuvole' translated means 'The Physics of Clouds'. Each of the three CDs also has its own title CD1- 'Puro Nylon 100%' (sort of self-explanatory); CD2- 'Microonde/Vibroplettri' (Microwave/Vibrating Plectrums); CD3- 'la fisica della nuvole' (The Phyics of Clouds'), all representing different aspects of this work. CD1 is easily the most diverse of the three. It combines elements of rock, classical, jazz, electronic, spoken word (most in Italian), avant-garde, downtempo trip hop, and probably a few I missed. Not all at the same time mind you, but sometimes. Comprised of 8 tracks composed by Vittorio Nistri, Allessandro Casini and Tony Vivona, there is a wide variety of moods, and sonics explored here, so it almost seems cinematic. One minute you're listening to a nifty distorted guitar riff (joined by violin, ala King Crimson) with heavy acoustic rock drums, the next, some gentle electronics and a string sextet, interrupted by some dissonant processed electronics. Some of the tracks on this CD are their own variations on Erik Satie's 'Socrates'. Although I found it a bit uneven, there were enough highlights to warrant multiple replays.

CD2- 'Microonde/Vibroplettri' is something completely different. The most experimental CD of the three, it is split between Vittorio Nisti's sonic microwave experiments (using a microwave oven as the primary sound source) and Alessandro Casini's vibrating plectrum experiments (using vibrating sex toys to motivate his guitar). Each of them has four tracks on this CD. First track, 'My Life Inside the Microwave' begins with some high frequency drones and not long turns into a squalling assault of noise. 'Strategy of the Rat' is an intriguing rhythmic piece; a bit of hypnotic electronica with a low voiced melody and an arrhythmic scraping sound. Noise surfaces as element as well, along with an occasional dinging bell. This is way cool! How all this was generated from a microwave, is beyond me, but the creativity here is simply astounding. 'Magnetron' is a short electronic piece employing reverse-attack technique (backwards samples) with other rapid little electronic rhythms, seeming transitional. 'Micronauta' is strange psychedelic ambience, just too hard to describe; quite multifaceted and intriguing. It ends with the dinging of a bell, quite possibly signifying the rat it the microwave'¦is done. 'The Dentist of Tangier' is an odd Middle Eastern flavored piece with a quirky rhythm and eccentric guitar. 'Heart of Rana' is a weird noise-rock piece that shows you just how bizarre things can get when sex toys are applied to the guitar. With dildo-neck slide guitar, this style of delta blues would have Elmore James turning over in his grave. Beefheart might dig it though. 'Dr. Quartermass, I Presume' features an undercurrent of quirky electronic rhythm with abstract noisy electric guitar on top. Concluding with 'Plowing the Fields of Glass', a repetitive guitar melody forms the pedal off which other guitar sounds (sustained low notes, tremolo, squealing sustained lead) play. It comes off as the least experimental and least rewarding track on this CD.

CD3- 'The Physics of Clouds' is yet again something completely different. This is where Deadburger comes together as a band, with a more cohesive sound, if such a thing is possible for them. At this time the band lineup should be introduced ' Simone Tilli ' trumpet, lead vocals (Simone is a guy by the way, think of him as Simon); Alessandro Casini ' guitar (acoustic guitar on this disc, although I swear some of it sounds electric); Carlo Sciannameo ' fretless bass; Giula Nuti- viola; Irene Orrigo ' flute, vocals; Pino Gulli ' drums; Massimo Giannini ' percussion, vocals; Vittorio Nistri ' keyboards, loops. There are a couple of other musicians involved, but let's not get carried away in the credits. This is supposed to be the 'organic' CD and for the most part it is, but electronics do creep into the sound processing, and electric bass and keyboards (unless you're strictly playing acoustic piano, which Nistri isn't) are electronic. Be that as it may, this CD has more of a band sound with continuity throughout. The opening track begins with spoken word (in Italian, of course) and melancholy strings with a little flute, clarinet and bass, followed by guitar and viola carrying the melody. It's a bit reminiscent of In The Nursery. A little rattling percussion then the band launches into a semi-psychedelic modal trip that reminds me of Gong, sans Daevid Allen's Flying Teapots and Pothead Pixies, perhaps with a touch of Jade Warrior.
Most all of the lyrics to the songs are actually sung (rather than spoken as on the first CD), once again in Italian, getting a bit closer to mainstream. 'Amber' is an exotic superb piece that could have gone for twice its length and I'd have been very happy. Jazzy, trippy, exotic, a wonderful blending of so many cool elements. The band rocks out on the next number ' 'Bruciando il Piccolo Padre' (By the Burning Little Father ?) with some very frenetic vocals by Tilli, and bodacious drumming by Pino Gulli. 'Cose Che Rompono' is a bouncy number and the closest thing to a traditional song so far. After the mostly placid 'Wormhole', the band heads off into Legendary Pink Dots territory with 'Il Mare E' Scomparso'. The downtempo 'Deposito 423' features some very rich musical interplay between all the musicians, and very memorable vocal line. I don't know exactly why, but this track made me think of Zappa. The finale, 'C'E' Ancora Vita Su Marte' ('There is Still Life on Mars') gives some of the lead vocal over to Giulia Sarno and it's nice to hear an upfront female voice for a change. The final few lines ' 'There is Still Life on Mars' are the only lyrics sung in English. Maybe if there had been more, I would had have liked it better, but overall, this CD was very enjoyable.

In conclusion, this is music for the adventurous, those seeking something beyond the boundaries of the conventional, and genres be damned. This boxed set is a very mixed bag; there were parts I didn't much care for, parts I absolutely loved, and also some that I merely though was okay. Europeans will probably dig this more than Americans in general, partly because of the language thing, and partly because Americans tend to get confused, disoriented, and disaffected when presented with so much diversity. But- if you think you really have eclectic tastes, you should give Deadburger Factory a shot. Your biggest challenge may be actually acquiring it.