>>> BTF NEWSLETTER >>> June 18th 2009

Welcome to the new BTF Newsletter! New Sony LP reissues, new BTF papersleeve and other tasty news! Bye! BTF STAFF

PROGRESSIVE   NEW Like Deep Purple or early Uriah Heep. Organ-dominated. Recordings from 1972 which were released on LP not before 1997. Good sound. From the master tapes.

FOLK-ROCK   NEW Finally digital remastered by Maurizio Biancani at Fonoprint, Bologna, the first historical Polydor album, the ones which brought Branduardi up to the top 10 of many european countries. 5 CDs: Alla fiera dell’est, La pulce d’acqua, Cogli la prima mela, Highdown Fair (English version of Alla fiera dell’est) and Fables and Fantasies (English version for La puce d’acqua), these last 2 released only on vinyl in 1978, two real gold dust! Finalmente rimasterizzati da Maurizio Biancani alla Fonoprint di Bologna gli album storici della Polydor, quelli che avevano portato l’artista ai primi posti delle classifiche europee – 2 inediti su cd, 2 album in inglese pubblicati solo su vinile nel 1978, delle vere rarità! HIGHDOWN FAIR versione inglese di ‘Alla fiera dell’est’ e FABLES AND FANTASIES versione inglese di ‘La pulce d’acqua’.

PROGRESSIVE   NEW The first album, simply called Banco del Mutuo Soccorso, housed in a large money box shaped cover, is still one of the most representative examples of the Italian prog, with classical influences based on the twin keyboards interplay and the original voice of Francesco Di Giacomo. R.I.P. and Il Giardino del mago are among their best tracks ever, and Traccia has always been a live classic. Digital remastered sound for this classic LP! Limited and numbered edition.

PROGRESSIVE   NEW PIANOVANDO is BEPPE CROVELLA's new CD It's a solo piano album with 57 compositions written by Beppe Crovella. It's a journey through Beppe's Life and Imagination, emphatizing Beppe's Melodic compositional attitudes The first review by John Kelman (All About Jazz) says "Beppe goes straight for the heart". Beppe Crovella is a composer, performer, producer, label owner, professional studio owner and publisher, Beppe is "solo artist" and orginal member and actual member, performer, composer and producer of arti & mestieri, a mythical band in the history oh Progressive/jazz-rock. As a composer he's written 840 songs and compositions that have been published on CD and media, from songs, soundtracks to avant-garde compositions performed in international jazz festivals. He won 2 International Prizes with Music for Cartoons, produced by Italian TV. Electromantic music is its own label, that has 6 main catalogues and 32 artists.

PROGRESSIVE   NEW A jazz-rock group from Pinerolo, near Turin, Dedalus released two albums for the collectable Trident label before disappearing, and also had a good live activity despite being very far from the most important Italian rock groups of the time. After their live show at Naples' Festival di Avanguardia e Nuove Tendenze in 1973, they were described by a popular journalist as the revelation of the festival. First album contained a personal blend of jazz-rock, with some Soft Machine influences and all instrumental, with lead parts of sax, cello, electric piano and guitar. Reissued in papersleeve edition and digital remastered sound.

SIXTIES / BEAT   NEW The band was formed in Milan around 1970 when the ex-Quelli (a popular beat band during the 60's) Mussida, Premoli, Piazza and Di Cioccio met multiinstrumentalist Mauro Pagani from Dalton. The four Quelli had a change in their musical style near the end of the 60's their 1968 album produced by Ricki Gianco and Gian Pieretti, alternate original composition and foreign cover versions. Digital remastered sound LP! Limited edition.

PROGRESSIVE   NEW Following the overwhelmingly positive reception of their debut EP The Illusion of Joy, miRthkon emerges from nearly four years in the studio with their first full-length CD, an epic concept album entitled VEHICLE. Clocking in at just under 70 minutes, VEHICLE integrates miRthkon’s live repertoire—all with enhanced arrangements possible only in the studio—into a larger conceptual framework including absurd commercial parodies and evocative sound design elements yielding what band leader Wally Scharold calls “a movie for your ears.” True aficionados will not want to be without the equally complex and beautiful 16-page booklet that accompanies the CD, amplifying the themes presented on the disc and expanding on them in beautifully rendered text and images, realized by Scharold in collaboration with several Bay Area visual artists. ABOUT miRthkon: miRthkon—Oakland, California’s latest entry into a rich tradition of anti-tradition—is fully prepared to blow your mind with its highly idiosyncratic brand of sonic blasphemy! miRthkon’s music features an inimitable blend of quirky prog rock, avant-garde jazz, contemporary classical abstraction, thrash metal, and an uncanny pop accessibility that defies categorization. In recent years, miRthkon has become a darling of the Bay Area art-rock community and truly must be seen and/or heard to be fully appreciated and understood. According to prolific music critic JimBob Hickville who ranked The Illusion of Joy at #6 in his Top 100 releases of 2006, “It’s noisy, it’s heavy, it’s weird, and it’s awesome. Seriously, WOW.” Sulla scia dello straordinario consenso del suo EP d’esordio, The Illusion of Joy, miRthkon riemerge da quasi quattro anni di lavoro in studio per la realizzazione del suo primo CD full length, VEHICLE, un concept album dai toni epici. Con poco meno di 70 minuti, VEHICLE integra il repertorio dal vivo di miRthkon – arricchito da arrangiamenti realizzabili solo in studio – in una cornice concettuale più ampia, che alterna assurde parodie della musica commerciale a momenti evocativi, offrendo ciò che il leader della band, Wally Scharold, definisce «un film per le vostre orecchie». Gli aficionados apprezzeranno il ricchissimo booklet di 16 pagine che accompagna il CD, ampliando i temi presentati nel disco tramite testi e immagini, realizzati da Scharold in collaborazione con alcuni artisti della Bay Area. L’uscita di VEHICLE sarà sostenuta da un tour sulla West Cost che si aprirà con una presentazione multimediale allo Starry Plough di Berkeley. miRthkon, l’ultima novità in una ricca tradizione anti-tradizionalista, è pronta a sconvolgervi con la sua unica blasfemia sonora! La musica di miRthkon presenta una sintesi inimitabile di prog rock eccentrico, avant-jazz, classica contemporanea, thrash metal, e una strana accessibilità pop che sfugge a qualunque etichetta. Negli ultimi anni miRthkon è diventato un punto di riferimento nella comunità art-rock della Bay Area. Secondo il critico musicale JimBob Hickville, che inserì The Illusion of Joy al sesto posto nella sua Top 100 del 2006, miRthkon «è rumoroso, è heavy, è bizzarro, ed è grandioso. Sul serio, WOW».

PROGRESSIVE   NEW The band from Aachen, famous for their LP “Tips zum Selbstmord”, worked in their late period with English lyrics. The CD is filled with so far unreleased recordings from 1976.

PROGRESSIVE   NEW Ex Emma Myldenberger. Less folky, but completely instrumental and with oriental touch. With the oboe as melody instrument. Their only LP release then. From the master tape.