>>> BTF NEWSLETTER >>> April 24th 2009

Welcome to the new BTF Newsletter! New AMS LP and CD plus many interesting indie CDs! Bye! BTF STAFF

PROGRESSIVE   NEW This time Airportman play the card of the cover versions. “Weeds” ha eleven songs taken from famous artists such as The Cure, Nick Drake, porno for Pyros, the The, P.J. Harvey, Echo & The Bunnymen, reworked under the acoustic lens, intimistic and touching of Airportman. An album born from the heart, that heals the heart. Beautiful emotions. Stavolta i piemontesi AIRPORTMAN assieme alla bella voce di Tommaso Cerasuolo dei Perturbazione, si cimentano in un disco di cover, nessuna accezione progressive. Ma la Lizard non è impazzita, semplicemente ribadisce la sua apertura senza preconcetti nè barriere di sorta, semplicemente ha voluto cogliere questa istanza d'amore per queste canzoni che "appartengono alle nostre adololescenze, quando il freddo lo sentivamo più forte addosso". "Weeds" è una sequenza emozionante di undici canzoni di autori come The Cure, Nick Drake, Porno for Pyros, The The, P.J. Harvey, Echo & The Bunnymen, riviste (e risentite) sotto la lente acustica, straniante, intimistica, toccante degli Airportman. Un disco nato dal cuore, che fa bene al cuore. E le belle emozioni non possono venire catalogate o dipendere da un genere. Sono semplicemente belle e vere.

PROGRESSIVE   NEW According to one of our sources Alphataurus came from Genova, though we tend to think they were from Milan, but in any case they were one of the many unknown Italian bands who suddenly had a recording deal, made an album and disappeared into oblivion. Their only album, Alphataurus, the first on the newly born Magma label, is a masterpiece, so well crafted and played that it seems impossible that's been made by a group of unknowns. The singer Bavaro has a very original voice, keyboard player Pietro Pellegrini plays with competence and no self-indulgence, guitar-playing of Guido Wasserman is well cared and the rhythm section of Oliva and Santandrea creates a powerful background. The album includes five long compositions of which Peccato d'orgoglio and La mente vola are the best, the latter featuring a nice moog intro and a stunning vibes solo. Soon after this the band split while recording a second album.

PROGRESSIVE   NEW “Back in 1975 when "Suoni di frontiera" ("Borderline Sounds") was released, Claudio Rocchi was already a well known figure in the Italian pop scene. In the late 60's Rocchi had burst onto the scene as a member of Milanese psych-prog legends Stormy Six. He performed on their "Le Idee di Oggi Per la Musica di Domani" LP in 1969 and soon after, the acid folk of "Viaggio", Rocchi's solo debut, was released in 1970. That same year Rocchi hosted an influential radio show on the Italian national broadcasting station, RAI. 1971 brought the simply awesome "Volo Magico No.1". An acknowledged classic, it emerged as not dissimilar to Roy Harper's landmark song cycle of progressive/psych folk, "Stormcock." The album – especially the epic 18 minute title track – established Rocchi as the Italian psych-folk minstrel par excellence. Then, after traveling to India, improvisation and Eastern philosophies began to shape his next few albums, “Essenza” from 1973 being a high point. 1974's “Il miele dei pianeti le isole le api” (“The Honey of The Planets The Islands The bees”) featured guitars, tabla, strings and percussion but the following album from 1975, “Rocchi” was, according to the man himself, “a real U turn”.It featured a handful of songs, though Rocchi baffled his hardcore following by introducing cut-ups, environmental sounds and analogue synthesizers recorded at his home studio using a Revox A70. This brings us to the experimental electronics of his next album “Suoni di frontiera”. Consisting of 16 “sketches” made at home, this recording went much further out than “Rocchi”. Described by so-called authorities to be naïve and unsophisticated, to these ears “Suoni“ is a highly personal and extremely charming collection of psychedelically damaged constructs. All of Rocchi's celebrated and highly recognized vocals were now processed and modulated - if they were heard at all. They sat alongside his spacey and dislocated homespun synth stylings that sound simultaneously retro and futuristic. What more can one ask for? Rocchi described the release as “diving deeper into psychoacoustics, a practical theory on healing music, mind resonances, inner flows“. Yep. And thanks to the good folk at Die Schachtel, another crucial piece of the 70's Italian puzzle has been unearthed for our pleasure. Dig in.”

AMBIENT / ELECTRONICA / AVANTGARDE   NEW Illàchime Quartet is an instrumental ensemble based in Naples (Italy) that joins electronics and acoustic instruments. It gathers sounds and noises from the surroundings as well as scattered fragments of acoustic memories, which form the texture for the interventions of the musicians along rough and terse lines, often improvised. Final target: to intrigue and to seduce the audience by means of an unconventional, highly kinematic sonic experience. At the moment the live lineup is composed by: Fabrizio Elvetico: piano, electronics, electric bass Gianluca Paladino: guitar, samples Pasquale Termini: cello, synthesizer Agostino Mennella: drums, electronics The band released its first album in 2004, then a contribute on the vol. 9 of Bip_Hop Generation Series (previous volumes of this compilation contained tracks by artists as Murcof, Scanner, Mira Calix, Phonem). Another release is planned for a compilation by the Dublin-based label Psychonavigation Records. The new album contains six tracks and a ghost track. It is released by the italian label Fratto9 Under the sky Records and Lizard Records. Several fine musicians have given their contribution to the album. Among them, some important international artists like: Mark Stewart (voice of Pop group and Maffia) Graham Lewis (voice and bass player of Wire) Rhys Chatham (avantgarde musician from New York) Salvatore Bonafede (one of the most well-known italian jazzists). Un disco imperdibile per chi ama le sonorità avant-progressive della Cuneiform (non a caso riferimento distributivo americano): ILLACHIME QUARTET è un progetto napoletano al secondo album, straordinaria esperienza sonora non convenzionale e fortemente cinematica. Fabrizio Elvetico (pianoforte, elettroniche, basso elettrico),Gianluca Paladino (chitarra, campionamenti), Pasquale Termini (violoncello, sintetizzatore), Agostino Mennella (batteria, elettroniche), si avvalgono di ospiti di caratura internazionale come Mark Stewart (voce storica del Pop group e dei Maffia), Graham Lewis (basso e voce dei Wire), Rhys Chatman (esponente dell'avanguardia newyorkese più contaminata), Salvatore Bonafede (uno dei più apprezzati jazzisti italiani). Non solo avant-jazz, non solo elettronica, non solo post-rock, "I'm normal, my heart still works" assembla un reticolo di percorsi, tra composizione e improvvisazione, che non ha eguali nel panorama italiano.

PROGRESSIVE   NEW Recorded during the 2006 european tour, “Intergalactic Live Video Archives” is the first DVD live from Mangala Vallis, the progressive band which features Bernardo Lanzetti (ex-PFM, Aqua Fragile) and Gigi Cavalli Cocchi (Ligabue, CSI, MAssimo Zamboni). The document highlights the great energy of the band and gather the most significant tracks of their repertoire taken from their two albums “Book of dreams” and “Lycanthorpe”. It features also the two video clips produced by the band for 143 minutes of great live music.

PROGRESSIVE   NEW Cammenanne is a collection of recordings made between 1975 and 1978 found in the Ricordi archive. 3 very important years for this band. The Cd features tracks written by Senese & C. together with “Cammenanne” written with Pino Daniele. TRACK LIST 1. CAMMENANNE (inedito) 2. CAMPAGNA 3. PENSIONE FLORIDIANA 4. À GENTE ‘E BUCCIANO 5. SIMME JUTE E SIMME VENUTE 6. SOTTE E ’N COPPA 7. ‘O NONNO MIO 8. ‘O NEMICO MIO 9. A MUSICA MIA CHE R’E’ 10. A MUSICA SI TU

ALTERNATIVE / POP / ROCK   NEW At last available the new instrumental CD from OSSI DURI. Even if instrumental the music “tells” of a funny story: the life of Silvano Garrè, a songwriter, a rover who reaches a town controlled by a tyranny major who forbids the use of musical instrument:the only way to make music is the computer. the Cd features, among many musicians, the contra-bass player Furio Di Castri, a well known jazzman. With this work Ossi Duri set themselves on a musical side which goes against every commercial logic; they are still inspired by their mentor Frank Zappa, yet they give fresh air to his music and take an original approach. E' uscito l'atteso cd strumenatle degli Ossi Duri "Scadenza perfetta". Con lo slogan "la musica non ha scadenza" si chiude il lavoro degli Ossi Duri, il primo con l'etichetta da loro stessi fondata LaZaRiMus (Laboratorio Zappiano di Ricerche Musicali). Il cd è un concept album sulla vita di un fantomatico cantautore, Silvano Garrè, un girovago che si imbatte in una città dominata da un Sindaco (Major) che ha imposto a tutti gli abitanti di quel paese una legge che vieta l'uso di strumenti musicali, l'unico mezzo per fare musica consentito è il computer. Al cd ha preso parte, tra gli altri, il contrabassista Furio Di Castri, conosciuto jazzman a livello mondiale. Con questo lavoro gli Ossi Duri si pongono sempre di più su un versante musicale che va contro tutte le logiche commerciali del mercato discografico, confermano il loro approccio basato sulla lezione del loro più grande ispiratore Frank Zappa, ma al tempo stesso ne rinnovano lo stile e prendono una strada originale.

PROGRESSIVE   NEW A mysterious studio group that only released an ultrarare album for the small Lupus label. Behind the name The Psycheground Group hid the musicians of Nuova Idea, in their first line-up. The album is all instrumental, composed of five long tracks, in the same style as Blue Phantom or The Underground Set, and had in common with the latter group the name of Ninety (producer Giampiero Reverberi) behind them. Reverberi composed the whole album, which was recorded in his own studio. Finally reissued on CD by AMS, in a limited pressing of 500 copies.

PROGRESSIVE   NEW A nice instrumental record not far from the style of Blue Phantom and The Psycheground Group. Brugnolini released this LP on his own label and composed it along with Luigi Malatesta. It was recorded at Dirmaphon Studio (Rome) in March 1970. Among the musicians playing on the album were Silvano Chimenti (guitar), Giorgio Carnini (piano and organ) and future Perigeo bass player Giovanni Tommaso. The rare album has been finally reissued on CD by AMS, in a limited pressing of 500 copies.