>>> BTF NEWSLETTER >>> March 26th 2009

Welcome to the new BTF Newsletter! New VM LPs and new AMS CDs! Bye! BTF STAFF

PROGRESSIVE   NEW "1978, gli dei se ne vanno gli arrabbiati restano", was Area first album on the new label. It contained a couple of interesting prog-inspired tracks, like the opening Il bandito del deserto and Hommage à Violette Nozières, mixed with others in a stronger free-jazz direction. It was the last album which features Demetrio Stratos who died in 1979. Faithfully restored in the original gatefold sleeve cover.

PROGRESSIVE   NEW FABIO ZUFFANTI Fabio Zuffanti was born in Genova (Italy) and is musically active from 1994. In these years he has worked, mainly as bass player and composer in a great number of groups and projects such as Finisterre, Rohmer, laZona, Hostsonaten, la Maschera Di Cera, Aries... He has composed music that spaced from postrock to progrock, from folk to pop, electronic and experimentation. He has worked with imporant italian producers such as Roberto Colombo (Battiato, De Andrè, Matia Bazar...) and Franz Di Cioccio (PFM, De Andrè, Battisti...) and his work has been publishd by a lot of different labels. With his bands Fabio has played in a lot of countries: Italy, France, Spain, Swiss, Belgium, Portugal, USA, Mexico... Apart of these projects Fabio composes, produces and records in at the "Zerodieci" and "Marina" studios in Genova, he also works as composer for Warner Chappel Music, while his music has been used for a lot of TV commercials, soundtracks, dance performances, etc... He also wrote the rock opera "Merlin" featured live in Italy and France in 2000-2001 and released a double CD in 2000. In 2007 Fabio began to build a solo project under his name and in the next 2 years he had a few releases as a cd-ep (Pioggia e Luce) and a lot of songs featured in various compilations. Zuffanti solo's music is a mix of electronica, songwriter, post-rock, psychedelia and lots of other influences. He loves artists such as Robert Wyatt, Lucio Battisti, Franco Battiato, Thom Yorke and many others… Zuffanti's music contains moods between dream and reality, infuenced by a lot of non-musical factors such as snow, asphalt, rain, mud, wardrobes, fallen leaves, stones, strange novels and the soul of earthquakes... Finally, in march 2009 here comes the first solo album by Fabio Zuffanti. The cd is simply entitled 'Fabio Zuffanti' and contains the following songs: - E' probabile - Le piante sott'acqua - Dormono - Cuoci bene - Andiamo avanti (per il film) - Ottobre - Sentieri nel ghiaccio - Domeniche senza tramonto - Così a fondo... The lyrics of the song 'Domeniche senza tramonto' are written by the Italian author Tommaso Labranca. The deluxe cover album (gatefold Lp-replica with deluxe booklet) was realized by Davide Guidoni with photos by Claudio Castellini. Zuffanti's solo album is SOLO in the real sense of the word: Fabio has composed, arranged, played, recorded and produced the whole cd on its own. Only the mixing works have been done at Zerodieci studi. Available as vinyl replica CD. Fabio Zuffanti è nato a Genova ed è musicalmente attivo dal 1994. In questi anni ha realizzato, in qualità di bassista e compositore, diversi album con una miriade di gruppi e progetti da lui fondati e coordinati tra i quali ricordiamo Finisterre, Rohmer, laZona, Hostsonaten, la Maschera Di Cera, Aries... componendo musiche che hanno spaziato dal postrock al prog, dal folk, al pop, all'elettronica e alla sperimentazione. Ha lavorato con importanti produttori come Roberto Colombo (Battiato, De Andrè, Matia Bazar...) e Franz Di Cioccio (PFM, De andrè, Battisti...) e i suoi lavori sono stati pubblicati da svariate etichette discografiche italiane ed estere. Con i suoi gruppi e progetti Fabio ha effettuato numerosi tour in Italia, Francia, Spagna, Svizzera, Belgio, Portogallo, Stati Uniti, Messico. Ha scritto la rock opera musical-teatrale "Merlin" rappresentata con successo in Italia e Francia nel 2000-2001 e pubblicata su doppio cd nel 2000. Nel 2007 Fabio comincia ad intraprendere un percorso solista a suo nome che lo porta a realizzare, nel corso dei successivi due anni, una serie di progetti tra i quali un cd-ep di 5 brani e una serie di canzoni contenute in diverse compilations. La musica dello Zuffanti solista è rivestita, volta per volta, da una patina di elettronica, cantautorato, post-rock, psichedelia e molto altro e ha come punti di riferimento sonori artisti quali Robert Wyatt, Lucio Battisti, il Battiato del periodo sperimentale, Thom Yorke e molti altri. Di fondamentale importanza per Fabio è la ricerca di una certa atmosfera sospesa tra sogno e realtà che si rivela influenzata da fattori non meno importanti che quelli musicali come ad esempio la neve, l'asfalto, la pioggia, il fango, gli armadi, le foglie calpestate, le pietre, i racconti strambi e i terremoti dell'anima... Fabio Zuffanti contiene le seguenti canzoni: E' probabile / Le piante sott'acqua / Dormono / Cuoci bene / Andiamo avanti (per il film) / Ottobre / Sentieri nel ghiaccio / Domeniche senza tramonto / Così a fondo... Da segnalare il brano 'Domeniche senza tramonto' il cui testo è stato scritto, appositamente per questo progetto, da Tommaso Labranca. L'album è solista nel senso più pieno della parola in quanto realizzato interamente e in ogni suo aspetto musicale da Zuffanti; composizione, arrangiamenti, esecuzione, produzione e registrazione. Come sempre il disco è disponibile nella lussuosa veste vinyl replica CD.

BLUES   NEW B.Street Band feature 3/5 of Ossi Duri. Ossi Duri are a talented young band from Torino. they have been playing for many years original composition together with Frank Zappa covers. With this background they managed to work with many Zappa musicians: ike Willis, Napoleon M. Brock, Mike Keneally, and in Italy with elio, Claudio bisio and Rocco tanica. So here it is, the new CD with cover blues which Bellavia family diceded give tribute to one of the best and guitarist and best composer music remember. Special guest in this CD is Ike Willis, the voice behind famous Zappa albums like “Joe’s Garage”, “Thing Fish”, “You are what you is” . A CD not to be miss!

PROGRESSIVE   NEW Springsong' is the 4st and final chapter of Hostsonaten's 'Seasoncycle Suite' ad has been originally published by Sublime Label in 2001. The original Cd is out of print by a few years and now AMS records have decided not only to reissue it but to realize a brand new album only in little part based on the old version. Starting by the 'exterior' aspect we find a wonderful new graphic work completely different form the previous one, in line with the 'Seasons project' and with excellent paintings by Davide Guidoni. All in a gatefold LP-replica box with a deluxe booklet with new credists, informations, images and details. Musically speaking, the 2001 work has been completely reworked. The album has been remixed in high definition quality, every single track has been cleaned and re-equalized to give a new and strong dynamics to the music, now more powerful and trenchant. Fabio Zuffanti and Robbo Vigo, the authors of this restyling, have also gave light to a great number of new musical details and, most important thing, have played a lot of new musical parts absent in the old version: - New mellotron parts played with a real mellotron (the old parts were played with samplers) - New bass parts in the whole album - New moog, bass pedals and percussion parts - 13 minutes bonus track (Suite bretonne), acoustic suite, the track from which Springsong wasborn. To make a long story short, it’s a completely renewed record, born again to new life! Springsong" is dedicated inspired by the intimate legacy between man and nature. The music of "Springsong" looks back to the time when human beings lived according to natural rhythms and it has the colours of Renaissance masterpieces. There are no studio tricks, no playing machines, but only the touch, imagination and sensibility of real artists. If you love such works as Genesis' "Trespass" or Anthony Phillips's "The Geese And The Ghost", you will certainly welcome enthusiastically this album. Even if you like acclaimed bands such as Clannad, Nightnoise and Moving Hearts, bands who usually play on the edge of several musical worlds, you will find the good vibrations you need. But you will also feel at home also if you are searching for jazzy and traditional echoes from other European latitudes. For this adventurous trip, Fabio Zuffanti united some former Finisterre members (Stefano Marelli, Agostino Macor, Boris Valle, Francesca Biagini) as well as some very talented musicians who normally approach rock music in a different way (Sergio Caputo, Federico Foglia, Edmondo Romano, ex Eris Pluvia and Ancient Veil). The result is a brand of powerful modern sounds and exotic and unusual voices of ancient instruments (woodwinds, pianos, strings, guitars and so on) that give "Springsong" a very unique and original flavour. With "Springsong" Fabio Zuffanti offers us his most painstaking recording, a work which shows the maturity he has reached and which goes beyond the fences that sometimes enclose the progressive rock world. 'Springsong' è il capitolo finale della tetralogia delle stagioni (Seasoncycle Suite) di Hostsonaten ed stato originariamente pubblicato da Sublime Label nel 2001. Da tempo il cd è fuori catalogo e AMS ha deciso non solo di ristamparlo ma di pubblicare in pratica un nuovo album solo in parte basato sulla vecchia versione. Partendo dall'aspetto 'esteriore' troviamo una nuova e stupefacente veste grafica completamente diversa dalla precedente, in linea con il progetto delle stagioni e con un eccellente lavoro pittorico di Davide Guidoni per una confezione LP-replica, cartonata, apribile e con lussuoso booklet ricco di nuovi credits, informazioni, immagini e dettagli. A livello musicale il lavoro del 2001 è stato letteralmente stravolto. L'album è stato interamente remixato in alta definizione, ogni singola traccia è stata ripulita e riequalizzata per dare al tutto una dinamica maggiore, più potente ed incisiva. Ma Fabio Zuffanti e Robbo Vigo, gli autori di questo restyling, non si sono limitati ad un lavoro di pulizia del suono bensì hanno messo in luce moltissimi nuovi particolari che non emergevano nella vecchia versione e hanno aggiunto molte nuove e significative parti musicali assenti nell'edzione del 2001. ovvero: - Nuove parti di Mellotron relizzate con uno strumento reale (mentre in quello originario si trattava di samplers) - Basso rifatto in tutto l'album - Nuove parti di moog, bass pedals e percussioni - Bonus track di oltre 13 minuti (Suite bretonne), suite acustica che rappresenta l'embrione da cui è stato generato Springsong. Si tratta insomma di un album completamente rinnovato e rinato a nuova vita! "Springsong" trae ispirazione dal rapporto che lega l’uomo alla natura che l’ha generato. E nel rispetto di tale simbiosi la musica che ne sgorga ha la freschezza e l’integrità dei frutti della terra dove l’umanità interagisce con rispetto per l’ambiente. In bilico tra l’acustico e l’elettrico, tra il sinfonico e il pastorale, su questo disco aleggia lo spirito dei primi dischi dei Genesis, o di quei veri e propri monili che sono le opere di Anthony Phillips. Ma in "Springsong" trovate gli echi della tradizione aggiornata che hanno fatto la fortuna di band come Clannad, Nightnoise e Moving Hearts. Nella realizzazione del IV capitolo della tetarlogia delle stagioni Fabio Zuffanti è affiancato da tutti i compagni dei Finisterre ( Stefano Marelli, Agostino Macor, Boris Valle ) e altri virtuosi (Sergio Caputo, Edmondo Romano) che sono garanzia di altissima qualità e fantasia esecutiva.

PROGRESSIVE   NEW Later in 1973 New Trolls produced another great album, "Ut", with a heavier sound, closer to hard rock. A nice album to many, this caused the band to break in two parts, with the two leaders Di Palo and De Scalzi going in two different ways. Faithfully restored in the original gatefold sleeve cover.

PROGRESSIVE   NEW Housed in a great cover designed by drummer Massimo Guarino, with an inner gatefold painting by singer Lino Vairetti (some of the band members came from the Naples Academy of Arts and also had an artistic career), the album contains nice tracks. The band was trying to play abroad and the album was also intended for the foreign markets, so five of the seven tracks are in English, but due to the split it had to be finished with the help of Corrado Rustici (Danilo's younger brother from Cervello) and drummer Enzo Vallicelli (then with Uno). Faithfully restored in the original gatefold sleeve cover.

BLUES   NEW An obscure band from Venice, but their only album, released in a very limited pressing, is among the rarest of Italian 70's progrock. It was also one of the first (or possibly THE first) LP's by an Italian band with a strong blues attitude, because blues was considered in Italy as a music only reserved to foreign musicians during the 60's. The band's leader, guitarist Claes Cornelius, was in fact a foreigner, from Denmark, that had moved to Italy in the mid-60's and soon played an important role in the beat era and afterwards. He had founded with sound engineer Ermanno Velludo the Suono Recording Studio. The album, Our blues bag, contains seven overall very good tracks, all sung in English much more in the best british style prog rock blues of the very first seventies than anything comparable coming from Italy. The 7 tracks are based on quite fuzzy electric lead guitar solos and a high-pitched voice with an overall rough production. All songs are original, while references may be Jethro Tull, Canned Heat or the first Fleetwood Mac sound, while generally speaking the group has a very personal sound. The exclusive AMS reissue faithfully reproduces the original cardboard sleeve of the original record, has a booklet with extended liner notes telling the complete history of The Blues Right Off and is strictly limited to only 500 hand numbered copies.

PROGRESSIVE   NEW Formed from the ashes of Osanna when the band split in 1974 by Elio D'Anna and Danilo Rustici along with drummer Enzo Vallicelli (from Hellza Poppin, who had played with Osage Tribe and Claudio Rocchi), Uno was a much-hyped band that went to England to record their first and only album with help from lyricist N.J.Sedwick and singer Liza Strike (of The dark side of the moon fame). The album is not far from late Osanna style (Landscape of life-era), with four English-sung tracks and three in Italian, with songs like I cani e la volpe in evidence, but didn't reach the success the band hoped. Faithfully restored in the original gatefold sleeve cover.