>>> BTF NEWSLETTER >>> September 04th 2009

Welcome to our Newsletter! AMS and VM CD and LP news! Enjoy!

PROGRESSIVE   NEW Though the LP cover notes only list two musicians' names, singer Tony Tartarini (previously known as Toni Gionta and former singer with L'Uovo di Colombo) and drummer Carlo Bordini (that also played in a duo Rustichelli & Bordini), the group also included three members of Goblin, keyboard wizard Claudio Simonetti, guitarist Morante and bass player Pignatelli, with the first two of them being credited as composers for all the album tracks. In fact the group, named Oliver, had been created by Simonetti and Morante, that also went to England in late 1973. With new singer Tartarini the group recorded what was to become their first and only album in 1974, after a name change to Goblin, but it was soon shelved when Carlo Bordini refused to sign a contract with Cinevox as it could damage his career as session musician. The others went on with a new drummer, leaving out Bordini and Tartarini and recorded Profondo rosso. The unreleased album was shelved for a couple of years, and only released in January 1976 with the name of Cherry Five (a name that really didn't belong to any real group), and only Tartarini and Bordini were credited on the cover, maybe someone thought that it could damage the Goblin's career! Even if it's not particularly representative of the Italian prog sound, the LP is a genuine rarity due to the great world success Goblin achieved with some of their soundtrack works, and is in many collectors' want lists. A keyboard based album, sung in English, Cherry Five has strong influences by the likes of Genesis and Yes, especially in the fluid keyboard parts and powerful bass sound. It contains six long tracks with the opening Country graveyard and The picture of Dorian Gray. This last title, translated in Italian as Il Ritratto di Dorian Gray was in fact the name of Claudio Simonetti's first band. [Source: www.italianprog.com]

PROGRESSIVE   NEW “Lavori in corso” by “Gan Eden - Il Giardino delle delizie” was our best-seller for 2007, and it’s still out of print. Hailed by fans and critics as a symphonic gem, the project of keyboard player and vocalist Angelo Santo Lombardi has taken the world of Italian prog by storm, adding influences of Italian prog giants as Banco, PFM and Orme with the keyboard wizardry of Keith Emerson. Ritratto di Ballerina is the logic follow-up to its predecessor, while being more complex, compact and with a slightly harder edge. Quality standards remain unchanged, while the somehow playful atmosphere of the debut has moved to a stronger awareness. This record represents the artistic maturity of the Gan Eden project, that confirms itself as one of the best bands of the actual prog scenes, both in matters of quality and continuity. As usual, the album is available as a beautiful vinyl replica CD. “Lavori in corso” di “Gan Eden - Il Giardino delle delizie” è stato il nostro best-seller del 2007, tanto da essere tuttora esaurito. Salutato da pubblico e critica come piccolo gioiello sinfonico, il progetto attorno al tastierista e cantante Angelo Santo Lombardi ha conquistato gli amanti delle sonorità del prog italiano classico come Banco, PFM, Orme abbinando tali maestri a uno spiccato amore per le tastiere di Keith Emerson. Ritratto di ballerina si riallaccia al lavoro precedente ma è certamente è un disco più complesso, compatto e duro del suo predecessore. Gli standard di qualità restano altissimi, e la talvolta ingenua giocosità dell’esordio è stata sostituita da una notevole consapevolezza nei propri mezzi. Questo disco rappresenta la maturità artistica del progetto Gan Eden che si conferma uno degli attuali progetti di punta della scena del prog Italiano, sia in termini di continuità, sia in termini di qualità! Come di consueto il CD è disponibile nel formato vinyl replica.

PROGRESSIVE   NEW When we first heard il Ruscello, we thought we had discovered an unreleased Italian seventies prog record. Only afterwards we realized it was a band at its debut! “Paesaggio Solare” will cause tears of joy to all lovers of Italian hard prog, where the immediate comparable band that comes to our mind surely is YS-period Balletto di Bronzo... but not only! “Il Ruscello” means naive and surreal Italian lyrics with a stunning and weird Gianni Leone-style vocalist, long and elaborate tracks, simply exalting interplays between guitar and keyboards, and a solid rhythmic base. But do not expect to listen to the usual copycat band, as all tracks stay immediately in the listeners’ memory, something that happens only with the real big ones! A special example is the magnificent “Il cielo in un ruscello”, for us one of the best record starters of the last years. Recorded in London with vintage techniques, this is surely THE miracle of 2009. Masterpiece! As usual, the album is available as a beautiful vinyl replica CD. Quando abbiamo sentito il primo demo del Ruscello per un attimo abbiamo davvero creduto di avere scovato un disco Italiano inedito dei primissimi anni settanta e solo successivamente abbiamo realizzato che si trattava di un gruppo all’esordio discografico. “Paesaggio Solare” farà urlare al miracolo gli amanti delle sonorità hard prog Italiano dei primissimi settanta, dove il paragone più immediato (ma non unico) è certamente quello del Balletto di Bronzo di YS. “Il Ruscello” significa: testi rigorosamente Italiani tra il naif e il surreale sostenuti da un vocalist stranito ed inquietante, tracce lunghe e complesse, ricami tra chitarre e tastiere semplicemente esaltanti, il tutto sostenuto da una solida base ritmica. Ma non siamo di fronte al solito tributo fotocopia fine a se stesso, visto che i brani restano vivamente impressi nella memoria fin da subito, a partire da uno dei migliori e più devastanti incipit di prog Italiano degli ultimi anni, la magnifica “Il cielo in un ruscello”. Registrato a Londra con tecniche squisitamente vintage questo disco è l’autentico miracolo del 2009. Capolavoro! Come di consueto il disco è disponibile nel formato vinyl replica.

PROGRESSIVE   NEW Le RanestRane sono un gruppo prog italiano di Roma, costituito nel 1998 con l'ambizione di comporre un'opera rock. Diversamente da altre opere rock, dove il film segue l'opera composta dai musicisti, in questo caso le RanestRane hanno scelto un capolavoro gotico di W. Herzog, "Nosferatu Il Vampiro", componendo una nuova colonna sonora con musica e testi narranti la storia. Dal 2000 le RanestRane si esibiscono nel "cineconcerto", con proiezione del film e esecuzione dell'opera rock dal vivo. Tra le loro influenze musicali, troviamo PFM, Banco del Mutuo Soccorso, Genesis, Marillion. "Nosferatu Il Vampiro" è un doppio cd eccellente e consigliato a tutti gli amanti dei concept album progressive melodici! RanestRane is an Italian prog band from Rome that was formed in 1998. The aim of the musicians involved in this project was to compose and perform a rock-opera, so they chose a famous Werner Herzog's film, "Nosferatu The Vampyre", and commented it with music and original lyrics. They started their live activity in 2000 and conceived their shows as a "cineconcerto", with the images of the Herzog's film flowing in the background. In 2006 they released their rock-opera on a self-produced studio album, a double CD called "Nosferatu il Vampiro". Among their musical influences you can find bands like PFM, BMS, Genesis, Marillion. Excellent double cd at a special price reccomended to all lovers of melodic progressive concept albums!

PROGRESSIVE   NEW Reale Impero Britannico surely is the rarest record of the Goblin universe, together with Cherry Five of course. Released in a very small batch of copies in January 1976, as the soundtrack of an obscure movie called "Perché si uccidono – La merde" tough it was recorded some time before, when the members of Goblin still called themselves Cherry Five, as the band still featured Cherry Five singer Tony Tartarini (that sings the excellent “My damned shit”) and drummer Walter Martino. Afterwards the band will change its name in Goblin recording its breakthrough record bestseller: the soundtrack of Profondo Rosso. This is also why “Perché si uccidono” is the perfect musical hook-up between Cherry Five and Goblin. Some tracks where composed by Fabio Frizzi, a famous composer of thriller and horror scores, one alone namely "Kalù", and the other four, "Epopea", "Ammoniaca", "Epopea (Reprise)" and "Edda" (sung by the Italian actress Edda dell'Orso) together with the musicians that soon will call themselves Goblin: Simonetti, Morante, Pignatelli and Martino. Willy Brezza has composed the remaining five tracks: "My damned shit", with A. Pietravalle, "Dodici e un quarto", "Block", "R.I.B.", "Apotheke" and "Distrazioni" (all strumental). An essential and rare record for Goblin lovers!

PROGRESSIVE   NEW A five-piece from Brianza, I Ricordi d'Infanzia only released an album and a couple of singles in 1973. They had previously played under the name of Gli Aspidi and were also present on the Fonit compilation Nuovi complessi d'avanguardia da Radio Montecarlo. With the new name I Ricordi d'Infanzia, since 1972, they played as support band with I Pooh and Le Orme. Io uomo contains a very good progressive sound, based on mediocre lyrics on the creation of mankind (a recurring theme in many Italian prog bands' concept albums). The eight tracks album has its best moments in Morire e non morire and the opening Caos, one of the few tracks with keyboards to the fore. After the demise of the album, totally unnoticed due to the lack of promotion from the record company, the group had a line-up change, with newcomers Gianni Bari (sax) and Ugo Biondi (keyboards) replacing Cassina and Vergani, and they played until 1976. An ultrarare album, one of the rarest on Fonit-Cetra, Io uomo originally had a textured gatefold cover that included the lyrics but no details on the band. The album was issued in the LPP series that included mostly popular music records and oddly didn't include the group name on the cover, just a mention in the liner notes in the inner gatefold. Source. www.italianprog.com