Alesandro Pomponi

The Profile

Author and music journalist; long-time collaborator with the magazine Raro!; author of Rock Oltre Cortina (Tsunami Edizioni).

Author of Rock Oltre Cortina, a detailed study of Beat, progressive and psychedelic music in Communist Bloc countries (1963-1978); collaborator with the magazine Raro!; focuses on music history across Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria and East Germany.

The review presents Rock oltre cortina as an essential, well-researched book on Beat, Prog and psychedelic music in the Communist Bloc from 1963 to 1978. It highlights the book's thorough national surveys (Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, East Germany) and argues it fills a gap in music history. The author is noted as a long-time collaborator with the magazine Raro!. The volume is praised for covering prog, psychedelia, jazz-rock, folk, avant-garde, new wave and singer-songwriters while excluding punk.