Antonello Cresti
Solchi Sperimentali Italia

After the excellent and acclaimed Solchi Sperimentali, Antonello Cresti publishes the anticipated Solchi Sperimentali Italia. Cresti has an Anglophile culture, evidenced by his previous books in which he demonstrated having many affinities with the perfidious Albion, whose dark side he explored in books like Lucifer Over London and Come To The Sabbat. However, the author, who is also an appreciated music composer with the group Nihil Project, admits in the introduction that "when it came to deepening my interests, discovering that passion for experimentation that would definitively guide my relationship with sound, I inevitably looked homeward." How can you argue with such a statement? Since the late '60s, Italy boasts a vast undergrowth of artists who dared to use an experimental language well ahead of its time. One can safely say, without fear of contradiction, that many of the names presented here have nothing to envy from their foreign colleagues; in some cases, they even surpass them. The volume is divided into thematic chapters that examine artists who, in a given era, managed to innovate and go beyond the genre of reference, despite inevitable labels. Each section is accompanied by an interesting in-depth interview that helps analyze and contextualize.

The first chapter, titled "Spirali tricolori" and dedicated to psychedelia, opens with what is one of the symbolic albums of Italian experimentation: Dedicato a... by Le Stelle di Mario Schifano: it's a milestone of Italian psychedelia and beyond, Italy's answer to the Velvet Underground and Warhol, decidedly ahead considering the release year is 1967 and beat was reigning in Italy. Speaking of Italian psychedelia, No Strange couldn't be absent, a group actually much more complex and sophisticated that looks to avant-garde authors like La Monte Young and Terry Riley. Many names are covered like Chetro & Co., Tito Rinesi, Living Music, and Michel Fedrigotti. Continuing through the chapters, after "Bazaar" where Aktuala and Lino Capra Vaccina stand out, we reach "P.D. – Progressivi Davvero," focusing on musicians who truly interpreted the term "progressive." This interpretation reminded me of the historic book by Al Aprile and Luca Mayer, La musica rock progressiva europea. Thus, space is given, among others, to Franco Battiato, Claudio Rocchi, Juri Camisasca, Telaio Magnetico, Riccardo Zappa, Albergo Intergalattico Spaziale, Pholas Dactylus, Sensation’s Fix, and Franco Falsini. But right after, we find Area, Stormy Six, and Yugen in "Rocce in opposizione" (Rock in Opposition), while "Nova Musicha" focuses on those inspired by contemporary music like Opus Avantra, Pierrot Lunaire, and Roberto Cacciapaglia. The various branches of avant-garde and experimentation also produced results in the so-called dark and obscure scene: hence, in "Magici gruppi di Ur," the exploration of controversial names like Ain Soph, Sigillum S, Limbo, Gianluca Becuzzi, T.A.C., Thelema, Gregorio Bardini, Kino Glaz, Simon Balestrazzi, Rosemary’s Baby. Very interesting is also the section "Nuove Onde/Onde sconosciute/Bonaccia/Tempesta," where a cult group of the Italian new wave like the Messina band Victrola emerges from oblivion alongside Cudù, Minox, Faust’O, Eazycon, Militia, and Central Unit. In "Tutti i colori dell’oscurità," here are the damned, darkly symphonic and unsettling Devil Doll along with a historical figure like Paul Chain and Kirlian Camera. In "Nipotini di Luigi Russolo," we find the progressive Fabio Zuffanti, whose experimental side is examined along with the historic Maurizio Bianchi, Officine Schwartz and Satanismo Calibro 9. In "Nova Musicha Akusmatika," the focus is on those who engaged with the electroacoustic dimension of sound like Gruppo di Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza, Insiememuscadiversa, Raul Lovisoni, Francesco Messina, and Stefano Musso with his historic ambient project Alio Die. After "Misticismi sonori," the volume closes with some appendices: presenting some historical and courageous record labels including Hic Sunt Leones (always by Stefano Musso), Amiata, Materiali Sonori, Black Widow, Silentes, and the historic Milan-based ADN, a real point of reference for lovers of other sounds, managed for a long time by the late Marco Veronesi, who also supplied the undersigned. In "Musicista sperimentale? Anche io lo fui..." the author talks about his experience with the Nihil Project.

Solchi Sperimentali Italia is a precious and comprehensive work that fills a gap and investigates a multifaceted and changing matter, discussing musicians united by courage and the absence of compromise. There was no pretense of completeness, but the number of names covered and brought together here for the first time is impressive and almost everything is truly there (inevitably something may have escaped). For my part, it’s one of the most interesting musical releases of recent times and is certainly my book of the year.

Antonello Cresti "Solchi Sperimentali Italia" - Crac Edizioni - 487 pages - 2015 - Euro 28