Diaframma
Imperfetta Solitudine (Gennaio + In Perfetta Solitudine 1989 Demos)

Heralds of the golden era Florentine new wave first, and then authors of songwriter-style rock, the Diaframma of Federico Fiumani have (been) one of the most interesting realities of the entire Italian scene. Retracing their artistic story would be quite pointless, also because nowadays everyone has, at least, heard of an album like "Siberia", which in the mid-Eighties, together with various groups like CCCP and Litfiba, launched a new Italian rock scene, and fortunately, in recent years, attending a concert by the good Fiumani is no longer a daunting task.

The Diaframma have always been able to boast a remarkable discography, both in terms of quantity and quality, managing to place no less than about fifteen studio albums in thirty years of career, and almost always having a not very large but devoted audience. In recent times, as already mentioned, Fiumani has become popular again, returning in a few years to be a true point of reference for the Italian alternative scene, complete with tribute albums by artists who weren't even born when the first records of Our Hero were released. If around ten years ago the interesting operation carried out with the material of the Eighties had its reason, with the various albums reissued in nice box sets accompanied by a DVD containing material from that time, in recent years the aim has started to explore the vast repertoire of the following decade.

The Nineties were not easy for Fiumani: if the various albums never lacked quality, what was missing instead was the audience which, already at the time of the second album, the beautiful "Tre Volte Lacrime," had started to drift away from the Florentine group's proposal. If we add to all this the chronic wandering from one label to another, it becomes clear that the situation wasn't the best. After the formation with Miro Sassolini dissolved, Fiumani began to take on the role of singer, determined to continue the group's story even if with a largely renewed lineup. The debut of this new entity was the "Gennaio" EP of '89, a fresh and inspired record that showed there was life beyond "the ice and silence" of a few years earlier. That season would inaugurate a turbulent relationship with Ricordi, who evidently did not clearly understand who they were dealing with: seriously considering that Fiumani might contemplate the idea of going to Sanremo was the last straw that made the cup overflow, prompting Mr. Diaframma to move towards other shores.

From that two-year period, however, remained one of the most interesting albums of the new Fiumani, namely "In Perfetta Solitudine", released in '90. After the appetizer of the previous year, Federico was back behind the microphone: the recording was frankly not the best, and there were uncertainties in the singing, but it didn't matter much, the Diaframma were still there, and yet another excellent studio effort was there to underline it. Tracks like "Diamante Grezzo", "I Giovani", "Beato Me", "Io Amo Lei", and the title track of the entire work are still remembered today as some of the most representative of the Florentine musician's career, constantly balancing between punk urges and atmospheres closer to a certain singer-songwriter style. Fiumani's writing style itself was slowly changing, taking the microphone also meant addressing themes and situations without having to be filtered through someone else's interpretation anymore, be it Sassolini or Nicola Vannini, with a style, both lyrically and vocally, sincere and straightforward, never giving too much importance to technique. As mentioned at the beginning, the Nineties for Diaframma were not the easiest, with the project that from time to time found refuge with various labels, a choice dictated at the time by the difficulties of the moment and perhaps obligatory but which, in hindsight, would scatter the various works produced during that period among an endless array of record companies, some of which no longer even exist, making it rather complex, years later, to re-propose part of that material.

This is also the case of the records produced during the short interval with Ricordi: despite a campaign started on Facebook some time ago that tried to stir things up, it seems that there is no interest on their part to reissue those works, effectively blocking a Fiumani who, on the other hand, has long been keen to make them available again. Since in these cases one has to make a virtue of necessity, the suitable workaround for the situation has been found, namely re-proposing those tracks in demo format. Such an operation finds its reason because it manages to meet the needs of those who could never listen to those albums and, at the same time, can be interesting even for those who know those albums by heart but are curious to know those songs in a rawer and less polished version. Everything is embellished with various unreleased tracks pulled out of the drawer for the occasion, to satisfy a demanding audience of collectors towards the Florentine group. To everyone's delight, so that no excuses can be set aside, the album is released in a beautiful, well-crafted double vinyl, also accompanied by a CD counterpart, making listening possible even for those who do not have a turntable at home.

Being demos, the recordings are rather raw, but listening remains enjoyable, thanks also to a sufficiently clean sound. It must also be emphasized that such an operation would have had no sense if, just to reintroduce old tracks to the market, one had settled for poor-quality or hardly audible recordings. Years ago, Fiumani himself made available archival material characterized by an absolutely deficient sound, but these were tracks downloadable for free from the group's website, a very different context than the one considered here.

In recent years, aware also of the renewed interest towards him, Federico has perhaps released too much "historical" material, including demo anthologies, picture disc reissues, and recordings of concerts from days gone by, but there has always been a certain attention to quality and never have mediocre works been published. It will then be up to the individual listener to decide from time to time what they are most interested in. Given the good reviews received, the same operation would later be conducted with "Studio Sessions '95-'96", another anthology that in this case reprised, always in demo format, some of the most representative tracks from "Non è Tardi" and "Sesso e Violenza", two other valid mid-Nineties albums long unavailable.

Unlike their cousins Litfiba, who have well thought that today someone might be genuinely interested in terrible recordings of the "Infinito" tour in an expensive vinyl format, credit must be given to Federico Fiumani for re-proposing archival material with a certain skill, offering albums that seek to overcome the impossibility of reissuing original records or aim to enrich with new official recordings lesser-known phases of the group, such as the beginnings with Nicola Vannini on vocals ("Live 1983" and "Demos 1982").

To the newcomer, naturally, quite different territories are recommended, while the seasoned fan might find something interesting around these parts.

1. In Perfetta Solitudine
2. Il Prossimo Weekend
3. Irriconoscente
4. Vai
5. Amore Prendimi
6. Trecento Balene
7. Brutto Orso
8. Diamante Grezzo
9. Beato Me
10. Io Amo Lei
11. I Giovani
12. Il Portiere
13. Io Ho Freddo Adesso
14. Cielo d'Africa
15. Angelo Ai Piani
16. Ho Cambiato La Faccia Di Un Dio
17. Io Credo In Te
18. Gennaio
19. Voce Che Chiami
20. Gloria
21. L'amore Segue I Passi Di Un Cane Vagabondo