Diaframma
Siberia

Mmmmmm Florence in the '80s. Even if a bit late (as usual in Italy), it was the city par excellence of artistic trends of all kinds: from music to painting, from visual arts to avant-garde theater. It was the place that absorbed the exceptional things that had already arisen a couple of years before in London and New York. Rock in Italy was gaining dignity, far from the singer-songwriter rhetoric, progressive rock, and a tradition of spaghetti with tomato sauce. Thus, bands like Litfiba, Neon, Moda were born, artists capable of originally reinterpreting foreign sound trends, Italianizing them.

The first above all? The Diaframma by Federico Fiumani, who after a couple of EPs with singer Nicola Vanini (current president of Audioglobe), recruited the most charismatic and powerful voice of the time (along with El Diablo :) Miro Sassolini, and together with Leandro and Gianni Cicchi, the band's rhythmic structure, they created their debut for the newborn IRA. One of the essential albums if one wants to understand and appreciate rock in Italy; "Siberia". It was 1984, and the Joy Division were long dead and buried, overshadowed by the techno-pop of New Order and the like, but in Italy, that dark-rock-new wave movement that drove so many people crazy still had not emerged from the underground scene.

No original sonic moments. But everything takes on Italian and therefore unique appearances with the wonderful lyrics of Federico Fiumani. It starts with the title track, beginning with bass and strictly played electronic drums, with minimal guitar riffs filled with chorus and light flanger (as Robert Smith teaches), and moments of pure poetry already arrive "Il ghiaccio si confonde con il cielo, con gli occhi e quando il buio si avvicina vorrei rapire il freddo in un giorno di sole che potrebbe tornare in attimo solo". The Siberia of feelings. "Love will tear us apart". Always the same story. "Neogrigio" arrives immediately like a track from "Pornography" by the Cure, and the pathos becomes elevated. Rhythmic structure at the forefront, and wrenching guitar with the words "Chiudero' il sentimento in scatole vuote, quei ricordi appassiti in un frammento d'autunno". Again Fiumani's minimal riff and bass and drums (real sonic powerhouses of the record, as the style demands) introduce "Impronte", "Ho preferito andare prima di esser lasciato, prima che il cuore da solo scivolasse nel buio insieme ai ventagli ingialliti". The Diaframma classic arrives (later rearranged in a single version with Litfiba) "Amsterdam". The masterpiece of the record, along with "Siberia". "Delorenzo" arrives, same structure: minimal intro and bass line taking the lead with the guitar in the background harmonically arpeggiating the plots. It's a concept on loneliness, on the icebergs of relationships, and on the will to love and be loved in return. Again "Memoria" "Vivendo per qualcuno io moriro' per me stesso". The drama reaches its peak with the last two tracks "Specchi d'acqua" and "Desiderio dal nulla" which concludes with "Scordati di me...Poi il letto ritorna vuoto, e tu sorridi nell'ombra". Obsessive rhythms, but suddenly broken within the tracks, creating greater dynamicity to the structure.

Two reissues of this emblem of Italian rock have been released, with b-sides and live performances, but this is the original version of the album. Eight tracks. Eight moments of dark poetry that is not an end in itself. The end as hope, not as nihilism (as in the Cure). Difficult to digest for a lover of big riffs, solos, and technique. Here atmosphere is what counts. A decidedly winter album. Better listened to when it rains, or when you've been turned down. The Diaframma by Fiumani's choice will never become a stadium band. Subsequently, he will take over the vocals and many things will change, even dipping into irony. Here irony is not present. It is dark, and it was 1984. Highly recommended!