luciano

x Fosca (2): Recently, I often find myself starting directly with the 5th track of "the Richiest" (while I never skip anything from "the Mirror"), and for every song up to the tenth, I keep my finger on repeat, only letting it play out :-) I really don't know what to tell you, these Americans are the best in their genre, and I emphasize "their". I think if I had to choose just one of their works, I would go for "the Mirror", the most brilliant. What you have is the most important; "the Richiest" is the one I listen to the most, the least annoying (as much sense as that term might make in relation to this music). Ultimately, it depends on the rest of your collection: if you prefer to have only one CD per artist, trade yours for "the Mirror"; if instead, you want a clear line, you need to have all three, perhaps saving money and space by not getting anything else of the sort, especially compilations, since there's nothing around at their level. Take care, bye.

x Fosca: first of all, thank you for the compliments. Your question puts me a bit in difficulty; I will try to explain myself clearly: "Sound from the Thievery..." is a debut work, although well-crafted, it is still somewhat harsh in its aspects where it shows its immaturity. Today, it also suffers a bit from the passage of time, in an industry where 7 years can feel like 10-12 for others. What you recognize as a sense of repetitiveness is probably due to this. Let’s not underestimate the fact that, with its originality, it became the reference for the abundant production of lounge compilations that followed, first among them the early chapters of "Buddha Bar". Probably the duo's best work is "the Mirror Conspiracy". Compared to the first, it introduces a considerable variety of sounds and influences from non-Western countries, I would dare say predominantly Asian, though I must retract that point due to my complete ignorance of non-Western cultures. For "the Richiest Man...", I adopt the same statement that Bono Vox made when discussing the differences between "Joshua Tree" and "Unforgettable Fire": he said that the latter reached more beautiful peaks, but that "Joshua Tree" had the unique merit that, once you finished listening to it, you were left wanting to listen to it again.

P.S. Glancing at your other reviews, I calculated that you've given the products an average rating of 4.625... Don't you feel a bit too generous? :-) Bye.

Alright for the review, good. Not great, just because it betrays a certain lack of background or general knowledge in the specific subject. Besides the fact that you didn't mention the Drum 'n Bass component, which many critics consider predominant, you didn't express, or understand, a couple of things that are not exactly negligible... For example, the greatness of track 3, which in fact constitutes a model of suite for the genre (as far as I recall the only original one, the only one that defines spaces, intervals, and contours different from those imported from pop, which in turn are imported from jazz...). If you have good will, I dare to recommend you in this sense: try to listen to a cornerstone like "Atom Heart Mother" by Pink Floyd. If you like the discussion, you can continue with Mozart's K40 symphony... :-) With the 5th prize, your progress, the sense of your evolution, and your commitment. The CD is excellent, only it suffers from a substantial poverty (it has 3 or 4 brilliant ideas, but nothing else), which translates into a couple of tracks after the halfway point that obviously fall off. In my opinion, this decline prejudices the definition of "a pillar for the history of electronics," and I would like to clarify that within the vast concept of electronic music there are also genres that are not necessarily dance-based or that arose in the last decade. Have U never heard something about Philip Glass? Steve Reich? And to talk about a worthy chapter of music in general, I think there should be different works by an author (that could constitute the paragraphs, precisely :-) Tschuss.

Last but not least: let’s note together how from this research commitment the rest of the music in "in continuo movimento" has emerged. "Per me è importante" is, in my opinion, the best Italian single since "E penso a te"; "Nessuna Certezza" is a track, enriched by the best collaborations available, that clearly presents itself as a Hit from the very first notes (commercially it suffered from being postponed and the lack of identification of Tiromancino with the "swing" that characterizes it); "E' necessario" is a violent storm that bursts onto the scene, characterized by beauty, cohesion of sounds, brilliance... felt, lived, directed. Probably the meaning of the lyrics may have hindered its release as a single (and also because there had already been quite a few), but, between one hour of "E' necessario" on repeat and "level of roar control..." or Placebo, so far "è necessario" leads 10 to 2. I find that Zampagnone's research work has somehow attracted the flaws of "la descrizione di un attimo" (slowness, inconclusiveness, pedantic adherence to spaces reminiscent of Escher's architecture), which, overall, still turns out more pleasant, and has made the best that exists in "in continuo movimento" clearer: the result is a fragmented cd that must be approached like an obstacle course, to be studied before it can be listened to.

... trying to develop the cocoon, Zampagnone has so far achieved a result that is ugly, too dark to be pleasant, too heavy to want to listen to it again unless for study purposes. In the rare moments when it catches some light, it almost deliberately aligns itself with the moments when CRX venture outside the basic Italian hip hop (from which they quickly return)... I WARN YOU EVEN JUST TO THINK OF SOMETHING ABOUT THE CURRENT ITALIAN SCENE WITHOUT HAVING FIRST LISTENED TO CRX.

... I invite you to listen again to "Anima Latina" by Lucio Battisti, 1974: I challenge you not to find the connection between Zampagnone and, just to name one, "Abbracciala, Abbracciali..." I may be wrong, but Zampagnone seems to attempt to start from where Battisti left off, with the only album that wasn’t appreciated by critics (yet is simultaneously the most admired by a certain cultured foreign audience, let’s say, oversimplifying for the sake of brevity, the most "international," the one with the broadest horizons, the one that leaves enough material to create more (while if you start from the subsequent ones until Panelli's arrival, you get Baglioni))...

I'll explain it right away: the artist's age and skill level determine the maturity of the album— the previous "descrizione di un attimo" was more homogeneous; this one comes at a moment of greater maturity for the artist, where he attempts to surpass himself, not by emphasizing the aspects that brought (relative) success to the previous work, but rather by occasionally abandoning its format, seeking a broader formula...

1) The story of the film (note, just a part of the disc, like a maxi video) was already abundantly present on the internet, even, it seems to me, on ciao.com... Honestly, you could have added it in the comments to the existing review. As for multiple reviews, I refer you to the forum pages I opened back in the day... 2) The cd is not bad at all, here there's too much confusion between the appreciation of a work and the appreciation of the genre to which it belongs. RUN TO READ MY THIEVERY CORPORATION REVIEW THAT IS ABOUT TO BE RELEASED (it seems to me that advertising is not prohibited... another interesting topic: rules for proper comment usage...). Bye

P.S. (as if I hadn't written enough to you...) "Running Away," in its simplicity, I could put on repeat until my CD player jams.