antoniodeste

To FlagFelson and Omahaceleb: sorry guys, I was only able to read your comments today and I thank you; I hope you enjoyed the FerranteHaslip show again.......

Well, let's say that it couldn't be assumed that you could take it this far, and therefore I apologize if it disturbed you so much. The fact remains that being a lover of linguistic correctness, I enjoy speaking and reading in a way that honors the money my parents spent to have me study Italian and also English. And I admit that I like to express myself in the most correct way possible and also to be treated the same way if someone knows how to do it. And often it is not as simple as one might suppose. I try to remind myself every day how to speak and write in the best possible way, also for the convenience of the interlocutor. I'm now forty-eight years old, and I don't always succeed, but if I don't know how to write something, I either don't write it or I inform myself. Then you do as you please. Don't worry, bicòs, formee, isnot emportant. It's not sarcasm. It's really just to have a laugh about it. If you still get mad, though, you have a short fuse, huh?! Please, smile, man!

Listen acqualife, you wrote a decent review, I've liked the album for thirty years and you're also pretty good when you write, but......be kind, leave English alone if you don’t know it. I mean, it’s not mandatory to write in English all the time. Don’t worry, it's spelled with an "o" and not an "a." Writing it only in Italian is simpler, more direct, and it also helps you avoid continuing to collect "not-so-great impressions" of Anglo-Saxon lexical knowledge. I’m not mad at you, just to be clear, okay?

...My mother’s last name is Benvegnù, from before she got married, although I suppose it doesn’t matter a bit......: I’ll ask.... But where is this guy from?

I am 48 years old, I am from Venice, and I live in Treviso. Undoubtedly, in that decade, the politicization of many aspects of our music was a determining element for the involvement of the youth movement. Here, in Veneto, Lombardia, Friuli, and Emilia Romagna, the situation was always very "hot," and at this point, Eliodoro, I wonder where it snowed in '56 and where you live or lived back then. I have always been "rather left-wing," and Area, better than anyone else, represented a very advanced point of action—a pseudo-all-encompassing attack on a certain type of system. It’s true that not all the audience was prepared, but there were just as many who were well aware of what was happening, and, humbly, I would count myself among them. I saw Area live, I think in '77 (already without Tofani), and perhaps the revolutionary initial push was already in release; however, there remained an extraordinary approach to the material in forms and modes that were absolutely unique compared to the average musical quality in our country. Of course, not everyone can appreciate the diplofonie or triplofonie of Demetrio Stratos or the jazz solos of Fariselli, but that doesn’t mean that Hans' Carriage or Celebration are "better." Simply, it’s another language, more evolved and more complex to decode and/or interpret. Area was not and is not, given the evidence of their work, a group for everyone. PFM, on the other hand, was much more popular precisely because it made delightful POP-ular music. Area also defined themselves as an "international popular group," but in a political sense, not just musical. (And, by the way, I liked PFM and I still like them a lot...). What remains with you from those years, Eliodoro? I’m sure there is a lot in your suitcase. Let me know. And also where you live............ Best regards.

Generally speaking, I would say that the intervention of double, albeit in a hasty manner, recounts what happened in hindsight. In my opinion, it is still necessary to reaffirm and quantify the enormous legacy of musical writing that the Giants have been unmatched authors and creators of for nearly a decade. The subtleties in the harmonic-rhythmic-melodic score had no equal during that time, except, though we stray quite far, in the visions of Zappa, who, moreover, did completely different things and used academic knowledge for entirely different purposes. The incalculable value of the Giants (even if many struggled to keep up with their syncopations, polyrhythms, intricate downbeats and upbeats, 7/4 time signatures, shifting accents, and extraordinarily complex choruses involving fifths, sevenths, and ninths, and so forth) was not for everyone. You may not find it pleasant to read, but that's my opinion. When a piece like "So Sincere" (from "Power & The Glory") is brought to the attention of a "average" listener, what can they deduce or appreciate if they have no basic technical knowledge of notation or sheet music and do not play any instrument? The Giants’ work is scattered with similar examples everywhere. The issue of the ability to decode language that is quite complex like theirs is not new. However, due to "things changing," the Giants ended up producing their last two works, which are rather painful. Then darkness. I would like to invite supporters of this unique group and anyone else who would like to delve deeper into the subject to look for the two DVDs that Kerry Minnear has released in the last 3 or 4 years, which document the band's live activity (which was also far superior to their studio work) in two distinct phases of the group, in the first and second halves of the '70s. There is also an interview conducted by RAI (!!) in which Derek Shulman presents a clear, concise, and precise programmatic manifesto about their intentions and directions. Minnear presumably included it because at the time the Giants were more popular in Italy than elsewhere (thinking about it today sends shivers down the spine...) and their records were released here before they were at home or elsewhere. Please forgive my verbose and lengthy intervention, but the Giants always deserve particular attention given the historical importance they hold, in my opinion. Best regards.

Well, personally, after having "enjoyed" (pleasantly) most of the contributions, I can only take pleasure in noticing how this album, 33 years after its release, still sparks a flood of comments. And they are mostly quite appropriate. Many, evidently, are from people I believe are in their twenties or thirties, and others from those of... more advanced age. Eliodoro, like the one writing, definitely belongs to this second category, and it gives me great joy... not to feel alone. A round of applause to everyone who has contributed to this nice discussion about a group that undoubtedly, prog or not, jazz or not, had propelled the music of our country (like the aforementioned Napoli Centrale or Perigeo or Baricentro...) forward by many years. When, Eliodoro, at the end of the year you see Fariselli, please say hello to him for me. Tell him I'm that guy who, in Treviso, at the Filanda Motta, in 2007 (last summer), he remarked upon as "...you know, you really look like George Clooney?!" I also reminded him that many years ago, after Area, when he was playing with Gigi Cifarelli and Paolino Dalla Porta, I recited "Sibarotega" (from "1978, the gods are leaving...") from memory for his amusement... Great memories. The Area live were devastating, Eliodoro. If you, as you say, have seen them, you’ll know very well, beyond the fact that our audience was unprepared and might have appreciated them less than PFM.... The fact is that Area were and still are very much ahead, precisely because of the conceptualization and the significant projection of their musical-political project. There has been and still is NO other example in Italy of such an advanced musical structuring or deconstruction. That's why Stratos and Fariselli's group continues to spark discussion and astonishment. I would also like to suggest a nice volume published last year by Stampa Alternativa, authored by Gianpaolo Chiriacò, entitled "Gioia e Rivoluzione," which Fariselli seems to have contributed to as an occasional consultant. Best regards to everyone.

Numbers...........

It's nice that someone, almost forty years later, still wants to talk and invite people to listen to Fairport. Not only for the extraordinary presence of Sandy Denny, but precisely because this group, along with Pentangle, Steeleye Span, and to some extent, Strawbs, was instrumental in the revival of the rich Anglo-Saxon folk heritage in the late '60s. The subsequent fusions with rock further enriched their musical concept, making it, in my opinion, even more fascinating. Well done, Backdoor Man, even with the more or less curious little news bits sprinkled here and there. It’s also thanks to people like you that this beautiful slice of music can continue to be enjoyed. In the embarrassment of their splendid discography, I would personally add "Unhalfbricking." Keep it up, Man!

It's a relaxed and creative way to "cinematographically" associate the reason for the writing with personal desires and visions, motivated by and stemming from the author's "problems and fears." I suppose there aren't any grand ambitions for potential screenplays to be pitched to Ligabue for a third film, but the review is positive and intriguing. While it says almost nothing about the work (which has already been reviewed elsewhere), some might feel encouraged, if nothing else, to discover how certain albums can lead to such soaring heights... or to such profound boredom. I belong to the first category, and after more than thirty years, I still listen to it with the same focus as before. Bravo Neu_Cannas! Keep dreaming. As you know, it costs nothing and brings great satisfaction...