ajejebrazorf

Recently discovered, occhio e croce will become one of my favorite albums in the realm of Italian dark music, maybe even my favorite. It's truly a great album, tight and well-played, especially Isolation which is really cool. Even though the sounds are unmistakably 80s (especially the electronic drums), it doesn't give that sense of cheapness that I detest, or for some reason here it bothers me less. In short, while it shows its age, it has aged well compared to many similar things. It's just a shame that it's sung in English.

Ah, Sulle labbra is pop more or less like Joy Division.

>>>Alright, you always learn something; now there's the genre "depressed cantautorato"<<< it's a definition, not a genre. A ballad works too. If we want to be nitpicky, let's also identify pop art, the American movement, and any popular genres, whether mazurkas, tarantellas, or death metal. If, on the other hand, we don't want to split hairs, pop usually identifies catchy melodies over generally non-dissonant arrangements. Usually cheerful. Then there are all the exceptions one wants, but then it's clarified what is meant, yet it seems we were talking about the same thing. It's not imaginary; it has a melodic motif but is also quite rock-oriented. >>>It's not just about throwing in a bit of raga here and there and making some latent trails to create a psychedelic record<<<< Which raga? Anyway, it's an album that sounds psychedelic, due to its sounds and improvisations. And I believe it is also in terms of intentions; after all, they toured with Mercury Rev, and you can hear it (I happened to hear them live a lot during that tour). Regarding the choruses: if we were to base ourselves on those, let's count the ones on “Hai paura del buio” and see where there are more? And who said there aren't any in psychedelia? It seems like a flawed reasoning.

>>><Ajeje: Isn't "Quello che non c'è" a superpop piece? I don't know if it's a production issue; surely Xabier, who created all the little noises and deviations in "Hai paura," is no longer around. I find "Non è per sempre" to be very pop, but less standard, and perhaps, over the years, I love it more because it was underrated at release. In terms of production, this seems very "flat" to me.<<<< I would say no, it's not pop, let alone superpop. It leans much more towards depressed singer-songwriter territory. And so? Would one piece make an album "with too much predictable pop"? If we want to point out a catchy melody, I'd say "la gente sta male," but even there, pop isn't exactly the essence of the piece. I mean, it's far from me to defend the afters that I know well, but I believe my vote reflects my opinion; however, the criticism seems completely off the mark to me. Compared to Germi and Hai paura del buio, the difference seems to me that, more than hard components, it definitely leans more towards a psychedelic one, not by chance the pieces are more stretched and layered. Excluding ballads, the only album that has a significant pop component is undoubtedly non è per sempre.

Damn, out of curiosity, where is the too much pop in Quello che non c'è? Is it perhaps the one that has the least of it in their production? Which songs are you referring to?

Anyway, I was actually thinking of looking for the book with Jacobs' transcriptions (who, besides Monk, is a specialist of Bill Evans and Billy Strayhorn) and trying some of them myself. Who knows what the results will be?

I think I've only tried the classic "Round Midnight" by Monk, also because there's a beautiful version on "Tristeza on Guitar" by Baden Powell (well, among the millions of others, I believe it's the most played piece in jazz history, along with "My Funny Valentine" and "Summertime").

@blechtrommel: no, poor no, there's some valid stuff, like "after that" (oh god, I think it's there). It's not that they embarrass themselves or anything, it's probably the least inspired, at least from my point of view. Then Clementi even tries to sing, and while the attempt is obviously there, the result isn't much to speak of. Among the other three, I would rank "Lungo i bordi" first, "Da qui" second, and "Stanze" third, but between these three the level seems very similar, while "Club privè" definitely falls short.

You're welcome, and if I remember correctly, the same song (and maybe Varanasi baby as well) is linked to a trip to India taken together by the two.