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Rating: Claudio Milano (NichelOdeon) is one of the beacons among the authors of the new Italian prog. With his insistently expressionist albums, drawing from melodrama, 18th-century theater, and national-popular songs but nonetheless using gestural avant-garde, research singing, and soundpainting as a glue, he has patented a new form of operetta for the post-digital generation...
The same Claudio Milano sent me his latest work to listen to and provide an opinion. I'll tell you right away that this record is very difficult, perhaps too much so. However, it possesses a certain charm. It’s not easy to talk about this "thing," "thing" because it cannot be defined as music, but a mix of many audible tones of (also) music, voice, sounds, noises, movements, verses... a potpourri for the hearing, a dissonant consonance without being off-key but decidedly in tune... I don't know if I have explained myself, but this is my impression. The sounds range from classical to rock, from avant-garde to folk... in a mix of noises and voices. There, precisely, the voice of Claudio. Sometimes distorted, sometimes in falsetto, sometimes baritone, sometimes... normal... but never banal. Texts of elementary comprehension but profoundly deep and seemingly very complicated. It reminded me of the vocal excursions of the late Demetrio Stratos, well done Claudio!
And all this medley of aggression towards our eardrums ultimately reduces to something that is approached with skepticism, listened to in amazement; it's not fully understood but glues you to your seat and compels you to continue listening as you become hypnotized by the whole shebang in a pleasant yet irreverent background. The image accompanying the album galvanizes, captures the gaze, dazes and hypnotizes, almost compelling us to reach the end.
An album for a niche audience, recommended for futurists and not for nostalgics. But if you have courage, tackle it with care yet knowingly and reach the bottom, it will not disappoint you despite all adverse expectations.
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Other reviews
By Cervovolante
"This music is more accessible than one might expect, not a work of sterile and empty experimentation."
"If you love music that goes beyond empty labels, give this album a chance, I assure you that you won’t regret it."
