No Strange
Il sentiero delle tartarughe

THE REVIEW

The psychedelic saga of the Turin-based No Strange continues, a band that has all the hallmarks of being defined as "cult". Over time, the No Strange have devoted themselves with great commitment and dedication to recapturing the original "spirit" of psychedelia. You can clearly understand this by reading their book No Strange e sogni correlati, a sort of manifesto of their aesthetic and poetics. Now it's time for the new Il sentiero delle tartarughe, released on vinyl with an attached CD by Area Pirata and Psych Out.

It is another cathartic "journey" to the edge of the Cosmos. As usual, the cover is splendid, in full "visionary" and lysergic style. Musically, the No Strange always move in territories of contamination, with elements of acid folk, electronics, oriental spices, and psychedelic rock: they have assimilated numerous influences while creating, at the same time, an ancient and contemporary language. The keyboards at the beginning of "Vuoto mirabile" are liquid and "Floydian" and lead the mind to reach symphonic ecstasy: the finale with a madrigal from a Cosmic elsewhere creates a mystical atmosphere beyond time and space. "Magic UFO Zanzibar" is acoustic and oriental while in "Martian Manhunter" the sacred spirit of Pink Floyd's Ummagumma comes alive again. With the mini suite "Il sentiero delle canzoni lontane", the sounds become ethnic and mystical, opening the mind to forgotten and buried inner landscapes that, as if by magic, we can relive. There is also a tasty reprise of "Gli occhi" from L'Universo, one of the most significant albums of No Strange. In such a massified and squalid era as today, being able to listen to an album like Il sentiero delle tartarughe is a real breath of fresh air and an antidote against bad vibes.

I warmly recommend everyone to prepare their flying carpet and let themselves go with the psychedelic sounds of No Strange, confidently following the path of the turtles. Available at Area Pirata: http://www.areapirata.com/dettaglio.php?cod=4610 and on Bandcamp: https://areapiratarec.bandcamp.com/album/il-sentiero-delle-tartarughe.