No Strange
L'universo

Not many Italian bands from the Italian neo-psychedelic scene gained a certain level of recognition abroad: among them are certainly No Strange from Turin. Greg Shaw, the boss of Bomp! Records and guru of garage-punk, considered L'Universo, their second album, a hidden masterpiece of psychedelia. Listening to it again today, the album hasn’t lost any of its timeless charm, although it is hindered by a less-than-optimal recording. The No Strange, while having clear musical influences from artists of Italian prog like Claudio Rocchi, early Franco Battiato, early New Trolls, early Le Orme (those of Ad Gloriam), the Romans CHETRO & CO., Aktuala and the German Cosmic Couriers (without forgetting the Italian beat which is something of an “psychedelic” institution in our country thanks to Ursus), managed to create a language that, unlike many of their peers, was not sterilely derivative. The “visionary” cover of L'Universo, designed by Ursus, is still a classic of psychedelic art.

The album, introduced by the epic and mystical guitar chords of the brief but incisive “Opening,” leads us on a journey that truly takes us beyond “the gates of the cosmos that are up in Germany” (to quote a song by Eugenio Finardi) alternating scents of the east (the 2 segments of the title track connect back to Aktuala) with other tracks that boast a happy “lysergic” attitude with inspired melodies like “Sailing Out” (thanks to the skillful musical chiseling work of Alberto Ezzu) and “Shandy Man.” On the second side, "Scopro le carte," “Smiling Time,” and “Ballo della normalita” stand out. Even today, some consider it their masterpiece although, in my opinion, the No Strange gave their best on the live album side Oracolo, a double album released by Toast that brought together many Italian bands from different eras (like Le Stelle di mario Schifano) and represented a cross-section of Italian psychedelia in all its forms, in the track entitled “Bom Shankar Suite.”

Unfortunately, Giulio Tedeschi's Toast has no intention of reissuing its catalog, so today (if you don't want to risk falling into the hands of speculators), L'Universo is only available on YouTube. The black vinyl is the first pressing, while the yellow vinyl, although a bit rarer, was released about 6 months later. Today the No Strange still release albums of good quality (like the recent ...E continuerò ad esistere which I just reviewed here on DeBaser) and professionally superior to the past but the magic of their early albums remains intact. Curiously, the album was even presented in an episode by the famous magician Gabriel! Here's the link to that surreal event of Italian Culture (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yalyD9XrFgk). At this point, perhaps only Cthulhu could reissue L'Universo!