No Strange
Universi, Sovrapposizioni e Risonanze

LA RECENSIONE

This double CD edition released by Area Pirata Records is truly unmissable, making available on CD three albums (previously only released on vinyl) by the legendary No Strange, directed by the guru Salvatore D'Urso "Ursus" and Alberto Ezzu. Some may remember them as one of the most interesting and original bands on the Italian psychedelic scene of the '80s, particularly for cult records like their debut Trasparenze e suoni and L'Universo, considered by many to be their masterpiece. In retrospect, there aren't many truly notable names from that era: besides No Strange, I'd mention Birdmen Of Alkatraz, Steeplejack, Liars, Leanan Sidhe, Effervescent Elephants, Peter Sellers & The Hollywood Party, Eazycon, and a few others, besides the great Paul Chain who also played with the Boohoos. But perhaps not everyone knows that No Strange, with great commitment and devotion, have continued their musical activities over time with excellent results. Indeed, the new material is obviously recorded better, although some nostalgics might still prefer the old and historic recordings.

The first album presented here is, in my opinion, their ethical and aesthetic manifesto, namely Universi e Trasparenze, a 10" released in 2015. It is an album of covers that showcase their love for the German Cosmic Couriers (as they were called in Italy at the time), with a proposal of a track by Popol Vuh by Florian Fricke, and for Italian psychedelia with a homage to Le Stelle Di Mario Schifano. No Strange's interpretation manages to breathe new life into these compositions. We also find covers of the Nice and the American avant-garde composer La Monte Young. On the other hand, their imagination was nurtured by the particular atmosphere that was also felt in Italy at the time (of which they offer us a glimpse), amidst counterculture, the early Franco Battiato, Claudio Rocchi, psychedelic culture, the beat and Krautrock. All this is condensed here.

Il Sentiero delle Tartarughe, on the other hand, is an album from 2017: it is another "cathartic journey" to the edges of the Cosmos that unites ancient and future in a unique amalgam of ethno-psychedelia, folk, and avant-garde. 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. In “Martian Manhunter” the sacred spirit of the Pink Floyd of Ummagumma is revived. "Il sentiero delle tartarughe" features Gianni Milano, the patriarch of all Italian beat poets, reciting one of his poems from 1966. There's also the delightful reprise of “Gli occhi” from L’Universo, mentioned as one of the most significant albums of No Strange.

Finally, here is Mutter Der Erde, the penultimate work released in 2019. The title is a tribute to the late Jutta Taylor Nienhaus, singer of the Analogy - a mythical Italian-German psych-prog group of the '70s - with whom the No Strange had started a collaboration that was then interrupted due to her passing. The tracks, compared to other previous works, are quite short and simpler and, in a certain sense, reconnect to their early production with a return to folk and the song form. In Mutter Der Erde, the presence of Armenian singer Rita Tekeyan in the track "Kilikia" based on the words of poet Komitas stands out.

To close the double CD, there are four unpublished tracks namely "Oltre I Venti Del Mare", recorded live at Kraut Rock (Café Sofà in Turin) on March 2, 2019, "Il Motore Del Tempo", live at the Museo d'Arte Urbana in Turin, June 6, 2018, "Zerkalo" and "La Conversione", tracks respectively from 2017 and 2014.

In a mass-produced and bleak era like the current one, listening to an album like "Universi, Sovrapposizioni e Risonanze" is a real breath of fresh air and an antidote against bad vibes. Available on the Area Pirata site: https://areapiratarec.bandcamp.com/album/universi-sovrapposizioni-e-risonanze.