It can be retro because I like that sound but also those bands that are doing things in a more modern or eclectic style.
It can be retro because I like that sound but also those bands that are doing things in a more modern or eclectic style.
Here are a few that I have heard and liked:
Il Bacio Della Medusa
Marchesi Scamorza
Il Tempio Della Clessidre
La Maschera Di Cera
the last two in skeptrick's list above are my two votes. fabulous.
Of those modern Italian bands that are still active (as far as I know), my votes would go to these:
Accordo dei Contrari
Areknamés (particularly Love Hate Round Trip)
Magnetic Sound Machine
Calomito
Not as good as these, but still interesting is Altare Thotemico. I have the new Oxhuitza disc as well, which is OK. Definitely the most interesting Zuffanti-related thing I've heard.
I'm not as big a fan of most of the modern Italian symph bands, like those mentioned above. I find them high on the drama and low on the compositional intricacy. But many seem to like them.
Bill
There's quite a few good bands coming out of Italy these days. I agree with Il Tempio Della Clessidre and La Maschera Di Cera, and I'll add Fonderia, who have a bit of a Canterbury feel at times and Oxhuitza, who has a modern edge to them but still remains symphonic in nature.
Fonderia:
Oxhuitza:
Bill, I dialed up some Magnetic Sound Machine on YouTube. Found a jazz album, Chances & Accidents. Sounds good. Thanks!
Hostsonaten
Moongarden
Silver Key
Pandora
La Maschera for sure. They are the top of the heap for me. I was also very impressed with Accordo Dei Contrari at ProgDay last year.
Steve Sly
Funny, I was thinking of starting a similar thread today.
At the moment I'm hearing my way through about a dozen or so CDs of my latest order of current Italian Prog.
There is a incredible amount of great current Prog band in Italy.
As a start I would recommend:
La Torre Dell Alchimista (best synphonic retro prog band)
Areknames (harder VdGG Retro prog, brilliant)
La Maschera di Cera (very good retro)
Il Bacio Della Medusa (very good retro)
Il Tempio delle Clessidre (strong retro with modern "harder" elements)
Gran Tourismo Veloce (strong retro with modern "harder" elements)
Abash (harder ethno folky Prog)
Ianva (dark folk prog)
This list could go on for some pages so..
Can anyone tell me about these 3 bands?:
Lingalad
Magnolia
Musicalia
Lingalad are a (very) folky Outfit, they obviously have a Thing going for Lord of the Rings stuff.Originally Posted by moecurlythanu
To nice for me actually.
Magnolia are too poppy for me
The Former Life
Doracor
Akt
Sithonia
Yugen
La Maschera di Cera
Areknames
Sorry forot the third one:
Musicalia were formed in the 70s and offer serious folk rock. Easily best from your list:
Museo Rosenbach - Barbarica
Alphataurus - AttosecondO
HuGo"Very, very nice," said a man in the crowd,
When the golden voice appeared.
She was gold alright, but then so is rust.
"Such a shame about the beard."
New Trolls (La Leggenda) - Concerto Grosso III
HuGo"Very, very nice," said a man in the crowd,
When the golden voice appeared.
She was gold alright, but then so is rust.
"Such a shame about the beard."
Ahhhhh, that was awesome! How did that one slip by me? Great recommendation!
Awesome, glad you liked it! Their first album, Chromatic Tunes, is also quite good, but Chances & Accidents is a bit better. Hope they do another one.
Fantastic band. I left them off my list because I wasn't clear if they were still together, and thus wouldn't be considered "modern." I left off DFA and Deus Ex Macnina for the same reason.
Bill
A lot of good stuff has been recommended. One that hasn't that is pretty fantastic is:
Ske (Yugen keyboardist with one solo album, '1000 Autunni' with members of Yugen on the album)
Guys - definitely don't miss Moogg. Fantastic Italian progressive meets Canterbury. The fuzz guitar solo at about 3:20 raises the hair on your arm!
(For the first 10 seconds you might think this is an ELP album...)
Ones that haven’t been mentioned yet:
I’ve heard good things about Daal, but I haven’t heard enough to form a strong opinion. Dodecahedron has been netting many positive reviews, though. Other names I’ve seen thrown around, but not here: Nodo Gordiano, VIII Strada, Arpia, Tilion. Three Monks have a pretty interesting album consisting of pipe organ, bass and drums, but I wish it had a little more musical variety. I also rather liked Evoluzione delle forme by EGO; they take the prog keyboard trio format and add a healthy dose of jazz fusion to it, it’s not your usual ELP knockoff stuff.
Baroque, Conqueror, Pandora and Narrow Pass are also worth investigating.
-------------
MIKE (a.k.a. "Progbear")
"Parece cosa de maligno. Los pianos no estallan por casualidad." --Gabriel Garcia Marquez
N.P.:“Dawning of a New Day”-Czar
One that hasn't been mentioned yet but needs to be (imho):
La Coscienza di Zeno
Lagartija are a bit hit or miss, but I do like this tune quite a bit:
If you're okay with some heavier stuff, I'd recommend Soul Secret. They have a fantastic and criminally-underrated keyboardist named Luca Di Gennaro, although all the musicians in the band are great. I'd suggest you check out their 17-minute epic "Aftermath" on YouTube (vocals by Arno Menses of Sieges Even/Subsignal), but here's another track from the same album:
Progtopia is a podcast devoted to interviewing progressive rock, metal, and electronic artists from the past and present, featuring their songs and exclusive interviews. Artists interviewed on the show have included Steve Hackett, Sound of Contact, Larry Fast, Circus Maximus, Anubis Gate, Spock's Beard, and many more. http://progtopia.podomatic.com See you in a land called Progtopia!
London Underground
HuGo"Very, very nice," said a man in the crowd,
When the golden voice appeared.
She was gold alright, but then so is rust.
"Such a shame about the beard."
They are still with us and playing a (very) few live gig every year. They are not very informativ, but ther's still hope for a new record.
Maybe Deus Ex Machina will Reform you can at least still hope. For DFA fate had no mercy.
DAAL are a very strong band. Dodecahedron is really very powerfull very dark Retro prog. Their earlier albums are a little more electronic which makes
them also interresing.
I also liked VIII Stradas Album very much. Very fresh modern heavy prog, with a very professional Sound. Hope they will do another one.
Three Monks will release their second one very soon.
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