Francesco Messina: Medio Occidente (Casablanca Records, 1983)

The heritage of the Cosmic Couriers, the new technologies and the beggings of synth-pop, minimalism... And the Mediterranean: the fascination for the Middle-Eastern tradition and philosophy. "Medio occidente" is on the frontier of these musical worlds, which are surprisingly close one another.
The mood reminds of a starker Vangelis, of Philip Glass, or Franco Battiato's most "ethnic" works. The latter is not a coincidence: Francesco Messina is a longtime acquantaince and collaborator of Battiato's. Most of the tracks are hypnotic instrumental wanderings, suspended in an ecstatic calm. The hushed timbres are disposed with a somehow architectural aesthetics, and the synthetic beats obey to a strictly functional logic. There's a veil of melancholy and decadence over them though, and the few tracks with vocal parts emphasize the sensation. The overall ambience is dusty and soaked with helplessness. Some retro-fashioned vocal intrusions (opera singing, craking radio excerpts) project a sense of nostalgia for the old times, probably the colonial era when Europe extended over all of the Mediterranean...

Francesco Messina was born in 1951 in Sicily, but moved to Milan tu study design. There he became involved with Franco Battiato's artistic entourage. This is his second solo album, after a lot of collaborations (both musical and graphical). He is now married with singer Alice, and he is a university professor in the field of graphic design.

(I could not find a bigger image, sorry)

Tracklist:

1. Marcia di Kioto
2. Harem
3. Uffici del 126° piano
4. Russian tea room
5. Plaza tonal
6. Fine novecento
7. Club Mediterranée
8. Comunicazioni interne

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Similar albums on the blog:

Franco Battiato: Giubbe Rosse (EMI, 1989)

Nicola Alesini, Pier Luigi Andreoni: Marco Polo (Materiali sonori, 1996)

Central Unit: Central Unit + Loving Machinery (M.P. Records, 2003)

The unquiet waverings of Tuxedomoon spawned a whole school in the Italian underground. This record (a sum of two actually, see below) heralds the tendency: skeletal electronic beats and evanescent synth atmospheres, combined with mechanical basslines and relentless violin meanderings, with slothy saxophone murmurs peeping out here and there.
The music is ghostly, decadent, and subtly soggy; it never sounds epic or apocalyptic though, nor excessively amateurish (it's not minimal wave, to make a long story short). On the contrary, it sounds quite elaborate: its orbits are knotty and obliquous, and its mood is the mood of fallen aristocracy.

Central Unit were a band from Bologna. They were among the first in Italy to manipulate synths, drum machines and other electronic devices to create atmospheric soundscapes. This is a reprint of their first LP (produced by Tuxedomoon's Peter Principle), together with a preceding EP.

Tracklist:
 Central Unit LP (1983)

1. Detective Fredd
2. Orient-Express
3. Mas rapido
4. Primavera di Kaspar
5. Grotesque
6. Bailamme
7. Mordor
8. Où Papè d'Où Marcocù
9. Aiumassah!
10. Die Flucht Ohne Ende

Loving Machinery EP (1982)

1. Saturday Night
2. Rock Onze
3. What Use? (Version)
4. Beset City

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Similar albums on the blog:
Giovanotti Mondani Meccanici: GMM (Materiali Sonori, 1985)

Minox: Lazare (Industrie Discografiche Lacerba, 1986)

Cube: Can can in the garden (Polydor, 1983)

Synth-pop can be the art of celebrating future and technology, but also a surprisingly effective means to create old-fashioned atmospheres. The electronic propulsion, in this case, just gives a modern twist to classically-conceived songs, whose melodical strength would shine with (almost) every kind of arrangement.
The songs of "Can can in the garden" belongs to this second kind of synth-pop gems, like the ones of A-ha or Tears for Fears. Light, optimist and polite, they have a sophisticated taste which the electronic palette both enhances and dilutes. The glowy reverb of the synthetizer surely puts some glossy nuances on the already elegant piano/sax sound, but the italo-disco schemes of the drum-machine lighten the seriousness making the air more festive and blithe.

Cube are a short-lived creature of Mauro Malavasi, who wrote and produced all of the songs. The band members were English singer/guitarist Paul Griffiths, and keyboardists Rudy Trevisi and Serse Mai (the latter also programmed the drums and played the saxophone).

Tracklist:

1. The young pretender
2. Love and protect
3. Can can in the garden
4. Two heads are better than one (remix)
5. Concert boy
6. Prince of the moment
7. Stealing
8. Why men go insane

Download (320 kbps)

Similar albums on the blog:
Matia Bazar: Tango (1983)
Lucio Battisti: Don Giovanni (Numero Uno, 1986)

Tomografia Assiale Computerizzata: omonimo (Azteco, 1983)

Tomografia Assiale Computerizzata began as a one-man-band hiding the multi-instrumentist and sound engineer Simon Balestrazzi, which would later join Kino Glaz, Kirlian Camera, Bron Y Aur.
His first LP under the name T.A.C. came out in 1983 (or maybe in 1982) and features a very peculiar, Nurse With Wound-ish sound interbreeding such diverse styles as no-wave, electronic experimentation, progressive rock, radical improvisation and post-punk.
The rattling, crunchy guitar sound isn't far from Fred Frith's distinctive style in his no-wave project Massacre, and the shattered jazzy orbits it follows are quite close too. The telluric funk-punk basslines contribute creating bony, deconstructed pieces with everchanging rhythms and meters. Then come the electronic incursions of polluted radio frequencies and background buzzes, which give the music an eerie, dismantled feeling.
The lyrics are often quasi-nonsensical, but reflect the aftermath of the strong political engagement of the Seventies. Repetition and obsessive rants are the key elements of Balestrazzi's neurotic vocal style.
T.A.C. sound is completed by occasional free saxophone bursts, atonal piano figures and sparse folkloric remindings. The final result is something between Henry Cow, This Heat, The Work, with a more sinister, industrial mood.


Tracklist:

1. Un umido
2. I sette piani dell'esperienza
3. Cerco lavoro
4. Microprozessore
5. Citocromo
6. Onde corte
7. Autistico
8. Percussioni
9. Introdotta la scrofa nel mattatoio
10. Quasi pieno
11. El motel electrico
12. 49° parallelo

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Matia Bazar: Tango (1983)

Retro-sounding synth-pop à l'Italienne. Belle Epoque melodies and fake operatic vocals are the key elements of an album which is always in balance between kitsch, pretentiousness and extreme refinedness.
Though "Vacanze romane" is by far the best and most emblematic song in the album, every track is extremely well-crafted and melodically indefectible: "Tango" is a unique album and surely a masterpiece.


Tracklist:

1. Vacanze romane
2. Palestina
   
3. Elettrochoc
4. Intellighenzia
5. Il video sono io
6. Scacco un po' matto
7. Tango nel fango
8. I bambini di poi

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