N.O.R.M.A.: omonimo (Dischi di Angelica, 1992)

I don't know much about the octet which recorded this CD for the official label of the then-newborn Angelica experimental music festival. Some of the band members have been involved later with former Henry Cow musicians, and the group even signed for Chris Cutler's ReR Megacorp, which published their second and last album "L'arpa e l'asino".
N.O.R.M.A. first LP's very original, though it definitely reflects an out-of-date fashion: reliance on improvisation, non-looped vinyl sampling, winds and chamber-like passages would make the album a perfect addition to the Nurse With Wound List, if only it came out a couple of decades before.
Anyway, the music's playful and surprising, varied, well-crafted. Two multi-part suites, a longer track in the middle and some final mid-length pieces merge old-fashioned easy listening, radical improvisation, jazz, fanfare and classical music, East-Asian sketches, kitchen recipes and Federico Fellini quotes in a typical Rock In Opposition aesthetics.

I have to thank Zerodimension for having posted the album first.

Tracklist:

1. Suite From Psycho: Prelude
2. Suite From Psycho: Temptation
3. Suite From Psycho: The Peephole
4. Suite From Psycho: The Murder
5. Suite From Psycho: Marion And Sam
6. Suite From Psycho: The Murder (Ripresa)
7. Chinoiserie
8. Circus Music: Introduzione
9. Circus Music: La Diva
10. Circus Music: L'indiano
11. Circus Music: La Ballerina
12. Circus Music: Il Giapponese
13. Circus Music: Finale
14. Pasticci E Postumi (stream it!)
    
15. Artes Moriendi
16. Classico!

Download (256 kbps)