Last time I posted something on this sleepy blog was to talk about one of the best bands in our region, Garden Wall. In the meantime the band won the 16th edition of the "Darwin-Stratos" prize (do I need to remind you that we're talking about prog rock?) and has been playing a few dates around Northern Italy. We'll get to talk about them again pretty soon since the band is already working on their next record, which will be called "Psicomachie" (unless they change their minds)! Now I'd like to talk a little bit about two more bands from Friuli with a huge potential: Arnoux and Man on Wire. Italian speakers can listen to two interviews I recorded with their main men, Fabio Arnosti and Stefano Pasutto respectively. For non-Italian speakers I want to sum the two conversations up. Starting from Fabio and his trilogy of eps...
The Magic of L'Amour, Makes Wonders, Dans le Living... Which of course form one long title. The central theme is the return to nature or, to be more precise, to the "natural" rhythms of life, criticizing the mechanical aspects of everyday life and the way we're living or, better still, surviving. The recording studio used by Arnoux (Mushroom) is set in the mountains, in the village of Poffabro (PN) and is managed by Enrico Berto. The setting is ideal if you don't want to be distracted by the city and its tricks (no internet available over there either, it seems!) Musically the three eps were divided in this way because of differences in style but also because graphics/design are central in this
project too. Please make sure to check it out and listen to the songs for free! Classy avant-pop, sometimes turning towards rockier sounds and other times towards electronica. Sam Prekop and The Sea and Cake come to mind every now and then. Dans Le Living hasn't been released yet but should be out pretty soon. As for live shows, please check
Arnoux' facebook, as there will be a few gigs soon. We can consider this a solo work, although a few musicians-friends are taking part in this and help re-arrange the tracks, the sounds, especially for the live shows. Live personnel will include Daniele Brandolisio (guitar), Enrico Poddighe (drums), Vita Zorat (keyboards).
As for Man on Wire..They released one of the best albums that I've had the chance to listen to in the last few months! It came out in late January 2012 for Knifeville records (Arnoux is also in the Knifeville roster).
West Love is a must for fans of well... Love, the Smiths and Mercury Rev circa "All is Dream". I met Stefano Pasutto (guitar, vocals) a few days before the release date, at the annual record fair in Pordenone (great spot for an interview). It's really amazing how he admitted he had never written a full song or sung before. Stefano is a member of the Tre Allegri Ragazzi Morti live line-up and has been in many other local bands for many years now. Having time on his hands because of a sickness two winters ago he started writing and then played these tracks to friends Nicolò Fortuni (drums) and Marco Pilia (bass guitar) that showed a lot of interest and enthusiasm about them. Cristiana Basso Moro completes the line-up, she plays guitar too and sings some backing vocals. You can listen to the album
here. Their live performances seem to be pretty pretty good, they've been playing all over Italy... So don't miss them tonight at one of the best venues around here, Cas'Aupa, in Udine. You can check their
website or facebook
page. Their name refers to Philippe Petit, the French acrobat who walked on a rope between the Twin Towers in 1974!
And here is
Knifeville's bandcamp page
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