File under avantgarde, free-spirited, and creative music from the Italian Progressive scene
See allBefore Franco Battiato went flying into the sun of mininalist avant prog... he gave us this absolute classic of an album. A dense ambient electronic album with some avant sections that hint broadly on where he would be heading in the years down the road. This album was the culmiination of his early electronic period. The avant hints that were dropped in Sulle Corde di Aries are even more pronounced here, and possbily more fully realized. A incredible album.
The opening track, Goutez Et Comparez, announces Battiatos intentions loud and clear with a sound collage of, crowd noises, various everyday noises, choral sections, spoken verses by Battiato, random conversations, operatic singing, and seeming dissonant instrumental bits
The other two tracks, "Canto fermo" and "Orient Effects", are instead two improvisations on the organ of the cathedral of Monreale. In this regard, the story is well known: visiting the cathedral with a friend, Battiato was so fascinated by that impressive organ that he pretended to be a famous foreign organist and began to record these two long dissonant chants, until the priest realized the trap and kicked him out of the church.