Friday, May 18, 2007

Gli Alluminogeni-Scolopendra,LP,1972,Italy


A trio from Turin, formed in 1970 by keyboard player Alluminio (hence the name of the band) and drummer Ostorero with various guitarists (Guido Maccario, Aldo, Andrea Sacchi, Piero Tonello, then Enrico Cagliero), they only lasted for a couple of years and their only album, Scolopendra, was issued when they had already split.
The group had obtained their record deal by a lucky chance, a demo tape was sent around and they were contacted by Fonit for a single and to play the Cantagiro festival with no previous live experience, in front of 15000 people audiences.
After four singles released between 1970 and 1971, in which the band limits are evident, the album is very well made, mainly based on Hammond organ and other keyboards, with good instrumental parts even if the voice is a bit thin and the sound seems dated now. First side has more vocal parts and is lightweight in comparison, the second side is more instrumental and much better.Despite a long time spent in rehearsing the album tracks, the group was totally unsatisfied by the production work made by Fonit to transform it into a more commercial product, and this was one of the main reasons for them to split.
The band reformed in 1993 and released two CD's for Vinyl Magic, with good results. The last of these, Green grapes (this has been the name of the group before changing it to Alluminogeni) is a compilation of old and new unreleased recordings, and also includes an english version of their first single L'alba di Bremit.
Keyboardist/singer Patrizio Alluminio also released a solo single, Tu anima mia on Fonit in 1975, that was in fact an unreleased cut from the Alluminogeni LP.
From:http://www.italianprog.com/a_alluminogeni.htm
Great psych/prog LP ,with excellent organ/mellotron compositions.The songs are more suited for the late 1960's psychedelic scene than the 1972 Italian progressive rock movement. The keyboards are way out of place here; Patrizio plays with a distinctive jazzy style that hints there is a talented player trapped in the wrong field of music. Best of all, some of the songs will change completely midstream without any reason at all. Sure the Italians are famous for this, and the abrupt transition usually makes sense in retrospect. Here, it doesn't. Not at all. And it's a beautiful thing to behold. Check the break on "La Natura e L'Universo". Pure brilliance. For true drop dead belly laughs, one must scan the back cover for the threads these dudes are wearing. Two of the band members cut the shag carpet out of Mom's living room and decided to construct evening wear out of it. And the proof is there for the ages. (Fror Greek visitors:Μάλλον ο Τσιβιλίκας στη ¨Θεία μου την Χίππισα" τους ειχε δει live και ήταν φανατικος οπαδος,ισως το group κρυβόταν καπου στις σπηλιές στη σκηνή στα Μάταλα:)).
Anyway this is a great LP for organ freaks .Excellent psychedelic organ music LP from Italy.
get it here

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

hi - just to let you know .. the gli alluminogeni album posted back in may has apparently been deleted by rapidshare. (my hard drive crashed, and i was trying to re-download a few of the older posts.)
thanks again for all your hard work on this most amazing of blogs.
wm2007

Anonymous said...

Ditto, the link has made an abrupt transition to ethereality, surfing somewhere on the ocean of 'net without a liferaft.

Could you please replace?

Aloha from Hawaii.

As for adds, it's nice to see someone who has a comparable encyclopedic awareness of the muse, and isn't afraid to write peccadilloes and witticisms into their reviews. This ia a great log, and I see lots of stuff in here I already have.

BTW, I also have 4 or 5 Blacklight Braille LPs, that'd I'd be willing to rip. They've survived a flood and two earthquakes, but I think they're still playable.

This one's available at Krishna's Dopeshop Blog
Aloha from hawaii