I once listened to the music of the Italian Alcantara and apparently didn't find it so interesting that I took the trouble to look up their discography and listen to it intensively. This review is written about both the studio album Tamam Shud and a live recording called In Concert. The band has a great singer in the person of Sergio Manfredi Sallicano and the vocals are provided in both Italian and English and are often mixed up. The band also consists of Rosario Figura on drums, Danilo Montagnino on bass and three guitarists, Vitorio Di Stefano, Salvo Di Mauro and Francesco Venti, who plays lead guitar. Alesandro Caltabiano guests on keyboards but only on three tracks. After three albums and an EP, Tamam Shud is actually the fifth release of the Italians. As always, an info sheet is included and this time there is also quite a list of names given as references. Porcupine Tree, Pink Floyd and a number of other names that do not directly fall into the prog domain, such as Radiohead. Sometimes after listening to an album you wonder where the hell they get those references from, but in this case I can live with them all. I would even like to add the name Riverside because I also hear them, especially the atmosphere that this band could once create. Is Alcantara as good as the names mentioned? Sometimes, but not always. Still, the quality is certainly good, in fact, a number of tracks are really beautiful. Venti's guitar solos are certainly indebted to David Gilmour and he is often allowed to come to the fore. His playing has a bluesy undertone and his timing is very pleasant without overshooting to powerhouse playing. Steven Wilson is occasionally greeted because both the guitar playing and the vocals are not far from his while Sallicano has a little more warmth in his voice. The fact that the band is able to be at least as good live as on the studio album indicates that we are dealing with good musicians. Tamam Shud contains six tracks and that already indicates that these Italians are not necessarily done with their tracks within three minutes. The playing time of the tracks is between six and ten minutes and therefore creates lot of room for instrumental passages. In general, the music is quiet and atmospheric with occasionally a bit more dynamics, one would think that with three guitarists this should not be a problem. This could have been a bit more for me. As an example I take the title track, which is very nice in terms of melody but it continues to ripple along a bit and deserved a more impressive finale. The next song, Il Distacco starts wonderfully with some vague guitar runs with a lot of reverb and echo. In terms of dynamics, there is also more going on here, the chorus pops a bit more and the guitar solos are quite beautiful. Opener TerryG starts with a country-like guitar run but quickly develops into a Radiohead-worthy song with that recognizable trotting rhythm. Fortunately, the already mentioned vocals are a lot more expressive than those of Thom Yorke. In Distant Star, Porcupine Tree comes to the fore as a reference, especially in the somewhat chaotic middle part where an alienating rhythm gives the song more identity. Doesn't Alcantara have its own merits you would think after all those references to other bands? Eventually, of course, they do and it's definitely worth discovering for yourself what their music does for you. The live album In Concert contains all six tracks of Tamam Shud and the performances are very good and professional and that tells us something about the quality of these musicians. The album is further supplemented with four tracks from previous albums. The slightly jazzy song Treefingers builds up quietly and has a somewhat psychedelic character. The guitar solo at the end is fine again. Actually, you could say all the above about Logan with the addition that there are pieces reminiscent of The Doors, especially because of the way of singing. With almost ten minutes, After The Flood is really a wonderfully long spun track with great guitar work by Venti, my favourite of this album. Closing track Seasons is a bit longer and here too everything starts very quietly and atmospheric and actually after eight minutes the track is over but it has a bit of a weird end. I don't know why they chose to do that, I don't really understand it. The studio album is already fine but the live album offers some extras which makes this one my preference. If you like the references mentioned, definitely go listen to the music of these Italians. If you like more challenging prog with a more prominent role for swirling keys and consisting of tempo changes, then Alcantara probably suits you a bit less. ***- Tamam Shud & *** In Concert Erik Fraanje (edited by Tracy van Os van den Abeelen) Where to buy? |
