Riso Degli Stolti. Il - Ventiquattro Fotogrammi Al Secondo (2016)

The debut album from this Italian band.

Il Riso Degli Stolti has got around six members and adds xtra instruments and musicians from song to song. But I believe the vocalist Antonelle De Simone is the engine in this band. Their lineup is mostly acoustic with strings and woodwinds dominating the lineup. That and some guitars, bass, drums, percussions and the Italian vocals.

This album was released through the relative new Italian record-label Psych Up Melodies. A label who has released some six or seven albums up to now. Not all of them has got good reviews in this blog.

So I was expecting some obscure psych rock here. I was wrong.

What we get here is Italian folk rock with some strong chamber rock influences. But there is also some strong influences from the Italian folk-pop scene from the 1970s. There is also some strong RPI, Rock Progressive Italiano, influences here. Ditto for jazz influences too.

The end result is forty-five minutes with some quirky folk-rock with very good Italian vocals. Vocals I like, but don't understand a word of. But Italian is a very good language for this kind of music. So I am enjoying the vocals.

My only gripe here is the lack of any really great songs. That aside, this is a good album from a band I hope will stay around for some more albums. Let's hear more from this band.

3 points