When it comes to Avant-Garde, Contemporary Chamber Music,
and a dosage of Rock in Opposition, you can quite expect something jumping
right at you when you leap out of your seat of the music and sound of Yugen.
Yugen formed 10 years ago in the autumn by guitarist Francesco Zago and AltrOck
label founder Marcello Marinone who wanted to create the two genres and it was
an orientated sound of them with a dosage of Rock.
The band released three albums from 2006 to 2010 and in 2012
with their live album called, Mirrors. It
was recorded at the RIO Fest on September 17, 2011 in the commune of Carmaux,
France. Alongside Francesco Zago and despite line-up changes, the band
considers Paolo “Ske” Botta on Keyboards, Valerio Cipollone on Sax and
Clarinet, Maurizo Fasoli on Piano, Jacopo Costa on Marimba and Vibes, Matteo
Lorito on Bass Guitar, and Michele Salgarello on Drums.
Listening to this amazing performance, you can close your
eyes and imagine yourself being at the RIO Fest watching the seven-piece really
going into town and applauding and cheering for them on a job well done. There’s
some intensity and shrieking moments on their instruments and the time changes
going into different areas that just sends chills down my spine with some
touches in tribute to; Univers Zero, Present, King Crimson, Magma, Frank Zappa,
and Gentle Giant and they are true to their roots of Progressive Rock and Rock
in Opposition and I would imagine the master Zappa himself would be so proud of
Yugen so much.
I first became aware of Yugen’s music with the 2012
documentary of Romantic Warriors II: A
Progressive Music Saga About Rock in Opposition and I became hooked into
the scene and the band’s music just completely took me by surprise. It’s hard
to pick some favorites because I was spellbound when I was listening to the
album from start to finish. Not to mention four centerpieces. I love their take
of Henry Cow’s Industry because it
captures the essence of their music and Zago’s heavy homage to Fred Firth is
like a swirling nightmare thanks to Botta’s keyboards.
At times, it feels as if they are doing the score to
Alejandro Jordorowsky’s surreal western, El
Topo, but it gave me goosebumps from the sound of the different beats
following in the time changes along with Cipollone’s homage to Tim Hodgkinson. Brachilogia
brings a sinister, ominous, and frightening touch but with a calming moment at
times thanks to Costa’s vibes and Cipollone’s sax setting the tension like a
roaring beast following by Fasoli’s Piano and the crescendos to give it a
shrieking finale.
Cloudscape shows
the band their ambient/atmospheric side in the realms of German Electronic
Music with touches to Tangerine Dream’s Zeit-era
before it spreads through the synth, sax, guitar, and piano rooms and comes
together and the magic is working before the minor chords close it off. The 12-minute
Free Jazz-Psych-Chamber Rock-Canterbury-Zappa haywire swirling crescendos on Becchime, gives the band a chance to
lend out their instruments and have their creative freedom and you can never
expect to see where Yugen would go next.
I have listened to Mirrors
about three times now and I am completely blown away of the live album. It
has a 9-page booklet including liner notes by Sid Smith that features pictures
of the group and the history of the band along with Zago’s interview as well. It
may not be easy to listen to, but once you put the headphones on, you can
really expect something out of the blue for the door to be kicked down to
experienced something fresh and exciting.
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