I’ve always keep an eye out for labels including Melodic
Revolution Records to see what will give my ears a big surprise and hear what
magical boundaries has come to mind. Whether it will be from Unified Past,
Corvus Stone, Kinetic Element, The Minstrel’s Ghost, or Murky Red to name a
few, I know something special is awaiting and lurking to know it’s going to be
great. One of the artists that have blown me away is Marco Ragni.
Marco Ragni’s adventure into music begin when he was 6 years
old when his mother got him a Farfisa Organ. He became fascinated by the work
of the Beatles, Pink Floyd, and the Psychedelic scene in California of the late
‘60s followed by the Progressive Rock sound of the 1970s. He released two
albums in the late ‘80s that captured the Psych sounds (Kaleido and Illumination
in 1987 and 1988). He was in two bands including Deshuesada, Heza, and Mokers
from 1990, 2000 and 2006.
In the summer of 2009, he decided to go solo and founded his
own indie label Crow Records and released his first real solo album entitled, In My Eyes followed by the autumn of
2010 with 1969. He then released in
2012, Lilac Days that brings the modern sounds
of the psychedelic music. It wasn’t until June of 2014 he was signed to Nick
Katona’s label Melodic Revolution Records and collaborated with lyricist and his wife,
Alessandra Pirani and did a rock opera about a story between Man and Nature’s
relationship with Mother of the Sun.
This year, he’s released a new album from the label entitled,
Land of Blue Echoes. Now mind you,
I’m very new to Marco’s music and from the moment I put the CD on, I was
embarking on an adventure to another world, another time, and another universe
that I’ve never seen before.
Along Marco, he brought some help from people such as
drummer Jacopo Ghirandi (Stalag 17), Vance Gloster (Gekko Projekt) on Keyboards
and Organ, Fernando Perdomo (Dave Kerzner Band) on Lead Guitar, Hamlet on
Keyboards and Bass (Transport Aerian), Jeff Mack (Scarlet Hollow) on Bass,
Peter Matuchniak (Gekko Projekt) on Electric/Acoustic Guitar and of course
Colin Tench (BunChakeze and Corvus Stone) on Guitar, and 1987 Pink Floyd and Dave Kerzner
backing vocalist Durga McBroom.
When I’ve heard about this, I knew this is something worth
checking out. And right away it’s a breathtaking, magical, and adventurous
beauty that will make you think of the Progressive Rock sounds and Space Rock
that comes to mind. Between Moon and
Earth, is the voyage into the Milky Way introduction with atmospheric ‘60s
psychedelia doubling guitars and a mission towards the Moon to give it a different
time signature as you as a listener, go through the stars and the planets for
the first time as you prepare to throttle through the cosmic landscape.
Think of the sounds of Agitation Free’s 2nd. From the pastoral and haunting Mellotron view of
the soothing 15-minute and Hawkwind essence before delving into Clavinet homage
to Kerry Minnear as Durga’s vocals come in with singing and spoken with a mysterious
twist for Horizons.
Since I’ve mentioned about Minnear, Marco himself takes the
Fusion approach and stays on top form. Here on Money Doesn’t Think, he takes it into a funky groove as the Clavinet,
Slapping Basses, Sliding Bluesy Guitars, and mysterious rhythms come to mind.
From Rick Wakeman’s Journey to the Centre
of the Earth, Gentle Giant, and Herbie Hancock’s Headhunters-era.
On Canto D’amore,
Marco takes a break from the electric instruments and move into the dreamy and
gentle chamber flamenco classical guitar textures with a double-tracking remedy
in the midsections as they soar into various locations. Marco takes the
listener to those deep, darker tunnels and show that have a deeper, heavier
boundaries. Durga herself is mesmerizing on her vocalizations and still has the
chops.
It’s evidential on the sensitive and cavernous beauty, Deep Night. It has the eruptive guitars
with a shattering punch and a few twists that capture the early Floyd and Yes
boundaries. All then getting ready to fasten your seat belts for the 8-part
suite of Nucleus that clocks in at
22-minutes and 47 seconds. Here, the circle comes fully complete.
It goes through the motions of melodic, heavy, space, jazz and
psychedelic. Both Durga and Marco themselves do the vocals and it’s a chilling
experience. The two of them work together very well sharing on the arrangements
on where they would go to next. There are moments in where it can be
atmospheric through the vocalizations in the ambient section in the last four
minutes of the piece that resembles Tangerine Dream and Ash Ra Tempel.
Not to mention, the
ticking clock sounds on the instrument followed by the eerie organ sounds
before the Mellotron ends in the styles of the Foxtrot-era of Genesis that gives it a warmth and touching reminiscent for Watcher of the Skies. This is my fifth time listening to Marco Ragni’s Land of Blue Echoes. Melodic Revolution
Records have taken me by surprise of delving into the music of Marco’s sound
and vision of storytelling.
And it’s makes you take on a trip to remember when.
This is one of the albums that will make you think of the bands such as: Agitation Free, Gentle Giant, early Genesis, Pink Floyd, and the Rock Progressivo Italiano-era of the golden-era of the 1970s. And
for me, it feels like that Marco himself has finally come full circle.
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