Andrea Scala is an Italian born, Toronto based drummer and
composer that has unleashed his debut album this year on the Shifting Paradigm
label entitled Coming Back, Leaving
Again. This was a big challenge for me to listen to his new album from
start to finish. It was like walking into this other room and seeing what
Andrea is going to do next.
I had no idea on what to expect as I was putting my
earphones on, but I was up for that kind of challenge with Andrea’s debut. It’s
electronic, fusion, progressive, and very whirlpoolish. Everything on this
album is very much like the ultimate trip for Scala to push the envelope even
further.
While this is my first time discovering the Shifting
Paradigm label, some of the centerpieces that are on here, would shivers down
your spine to see and hear what Andrea would think of next. There are moments
of Avant-Garde, Soul, Electronic, Classical, and Atmospheric noises to make the
cycling flower come to life.
Towards Oxygen sounds
like the swirling guitar that is in a hay-wiring effect that Manilo Maresca
channels the midsection sequence of Mark Mothersbaugh’s guitar on Devo’s Too Much Paranoias. Plus diving into the
droning effects between Eno, Cluster, Stockhausen, and the Zeit-era of Tangerine Dream.
With Out Here, Scala
goes into this Trip-Hop effect as he walks into these big gigantic steps with
Tarenzi’s intensive piano exercise that goes from this cliffhanger effect into
a Thelonious Monk approach. He along with Puglisi’s double bass, walk into this
garden of dream-like beauty that has been unleashed to its own amazement.
Overnight Walk sees
Nicola Costa’s guitar carrying this bluesy effect by channeling some of the
early Floyd sounds while Raponi’s Wurlitzer soars into this R&B/Soulful
twist with Liberti & Santodonato’s horn sections to take us into a midnight
dance with some incredible grooves to give us a chance to see the sun in all of
its glory. Cracked at first sounds like
these complex challenges with some odd time textures thanks to Mareca’s guitar
lines going up and down the rabbit hole.
It becomes this spiraling staircase into the wacky worlds of
Mr. Bungle, Frank Zappa, and Kerry Minnear’s keyboard work from Gentle Giant.
Now for me, Andrea Scala’s debut album is like a powder keg that is ready to
explode. And he’s not backing down without a fight. He along with his team
mates have worked well together to bring this album to life. So for me, I might
peak my interest with not just with Scala’s work but the label itself to see
what ideas they might have in store for me.