Detailed Reviews [Nosound - 2006 - "Sol29"]

Prolusion. "Sol29" is the first official release by NOSOUND, from Italy. This is a one-man studio project, although three of the recording's ten tracks find their maker Giancarlo Erra being backed up by bassist Alessandro Luci.

Analysis. Not much to say here. After hearing the opening number, In the White Air, I thought I should recommend Giancarlo not to begin with a ballad next time around. However it turns out that the music is invariably slow everywhere on the recording, most of the subsequent tracks sounding either like blood brothers or cousins of the said one. There are only three tunes that fall out of the album's prevalent picture, and all of them are vocal-free. Waves of Time and the 10-minute title track both draw extremely monochromatic synthesizer space music, while The Child's Game is a 'piano' piece - plain as well, but not as terribly monotonous as those two, plus short thankfully. With the exception of its mid-section (the same spacey stuff), the remaining instrumental, The Moment She New, is strongly reminiscent of the title track of David Gilmour's latest solo effort "On an Island" - minus singing of course, as well as something essential which makes that creation a true piece of art, regardless of whether it belongs to Prog Rock or not. The songs, In the White Air, Wearing Lies on Your Lips and Idle End, each reminds me of an emasculated version of a statistically-average ballad from Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon", ripping something from Us & Them, something from Great Gig in the Sky etc. The Broken Paths and Hope For the Future are both the same story overall, but these possess at least one virtue - the absence of a drum machine. Overloaded and Idle End both combine the patterns of the title track of "Wish You Were Here", Hey You from "The Wall" and Pigs on the Wing from "Animals" with the same 'lunar' landscapes. Signor Erra very carefully learned Mr. Gilmour's guitar technique, David's very specific vocal style and Pink Floyd's repertoire as well, but his songs are devoid of that sense of inspiration which is inherent to that English musician's work, and how could it have been otherwise if everything that Giancarlo is occupied with revolves around the imitation of his idol?

Conclusion. This collection of Pink Floyd-style ballads might be very popular, but personally I am not a lover of such primitive (in all senses, implying the use of programmed bass and drums too) and, what's central, heavily derivative music as this. I also don't think Mr. Gilmour would be happy were he to get to know of such imitations of his work as this homebred project.

VM: April 22, 2007