Accordo Dei Contrari - UR- (2021)

05 May, 01:56
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Artist: Accordo Dei Contrari
Title: UR-
Year Of Release: 2021
Label: Cuneiform Records #Rune 489
Genre: Progressive Rock, Jazz Rock, Fusion
Quality: EAC Rip -> FLAC (Tracks+Cue+m3u, Log) / MP3 CBR320
Total Time: 00:42:29
Total Size: 262 / 103 Mb (Full Scans ~ 206 Mb)
WebSite: Album Preview

Leading up to its fifth studio album, Accordo dei Contrari had one simple yet ambitious goal: to make music that was “original, challenging, and beautiful at the same time”. By that measure, UR- is a resonant success [and an impressive introduction to North American listeners]. Laced with sky-soaring melodies, complex polyrhythms, and dark riffage, the Bologna-based art-rock ensemble’s latest music – released in the band’s 20th year – invokes elements of the musical past while sounding distinctly Italian, undeniably sophisticated, and utterly new.

One obvious touchstone for Accordo dei Contrari is the ecstatic energy of the Mahavishnu Orchestra’s Birds of Fire. In fact, the title of UR-’s second track, “Così respirano gli incendi del tempo”, even makes a veiled allusion to the pioneering fusion ensemble’s masterwork; it translates as “This is how the fires of time breathe”. Here, the musical story-telling is almost filmic—as it often is, according to leader and primary composer Giovanni Parmeggiani. “My writing takes inspiration from imaginary scenes or dreams,” the keyboardist explains.

A further key to Ur- can be found in the structural elements Parmeggiani builds into his compositions. He’s especially fond of basing certain passages—the new record’s “Secolo breve” would be a good example—on a repeated keyboard ostinato, something he describes as both a considered nod towards minimal composition and a playful elaboration on the hard-rock riff. Parmeggiani admits that as Accordo dei Contrari’s bandleader and principal composer, he can occasionally “act like a tyrant”. Tyrant or not, Parmeggiani is also generous in his praise. “The present lineup is the best group I have worked with so far,” he enthuses. “Accordo dei Contrari now sounds more cohesive than ever, and it is a very solid band.”

Accordo dei Contrari (Council of the Opposites) are a fusiony instrumental prog and jazz-rock band formed in Bologna, Italy, in 2001. The lineup has varied from a trio to a quintet, but settled into a quartet formation consisting of keyboardist Giovanni Parmeggiani, guitarist Marco Marzo, bassist Daniele Piccinini, and drummer Cristian Franchi immediately before recording the group's first album, Kinesis, live in the studio over a two-day period in June 2006 (Giorgio Trefiletti added saxophone to one track and Fabio Berti added violin to several others in October and November of that year). Kinesis was released by AltrOck in 2007; the Italian label's third CD, it proved to be a strong effort reflecting the influences of such antecedents as Mahavishnu Orchestra and late-period Soft Machine, as well as similarities to another Italian proggy fusion outfit, Deux Ex Machina (although sans vocals). In 2011 Accordo dei Contrari independently released their second album, Kublai, featuring the same quartet lineup as Kinesis plus a guest vocal from Richard Sinclair (Hatfield and the North, Caravan) on one track. Several years later they were back on AltrOck with their entirely instrumental third album, 2014's AdC, with the band's core lineup again unchanged and with guest appearances from violinist/violist Vladimiro Cantaluppi and cellists Marina Scaramagli and Enrico Guerzoni on selected tracks.

~ Dave Lynch, All Music

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Track List:

01. Tergeste [9:00]
02. Così respirano gli incendi del tempo - Thus they breathe, time's fires [7:46]
03. Più limpida e chiara di ogni impressione vissuta (pt. III) - More limpid and... [4:24]
04. UR- [10:51]
05. Secolo breve - The short century [4:36]
06. Contrari ad ogni accordo - Opposed to any agreement [5:54]

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