Claudio Rocchi, Italy

Claudio Rocchi - Essenza. 1973 Ariston.

Some of the Rocchi albums are out on CD, but this, his best album IMO, is still elusive. On "Essenza", the first track has phased voices, tablas, droning synthesizers (similar to Battiato's early work) and a little child's voice reciting something in Italian. This reminds me of Picchio dal Pozzo on their debut and sends chills down my spine. Other tracks have flute, sax, organ, piano and quite a bit of acoustic guitar strumming. Rocchi sings in a very unique way, though not that dissimilar from others of his ilk in the 1970's Italian songwriter scene. In fact, parts of this remind me of Sergius Golowin's album with an obvious stoned vibe (the phasing has a lot to do with this perception).

Priority: 2