Lago Acqua Salata

It might be a bit surprising that one of the most international chillout and lounge music approaches released on Elektrolux so far comes from Switzerland. On the other hand, this is just a logical consequence as it is the only European country with four official national languages. By their debut album “Yeki”, the Zurich-based musician Flavio Maspoli and DJ André Baumgartner aka Espresso Del Lago want to go beyond constricting frontiers, to take up all kinds of multi cultural influences and to transform them into something new. This approach would not be complete without the particular charm and soul of human voices. Indeed, the album opener "Sa Trincha“ with Spanish vocals by Monica takes its orignal aesthetics from the idea of Mediterranean chillout in a Cafe del Mar style…

Where most Italian progressive rock favors the overblown symphonic tendencies of the music's Emerson, Lake & Palmer axis, the comparatively unassuming Acqua Fragile is a much more gentle affair. Think Gentle Giant or the more lyrical moments of early Yes or Renaissance. (It will be almost impossible not to think of early Genesis; singer Bernardo Lanzetti sounds frighteningly similar to Peter Gabriel, especially on the opening "Morning Comes," which would not sound out of place on Trespass or Nursery Cryme.) The lyrics, in English, are pretty atrocious - "Science Fiction Suite" is about as promising as its name suggests - but really not much more so than many prog bands singing in their mother tongue. Musically, however, the album is often quite lovely, with acoustic guitars predominating on most tracks and some impressive multi-tracked harmonies coloring the arrangements…