Saturday, December 10, 2011

Giиo Vαииεlli - A Pαupεя Iи Pαяαdisε (1977)


One of jazz and pop music's unheralded geniuses, Giиo Vαииεlli is a singer/songwriter of Italian and Canadian descent who has been performing and recording since the early 70's into the present day. Blessed with an operatic tenor somewhere between Tim Buckley and Bobby Caldwell and purporting an approach to music that has just as much in common with Marvin Gaye as it does with The Alan Parsons Project, this guy is ridiculously distinct and unlike anyone you folks have ever had the pleasure of running across in whatever musical trails ya'll might have been following.

This late 70's release is my favorite album by Vαииεlli: it came out about a year after Parsons' Tales Of Mystery And Imagination, and thus leads one to believe that there is some classical influence to be derived from that amazing release. The title track which closes out this album is a four-part classical suite, and the rest of the pop-oriented fare is equally jaw-dropping in their execution. Feeling up for something smooth and ideal for a late night drive? Try the unusual 'Valleys Of Valhalla' or bossa nova-kissed 'The Surest Things Can Change'. Wanting some bounce to your beat? Let 'Mardi Gras' stab you and get that blood flowin' in all the right ways.

Killer vocals, progressive songwriting and a spacey late 70's atmosphere make this record a cult classic if there ever was one, and it's a damn fine place to make headway into the strange, yet groovy world of Giиo Vαииεlli.


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