Taproban
began life in Rome in 1996 on the initiative of keyboardist Gianluca
De Rossi and drummer Fabio Mociatti. The name of the band was
inspired by the ancient name of Ceylon or Sri-Lanka where Italian
philosopher Tommaso Campanella (1568 – 1639) set his imaginary
“City of the Sun”. After a lot of trouble and line-up changes, in
2002 Taproban released their debut album, “Ogni pensiero vola”
(Every thought flies) on the French label Musea Records with a
line-up featuring founder member Gianluca De Rossi (keyboards, moog,
synthesizers, acoustic guitar, vocals) along with Davide Guidoni
(drums, percussion) and Guglielmo Mariotti (bass, acoustic and
classical guitar, mandolin, vocals). The main sources of inspiration
of the band are Emerson Lake & Palmer and Le Orme but the music
is not too derivative and perfectly fits the concept. The music and
lyrics, in fact, were inspired by a very peculiar place, the Garden of Bomarzo, near Viterbo, also known as the park of Monsters of
Bomarzo. It’s a set of monuments created by Prince Pierfrancesco
Orsini in the XVI century and made up of small buildings and a wooded
park populated by strange sculptures. It was built not to please but
to astonish and its symbolism is arcane. According to the liner
notes, the band tried to transpose in music the ideal dimension
behind this artistic creation, which consists of “non-conformist,
parodoxical overturning of the Renaissance stylistic principles of
balance and harmony, proposing instead a horrid, grotesque version of
classical mythology and chivalric epic”. Well, it’s high time now
to visit the park following a musical path between mythology and
fantasy...
The
opener “Prologo” (Prologue) starts with dark sounds and hypnotic
percussive patterns, then the tension melts into a dreamy acoustic
passage... From a window in his castle Prince Pierfrancesco Orsini
still seems to be observing the statues in his garden... “You, who
are coming in, leave out every thought / Until you reach your
goal...”.
“L’enigma
della Sfinge” (The Sphinx enigma) is full of vibrant energy and
exotic excitement. In the middle section you can hear echoes of
bolero and oriental touches... At the entrance to the garden there
are two mysterious sphinxes, one with an enigma carved in its
stone... “You, who are coming in, set your mind aside / And tell me
whether so many wonders are made for deceit or for art...”.
“Orlando che squarta un pastore” (Orlando quartering a shepherd) is a very short instrumental that was inspired by a sculpture portraying Orlando, the protagonist of the poem “Orlando furioso” by Ludovico Ariosto, quartering a shepherd who had annoyed him. It’s a kind of warning against the excesses of passion leading to blind rage...
The
dreamy, ethereal “La Tartaruga e la Fortuna” (The Turtle and
Fortune) was inspired by a sculptural group representing the contrast
between Virtue and Fortune. The Turtle symbolizes the prudence
required to follow the inconstant ways of Fortune, a female winged
figure walking on a ball and playing two horns. “Blind and
inconstant ruler of the world / I must pay attention to second her
balance...”.
In
“Pegaso il cavallo alato” (Pegasus the winged horse) the rhythm
takes off for a ride on the wings of fantasy. This track was inspired
by the statue of one of the best known imaginary creatures in Greek
mythology, a divine winged white horse... “Look at his wings, the
wings of freedom / Look in his wings, the wings of freedom...”.
“La
casa pendente” (The little leaning house) is a kind of surreal
psychedelic track featuring strange filtered narrative vocals and
evocative experimental sounds. It was inspired by a strange building
that is set in the Garden of Bomarzo, a small leaning house
apparently bent by adversities but which never falls down...
“Il
signore del bosco” (The lord of the wood) starts with dark organ
chords. It’s a short instrumental inspired by the statue of an old
man sitting on a throne, the God of Hell as depicted by the Italian
poet Torquato Tasso in his poem “Jerusalem Delivered”, first
published in 1581, which tells a largely fictionalized version of the
First Crusade.
“La
ninfa dormiente” (The sleeping nymph) is another beautiful
instrumental, an idyllic interlude that begins with a delicate
acoustic guitar arpeggio setting a dreamy atmosphere. It was inspired
by the statue of a woman lying on her back...
“L’Orco
(Lasciate ogni pensiero voi ch’entrate)” (The ogre – Set aside
every thought you who enter here) is a long, complex track featuring
a dark atmosphere. It was inspired by an enormous, ferocious mask
representing the door to Hell and portrayed on the album cover.
“Infernal monster mask, in your gaping maw there’s a room carved
in the rock / I go in cautiously / The light is low, it filters from
the holes of the eyes / It carves the table, and on the walls...”.
Well, listen to the music and imagine the rest!
The
last track “Il tempio araldico” (The heraldic temple) is an
amazing instrumental with a strong Renaissance touch. It was inspired
by a memorial to Giulia Farnese, Pierfrancesco Orsini’s wife,
located at the top of the garden. It’s also called the heraldic
temple and represents victory over death and oblivion and the
achievement of a spiritual purification releasing from anxiety...
More
info about the band:
http://www.taproban.com/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Taproban/284210754964231
More info about the Garden of Bomarzo:
http://www.parcodeimostri.com/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Taproban/284210754964231
More info about the Garden of Bomarzo:
http://www.parcodeimostri.com/
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