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Reviews

Alex Carpani — The Good Man
(Artist Records, 2024, CD / DL)

by Jon Davis, Published 2025-03-12

The Good Man Cover art

Alex Carpani has proven himself to be skilled at creating catchy music with inflections from progressive rock, and on albums like Microcosm and L'Orizzonte degli Eventi that music takes the form of concise tracks structured more or less like elaborate pop songs. With The Good Man, he takes a different approach, presenting two 28-minute suites titled “Amnesiac” and “Good and Evil.” Each suite has nine parts which are indexed individually but flow seamlessly from one part to the next. Musically, Carpani’s work remains in the same vein — fans of Porcupine Tree and The Pineapple Thief will hear some sounds that are along the same lines as those bands, though not overly imitative. The intense, rocking tracks are separated by atmospheric interludes with keyboards and vocal samples. Carpani is credited with vocals, keyboards, virtual orchestra, drum machine, synth bass, and virtual guitars; he’s joined by Bruno Farinelli (drums), Giambattista Giorgi (bass), Emiliano Fantuzzi (guitars), Alessio Alberghini (soprano sax), and Valentina Vanini (mezzo-soprano voice). Vanini’s contributions are particularly interesting — imagine Pink Floyd’s “The Great Gig in the Sky” if the female vocalist had been an opera singer instead of a soul singer. In addition to the vocal sections, there are some outstanding instrumental passages, like the synthesizer solo in “Heart Calling” (“Amnesia Part 7”). Alberghini’s sax has a plaintive, oboe-like quality rather than the slick sound a soprano sax sometimes has, and it’s sometimes used in harmony with Vanini’s wordless singing. This is tasty melodic writing that retains an edge, never sliding into sappiness. It’s also clearly inspired on some level by classic progressive rock, though it sounds thoroughly modern, which is probably down to the keyboard sounds, which are not dominated by vintage instruments. The Good Man is a solid album that should appeal to all progressive rock fans, and cements Carpani’s reputation as a composer and keyboardist.

Filed under: New releases, 2024 releases

Related artist(s): Alex Carpani

More info
http://alexcarpani.bandcamp.com/album/the-good-man

 

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