Colloquio - Va Tutto Bene (2001)

What, more Italian (dark) wave? This blog ran out of steam pretty fast...
OK, so next time I'll go for something more predictably cool, but check this out - 'a sick and disturbed mixture between Depeche Mode and Le Masque. Deep, dense, morbid wave with impressive Italian lyrics - these melodies will break you into little pieces...' Says the press release, and they ought to know what they're talking about. This album has always had a special significance for me, even though it doesn't sound like anything else in my collection and it's quite likely that when presented with a supposedly similar band, I would hate it. I'm not sure what makes the difference for me here - it must be either the melodies or the vocals, or both; they are imbued with a gloomy warmth, while at the same time being very sober and restrained. I'm not sure what's up with all these depressed Italians, Le Masque too can sound pretty melancholy (check out some of the longer songs on 'Dal Diario di un Soffiatore di Vetro'). The guy on the cover here looks a bit like Samuel Beckett, another happy-go-lucky scamp.
This was Colloquio's second full-length album; the first one was a self-released CD in 1997 ('...E lo spettacolo continua' - 'and the spectacle continues'), and even that was preceded by numerous cassette releases, as far back as 1993. I wonder if they took their name from that Le Masque 12". Unfortunately I haven't heard any of those tapes or even that first CD, so if someone can hook me up, please be so kind. From this album on (July 2001) they have been on Eibon Records. Label boss Mauro Berchi must be pretty fond on them: not only did he invite vocalist Gianni Pedretti to sing on a couple of songs on the next two albums by his own band, Canaan (more somber Italians), both bands even merged into a new project named Neronoia. Meanwhile there has also been another Colloquio album in 2007 ('Si Muove e Ride' - 'he moves and smiles'), which didn't really connect with me like 'Va tutto bene' ('all is well') did. Check this one out and tell me what you think. Translations below are my own.
1. Un nome, una data (A Name, a Date)
2. L'Appuntamento (The Appointment)
3. Va tutto bene (All Is Well)
4. Solo con me (Alone With Me)
5. Benvenuti (Welcome)
6. Tu che passi (You Who Go By)
7. L'unica cosa che ho (The Only Thing I Have)
8. Va tutto bene (II parte) (All Is Well (Part 2))
9. Irraggiungibile (Unreachable)
10. Io sono gli altri (I Am the Others)
Some of the lyrics are very nice, maybe I'll translate those too some day. In the meantime:
Here.
320kbps.