Franco Battiato - Clic (1974)

Steve:

Franco Battiato stands as an important figure in Italian music - he is well known in his country as a wide-ranging singer/composer from the early 1970s through to his death in 2021. He had success in a number of styles, including electronic music, new wave, symphonic works, movie soundtracks, and even opera. At the start of his career in the early 70s, he was a key figure in an unusual avant garde scene that combined Italian folk music, electronic experimentation, progressive rock, and musique concrète.  

I first heard of Franco Battiato well into my forties via the ProgArchives website and forum. In the late '00s through the early '10s, I spent a good chunk of my free time on music forums, and for a few years I was on ProgArchives all the time. Although not a prolific reviewer, I eventually became an active participant in the running of the site itself, in addition to interacting with others on the forum. There were tons of knowledgeable music fans from all over the world on that forum, and I had gotten to know some of them well and came to trust their recommendations. 

Battiato's first two albums, Fetus and Pollution, caught my attention initially with their striking artwork. Once I listened to them, I felt I'd discovered a new type of music that directly resonated with me: music made with fairly primitive means, using strange new technology in previously unforeseen ways, with abundant imagination, and conveyed by a great singing voice. 

All of Battiato's first four albums are classics of Italian progressive music, and Clic, the fourth, is my favorite, although I'm not sure many Battiato fans would agree with me on that pick. By this point, Battiato's music was turning more abstract, relying more on electronics and musique concrète, with very few vocals. The main draw of this album as I see it is how a clear human personality can be felt and understood within these pieces - even through the usually cold detachment of the avant-garde medium. Somehow, I feel this guy. His free association of musical and sonic ideas strikes me as very intuitive. I'm not sure how transferable that feeling is but give it a try if you're curious.

Dan: 

I was eager to play this album even though Steve was hesitant to include it. As you can tell from his comments, it means a lot to him so I was extra curious. Fortunately, most of the devices used by Battiato are familiar to me, having understood early John Cage, some computer-generated music of the 80s, and of course "traditional" prog (if that's not too contradictory of a term). The dedication of the album to Stockhausen seems appropriate. 

Of course, synthesized sounds became commonplace in the world of rock during the 80s, so music like that on Clic could be seen as a resource for artists like Phil Collins, Steve Winwood, and many others. Instrumental synth artists became very popular, especially Kitaro and Vangelis, with the latter's lush movie soundtrack albums. Clic is not like any of these derivatives, but rather a set of procedures that could be used by almost any later genre.

What I like the most about Clic is its mystery, made even more mysterious by my inability to understand Italian language. It definitely feels like it's about "something," but it's not describable in any literal sense. I don't really need an explanation because Clic impacts in other ways. It has a definite form and shape, as opposed to random noises sometimes offered in avant-garde music. It grows on me with every new listen.

I do appreciate Battiato's variety of techniques. His use of a string quartet augments the electronic devices skillfully, especially on "Propiedad Prohibida." The use of background voices conversing, chanting and singing during "Nel Cantiere Di Un'Infanzia" and "Ethika Fon Ethica" (the last two parts) is reminiscent of John Zorn's wonderful tribute to Italian film composer Ennio Morricone, The Big Gundown (1988). Zorn inserted dialog from Morricone's films into a thickly concocted musical stew. You can read my review of The Big Gundown at MORE FAVORITES: Reflections on Jazz in the 1980s: Search results for big gundown (jazzinthe80s.blogspot.com)

The 1988 reissue of Clic is faithful to the original 1974 issue. Apparently, there were LP versions that compiled parts of Clic with other music. I'm happy to discover Clic  and welcome it into my collection.