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Tugs - Europa Minor (2013) {Ams}

Posted By: ruskaval

Date: 11 Jan 2014 06:59:48

Tugs - Europa Minor (2013) {Ams}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 509 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 181 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 189 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2013 Ams | AMS221 CD
Rock / Progressive Rock

Italian band TUGS was formed sometime in the 1970's, but in their initial phase that lasted until the mid 1980's they didn't manage to record any material. Some 20 odd years later Tugs reunited, and work commenced to finalize and record the material they had created when they first started out. Come 2013 and this process was finalized with the release of their debut album "Europa Minor" on the Italian AMS label. One thing that struck me when listening to this album was the frequent use of piano textures, especially on the first ten of the twelve tracks. A detail that generally makes me suspect that many of the compositions started out as piano creations that have later been expanded with arrangements of a more sophisticated nature. If this is the case for this band as well I don't know, but it was a distinct association I got on many of these songs.

Apart from that Tugs is a band that have a distinct stylistic expression that may be described as a blend of folk music and symphonic progressive rock. With, if I'm not much mistaken, with a fair few references to traditional folk and court dances from medieval times as a source for quite a few of the folk oriented passages.
In a balanced mix that comes across as gentle and smooth even when the arrangements are richly layered we're presented with a nifty variety of symphonic progressive rock that has a distinct vintage yet timeless feel to it. Piano motifs are almost ever present, supplemented by acoustic and electric guitars, with a firm but sophisticated bass and drums backing. The symphonic details are just as often conveyed by acoustic instruments as by keyboards if not even more, and we're treated to some truly elegant harmony sections with flute, strings or both harmonizing with the electric guitar solo to produce symphonic arrangements. When keyboards besides the piano are utilized this is done in an equally smooth manner admittedly, but it is the guitar and acoustic instrument interactions that charmed me first and foremost.
As this is an Italian band with Italian lyrics, I presume some might find it to be of interest that the vocals in this case are fairly void of the archetypical Latin dramatic effects, beyond the ones that comes natural with the language.
Just how much or not this band is similar to the classic Italian progressive rock bands I can't really tell, as I'm not well versed in this musical landscape. But for references outside of Italy there are a fair few nods in the direction of Jethro Tull here, first and foremost some brief but distinct guitar and flute detail that those familiar with Jethro Tull will recognize. While fans of Camel should enjoy the instrumental Il Sogno di Jennifer. If this compositions isn't a homage to Camel by plan it most certainly is so by accident. From a personal point of view I'd select La Brigata Dei Dotteri and Il Pianto as the highlights of this fine album, while those with a more keen interest in the material of a more purebred folk-oriented nature might opt for Canzone Per Un Anno and Nanou as the ones to give an initial listen to.
All in all Tugs very much belated debut album is a fine specimen of it's kind. Symphonic progressive rock with more of an acoustic atmosphere to it and with a fair few details of folk music flavoring the proceedings, creating an elegant and sophisticated breed of timeless but vintage sounding symphonic progressive rock that should have a fairly broad appeal. With those who have a soft spot for Italian bands with vocalists singing in their native tongue as a logical key audience.

Personnel:
- Bruno Rotolo / bass
- Fabio Giannitrapani / drums
- Pietro Contorno / vocals, accoustic guitar
- Nicola Melani / electric guitar
- Marco Susini / keyboards
- Martina Benifei / cello
- Claudio Fabiani / flute
- Antonio Ghezzani / mandolin
- Francesco Carmignani / violin
- Matteo Scarpettini / percussion

tracklist:
01. Waterloo
02. Il Re E Il Poeta: La Corte
03. Il Re E Il Poeta: La Gloria
04. La Brigata Dei Dottori
05. Pietroburgo 1824
06. Le Colline Di Ems
07. Il Pianto
08. Il Sogno Di Jennifer
09. Nostra Signora Borghesia
10. I Bambini D'Inverno
11. Canzone Per Un Anno
12. Nanou

EAC log

Exact Audio Copy V1.0 beta 3 from 29. August 2011

EAC extraction logfile from 23. September 2013, 10:41

Tugs / Europa Minor

Used drive : ASUS DRW-1608P3S Adapter: 1 ID: 1

Read mode : Secure
Utilize accurate stream : Yes
Defeat audio cache : Yes
Make use of C2 pointers : No

Read offset correction : 48
Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out : No
Fill up missing offset samples with silence : Yes
Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No
Null samples used in CRC calculations : Yes
Used interface : Installed external ASPI interface
Gap handling : Appended to previous track

Used output format : User Defined Encoder
Selected bitrate : 128 kBit/s
Quality : High
Add ID3 tag : No
Command line compressor : C:\Program Files\Exact Audio Copy\Flac\flac.exe
Additional command line options : -V -8 -T "Date=%year%" -T "Genre=%genre%" %source%

TOC of the extracted CD

Track | Start | Length | Start sector | End sector
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––-
1 | 0:00.00 | 6:14.11 | 0 | 28060
2 | 6:14.11 | 6:21.00 | 28061 | 56635
3 | 12:35.11 | 5:42.37 | 56636 | 82322
4 | 18:17.48 | 6:42.32 | 82323 | 112504
5 | 25:00.05 | 8:00.11 | 112505 | 148515
6 | 33:00.16 | 7:33.31 | 148516 | 182521
7 | 40:33.47 | 6:17.42 | 182522 | 210838
8 | 46:51.14 | 5:13.63 | 210839 | 234376
9 | 52:05.02 | 7:43.36 | 234377 | 269137
10 | 59:48.38 | 5:19.49 | 269138 | 293111
11 | 65:08.12 | 5:08.65 | 293112 | 316276
12 | 70:17.02 | 5:40.61 | 316277 | 341837

Track 1

Filename E:\bzp01\Tugs Europa Minor (2013) [FLAC] {AMS221CD}\01 - Waterloo.wav

Pre-gap length 0:00:02.00

Peak level 100.0 %
Extraction speed 4.7 X
Track quality 99.9 %
Test CRC 30C73802
Copy CRC 30C73802
Accurately ripped (confidence 1) [ADB94F0D] (AR v2)
Copy OK

Track 2

Filename E:\bzp01\Tugs Europa Minor (2013) [FLAC] {AMS221CD}\02 - Il Re E Il Poeta - La Corte.wav

Peak level 100.0 %
Extraction speed 5.7 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 96E85306
Copy CRC 96E85306
Accurately ripped (confidence 1) [2B50E396] (AR v2)
Copy OK

Track 3

Filename E:\bzp01\Tugs Europa Minor (2013) [FLAC] {AMS221CD}\03 - Il Re E Il Poeta - La Gloria.wav

Peak level 100.0 %
Extraction speed 6.2 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 24B23A7F
Copy CRC 24B23A7F
Accurately ripped (confidence 1) [FBE4373F] (AR v2)
Copy OK

Track 4

Filename E:\bzp01\Tugs Europa Minor (2013) [FLAC] {AMS221CD}\04 - La Brigata Dei Dottori.wav

Pre-gap length 0:00:01.74

Peak level 100.0 %
Extraction speed 6.8 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 88B3AE87
Copy CRC 88B3AE87
Accurately ripped (confidence 1) [64B815E4] (AR v2)
Copy OK

Track 5

Filename E:\bzp01\Tugs Europa Minor (2013) [FLAC] {AMS221CD}\05 - Pietroburgo 1824.wav

Peak level 100.0 %
Extraction speed 7.4 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 966F27DB
Copy CRC 966F27DB
Accurately ripped (confidence 1) [F0ABD335] (AR v2)
Copy OK

Track 6

Filename E:\bzp01\Tugs Europa Minor (2013) [FLAC] {AMS221CD}\06 - Le Colline Di Ems.wav

Peak level 100.0 %
Extraction speed 7.9 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC C298BB1E
Copy CRC C298BB1E
Accurately ripped (confidence 1) [4BC4CA59] (AR v2)
Copy OK

Track 7

Filename E:\bzp01\Tugs Europa Minor (2013) [FLAC] {AMS221CD}\07 - Il Pianto.wav

Peak level 100.0 %
Extraction speed 8.1 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 2E96FCBD
Copy CRC 2E96FCBD
Accurately ripped (confidence 1) [FD6EEC31] (AR v2)
Copy OK

Track 8

Filename E:\bzp01\Tugs Europa Minor (2013) [FLAC] {AMS221CD}\08 - l Sogno Di Jennifer.wav

Pre-gap length 0:00:01.74

Peak level 100.0 %
Extraction speed 8.1 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC D63061E2
Copy CRC D63061E2
Accurately ripped (confidence 1) [265A8E7A] (AR v2)
Copy OK

Track 9

Filename E:\bzp01\Tugs Europa Minor (2013) [FLAC] {AMS221CD}\09 - Nostra Signora Borghesia.wav

Peak level 100.0 %
Extraction speed 8.3 X
Track quality 99.9 %
Test CRC 13A4E4BB
Copy CRC 13A4E4BB
Accurately ripped (confidence 1) [9BD32310] (AR v2)
Copy OK

Track 10

Filename E:\bzp01\Tugs Europa Minor (2013) [FLAC] {AMS221CD}\10 - I Bambini D'Inverno.wav

Peak level 100.0 %
Extraction speed 8.8 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC B33E2D49
Copy CRC B33E2D49
Accurately ripped (confidence 1) [30E1A698] (AR v2)
Copy OK

Track 11

Filename E:\bzp01\Tugs Europa Minor (2013) [FLAC] {AMS221CD}\11 - Canzone Per Un Anno.wav

Pre-gap length 0:00:01.74

Peak level 100.0 %
Extraction speed 9.0 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC A61FE69E
Copy CRC A61FE69E
Accurately ripped (confidence 1) [59E7E0C9] (AR v2)
Copy OK

Track 12

Filename E:\bzp01\Tugs Europa Minor (2013) [FLAC] {AMS221CD}\12 - Nanou.wav

Pre-gap length 0:00:01.74

Peak level 100.0 %
Extraction speed 9.4 X
Track quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 17F3ADFF
Copy CRC 17F3ADFF
Accurately ripped (confidence 1) [1D96442D] (AR v2)
Copy OK

All tracks accurately ripped

No errors occurred

End of status report

==== Log checksum E13AA263B136E2BA76384CD35644F4F2BA3AFD9E38CAC85F81C36EB5CDCD90F7 ====

All thanks goes to the original releaser!

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