Alex Puddu In The Eye Of The Cat

The title of this damn fine album is a reference to the Italian giallo film genre of the 1960s and 70s. These lurid murder mysteries/thrillers, featuring black gloved killers lurking in the dark, gorgeous young ladies being chased and artistic displays of blood and cruelty, usually had horrifying and imaginative film titles, in many cases with words as eye(s), black, blood, death, killer and the name of an animal of some sort thrown in the mix. A nice homage to giallo maestro Dario Argento from fellow Roman Alex Puddu.

Alex is most certainly into giallo movies and the great scores for these wicked whodunits, but his inspiration goes further. Take for example the second composition on the album, “Emerald”; it starts out with a tense up-tempo beat that makes it easy to imagine a girl being followed in a giallo film, but then it turns into an African/Middle Eastern groove with bou- zouki and zither! The North African influence on the percussion can be found throughout the album; it has that groovy, vibrant 70s vibe. The varied selection of instruments (organ, flute, moog, bongos, cello, violin, drums, bass, acoustic and electric guitars etc.) blend flawlessly into each other and make this an intense and inspired trip... in fact it may turn into a movie in front of your very eyes!