Favola d'Ottobre
Di Cose di Noi
I Conti del Blu
Lettere
Caionno
Aria In
Non per Amore
Il Candelabro
In 1998, also thanks to some friends' help, XMACHINA put into concrete form the idea, which for many years had remained such, of recording their first CD.
Di cose di noi is a collection
of 7 songs and an instrumental track. It was not easy to choose what to put in the CD;
eventually we decided for a prevalence of songs, which actually constituted most of our
repertoire at that time.
The songs were written in almost 8 years, while all arrangements
were more recent. 
We decided not to let us get tempted by the features
of digital sound manipulation and mixing, so we recorded the songs just as we
usually performed them live, choosing to reproduce the sound we used to present during
our shows.
The result, with which we are fairly pleased, reflects the nature of our way of making music: no particular messages to convey but our will to play music and share the feelings music brings to us.
The CD comes with a 12-page booklet containing all the lyrics and some shots taken during the studio sessions. Recording and mixing were entirely realized with digital technology at Level's Studio in Conegliano Veneto (TV) by means of the ProToolsŪ software.
All lyrics were written by Roberto Tossani
With the aim of giving a little contribution to the world of sensations which binds man and music.
Title: Favola d'ottobre Length: 4:03
Music: Acoustic track featuring guitar, voice and clarinet. Recorded live.
Lyrics: A song about waking dreams (which some pessimists consider harmful because when they don't come true you take it badly and when they come true, well, that means they were not so valuable as dreams), about the kind of daily life we have created for ourselves (making probably some mistakes as to quality and serenity), about those who are not able to accept reality (probably because they have too low adaptability or a canker called "never forget your illusions") and about some cynical and nice god who is still able to get drunk like a real man (forgetting anyway that real women - real? - are surely better).
Taste:
MP3 file (521 kB)
Title: Di cose di noi Length: 7:10
Music: Leading role for the clarinet in the introduction and finale, while strophes and refrains are based on piano and classic guitar. The finale also features a signature change, from 4/4 to 3/4.
Lyrics: What if we were also objects in another
universe, simple things in the hands of other beings sure to be the only thinking ones?
What if they used us, believing that objects (us) have neither life
nor self-consciousness?
Supposing that true, also the things we use every day could have a life of their own
in another universe, in which other things exist having in their turn their own lives
in a further universe...
Every time I enter a shopping centre I get seized by this precise sensation, and I
tenderly think about all these objects who fall in love, study, work, have children,
believe in a Thing-God who created them in his own likeness.
Taste:
MP3 file (528 kB)
Title: I conti del blu Length: 5:54
Music: Contrast between a catchy refrain and a strophe in which the bass-guitar riff is absolutely constant, both from the harmonic and the rhythmical point of view. The accordion plays as soloist in the middle section.
Lyrics: Doing suitable accounts, to be free means to
be alone, thus having nothing to loose. All things considered, being able to love means
making compromises (on both sides) with one's own freedom.
Blue is an open account: to measure the sky or love does not mean making them coldly
logical, but learning to live them day by day. Here: now.
Taste:
MP3 file (535 kB)
Title: Lettere Length: 5:50
Music: The rhythm, although gentle, is lightly elaborated in the sung parts; the instrumental interlude is entrusted to the clarinet, supported by the guitar which comes out as a soloist in the last measures.
Lyrics: Writing letters to someone just to prove to ourselves we are still alive, even if the end of the world (1978/79?) has already taken place: if you receive an answer you can be glad you are not alone in having understood that, if you don't receive any answer you can be glad that others haven't realized yet.
Taste:
MP3 file (555 kB)
Title: Caionno Length: 4:53
Music: A classic guitar introduction followed by a theme which is repeated with variations in the drumming. A sharp change of atmosphere in the central section.
Taste:
MP3 file (550 kB)
Title: Aria in Length: 5:29
Music: Two solos (guitar and keyboard) give this track a considerable dynamism; essential arrangements co-exist with moments when all instruments are powerfully present.
Lyrics: A song about those relationships which have somehow cooled down. Living together is just going on because... one doesn't really know why, but stopping is too hard, difficult, you have memories, you have the past... That's what keeps you going, not the present, not the future; even if what has been will never come again you go on, "I still care for you after all ..."
Taste:
MP3 file (536 kB)
Title: Non per amore Length: 5:30
Music: A calm song featuring an intense classic guitar solo.
Lyrics: Sometimes split-ups occur: sometimes because
one wants to share his existence with some other person, sometimes because one doesn't
bear anymore life with the current partner, sometimes because one feels the need to
loose (something, someone, a game with loaded dies), sometimes because of
circumstance/distance/tiredness, sometimes because sex has become a fading memory,
sometimes because of too many glasses of wine, sometimes because one feels that
everything is the last time of everything.
But split-ups never occur because of love: love, whether it ever was there,
packed his bags long time before.
Taste:
MP3 file (598 kB)
Title: Il candelabro Length: 7:59
Music: A lot of changes in rhythm (5/4, 7/4, 6/4, 4/4) and atmosphere throughout this long song which also features an electric guitar solo.
Lyrics: I have no candelabrums at home; I think one of the reasons lies in this song.
Taste:
MP3 file (597 kB)