Rome's Nosound is the creation of talented multi-instrumentalist Giancarlo Erra. A member of the Italian Porcupine Tree cover band Redshift, Erra's influences are quite apparent on Nosound's full-length debut, Sol29. Erra's pristine production, use of effects and searing guitars recall the work of Porcupine Tree frontman Steven Wilson.

"In The White Air" kicks off Sol29 and the track has the feel of Wilson's other band, No-Man. Starting with a brief, lo-fi intro, the song develops into a mellow piece with some cool production tricks.

“Wearing Lies On Your Lips” follows with a repeated piano part, something that would not be out of place on a Porcupine Tree release. The tracks contains a cool bassline from Alessandro Luci (the only guest musician on Sol29) and a fine solo from Erra.

The brief piano piece, “The Child’s Game,” links “Wearing Lies On Your Lips” with the disc’s best song, the brilliant “The Moment She Knew.” The start of this track conjures up thoughts of “The Sky Moves Sideways” with its drawn-out intro and stellar guitar work. When listening to this track, I also think of Camel’s classic instrumental “Ice.”  

Another brief linking instrumental, the ambient “Waves Of Time,” leads into another great tune, “Overloaded,” a piece that, in parts, reminds me of Riverside’s mellower moments or even Pineapple Thief. Watch out for the cool mellotron section.

“The Broken Parts” continues with the Riverside feel, but the creepy synthesizer part brings to mind Radiohead’s OK Computer. Erra fires off another highlight-reel guitar solo. Another great track.

“Idle End” is an effective, extended atmospheric piece that gives Erra the opportunity to shine, yet again, on guitar. And again, the solo is quite tasteful, much in the mold of a David Gilmour. This song as a whole has a Pink Floyd/Sky Moves Sideways-era Porcupine Tree feel to it.

Acoustic and slide guitar, weird sound effects and mellotron highlight “Hope For The Future” as Erra delivers a subdued vocal.

Closing out Sol29 is the soothing title track, which features warm, heavenly synthesizers that dominate the piece. A wonderful way to close out a great disc.

Fans of Porcupine Tree (especially older discs by that band) should definitely give Sol29 a listen. While the comparisons with that band are going to be made (and I’ve made many of them here), Sol29 is hardly contrived. Erra incorporates his influences and makes them his own very effectively on this disc. In other words, while Redshift may be a Porcupine Tree covers band, Nosound has its own sound, one that has made Sol29 one of the best of 2005.

Find out more at http://www.nosound.net