Casino Royale

Casino Royale formed in Milan in 1987: in their early years, the lineup included Giuliano Palma (vocals and guitar), Aliosha Bisceglie (vocals), Michele Pauli (guitar), Ferdinando Masi (drums), Antonio Marrone (bass), Michele Danca (keyboards) and a horn section. Their first albums embraced a style deeply influenced by the 2-Tone movement – embodied by bands such as the Specials, the Beat and Madness, who left their mark on the UK in the late Seventies – and by the pragmatic Third World politics of the second phase of Joe Strummer and co.'s career.

In 1990, Casino Royale released the immature "Jungle Jubilee", recorded and mixed at Korner Studios in London. This record represents their last effort sung in English; with the subsequent "Dainamata" (1993), the lyrics are sung in Italian. "Dainamata" marks a first, though not definitive, departure from the typical skanking rhythm of their earlier work, ushering in a genuine stylistic shift for the band. The turn toward rap rock is evident, with funk guitars alternating with harsher, more contemporary sounds, while scratching and sampling appear with a certain frequency. The result is a somewhat confused work, alternating weaker moments ("Treno per Babylon") with interesting ideas ("Cielo").

"Dainamata" marks an attempt at stylistic evolution, a crucial passage that, despite its ups and downs, reveals Casino Royale's desire to move closer to the world of the "posse". This term, coined by the press and by fans, exemplifies a musical style embracing elements of rap, ska and reggae, but also outlines a phenomenon of cultural aggregation dear to the regulars of Milan's centri sociali, chief among them the historic Leoncavallo.

Released in spring 1995, "Sempre più vicini" marks the band's first taste of success, its ambitions shaped by the production of Bristolian Ben Young, who managed to infuse both the narcotic touch of trip-hop and the melodic, "thrilling"-flavoured openings typical of acid jazz. A cohesive formula seems to take shape: the songs are complete and self-sufficient, and the group finally seems to have found the right inspiration.

Having returned from a tour lasting almost two years, Casino Royale get back on track and, for the occasion, decide to devote themselves to new material. The band holes up at Orinoco Studios in London, in the Leytonstone district, and with the collaboration of Tim Holmes — producer of Primal Scream and Chemical Brothers, but also the voice of Death in Vegas — they create what would become the most important chapter of their career.

In 1997, the English music scene is marked by the first signs of Britpop's decline and by the emergence of new sonic horizons. Although the movement continued to produce notable works, such as the bestseller "Urban Hymns" by Verve, the coming paradigm shift was already evident.

At the same time, London is the epicentre of an unprecedented musical rebirth, with the electronic scene experiencing boundless expansion. Prodigy, Chemical Brothers and Fatboy Slim are among the most celebrated protagonists of the period, their bold electronic rides born of a relentless sonic maximalism that swept through the adolescence of millions of young people. In the city's clubs, from the legendary venues of Soho to the new sanctuaries of electronic music in the East End, streams of kids flock in search of experiences and spatial sounds. For Casino Royale, London is a vibrant creative laboratory, a place where the old icons of music give way to a wave of innovation and creativity.

Determined to capture the spirit of the moment, the alien "CRX" lands, an album with an international scope, destined to mark a turning point in the band's career and in the history of the Italian underground. Meanwhile, the line-up has grown with Alessio Argenteri, who in 1992 replaced Marrone on bass, and Patrick Benifei, who in 1994 replaced Danca on keyboards.

Io rifletto a Milano come a Londra…

Tied firmly to the trip-hop and drum'n'bass scene, faithful to an aesthetic balanced between electronic minutiae and hip-hop metrics, the title track is destined to become a landmark and a classic. A bare yet detail-rich electronic backbone, a kind of restrained drum'n'bass, with circular scratching and unsettling synthetic rises and falls in the chorus, "CRX" is above all an open-air dialogue between Aliosha and Palma; the former raps in the verses, while the latter counters with every "Io rifletto…" and in the powerful chorus "Sento intorno riflessi su di me…". It's a hard task to describe the implications of such a monologue, though one can glimpse the metaphorical tentacular networks of the new urbanism facing the new millennium. It's the video that answers our reflections: the two protagonists find themselves inside the Monte Amiata housing complex, in the Gallarate district, but it's as if they were locked inside a psychiatric institution; the footage, directed by Claudio Sinatti and Riccardo Struchil, is marked by fluid movements and creative angles, with frequent use of handheld cameras giving a sense of immersion and reality, while the atmosphere is a product of the influences of the context in which the band grew up and came together.

In "The Future" the folds of a never-forgotten world emerge, that of African-American culture, so dear to the members of Casino Royale. The track is a mournful, meticulous trip-hop piece, marked by the circular sound of a flute and a robotic yet compelling groove.

Skilled at reshaping his sources at will, Pauli continues to indulge his love of sampling, as in the exemplary "Ora solo io ora": a downtempo track with a delicate texture and a noir mood, driven by a drum kick lifted from "Is Anyone There" by Hookfoot. Aliosha's voice is at its peak, and the chorus is as melancholic and disorienting as anything else around at the time.

Giuliano Palma takes centre stage on "Beyond", a dub track heavily influenced by Tim Holmes, while on the mysterious, decadent "Là dov'è la fine" Palma's own R&B verve stands out. Deep and synthetic, "In picchiata" flirts with the spatial, jazzstep-flavoured grooves of the contemporary Roni Size, one of the figures most beloved by Aliosha and co. at the time.

More than the beauty of the songs, what's surprising is the power of the sound. That there was something special, and ultimately "innovative", about Casino Royale's music is easy to say in hindsight: with a handful of exceptions, Italy's hip-hop scene has rarely delivered a production so deep and claustrophobic. Take the trio of tracks closing the record, a more-than-definitive summary of what the world of "CRX" represents, even nearly three decades on.

"Homeboy" is a fragmented dialogue with a God who watches over our lives from above and spares no will unscathed. The instrumental backdrop is a synthetic caravan that ultimately becomes a rarefied, beguiling symphony. "Hi-Fi" shows off all the potential of a cutting-edge recording studio, in a kind of cosmic trance as sinuous as it is elegant. Notable is the ending of "Là sopra qualcuno ti ama", the state of the art of turntablism, but also a refined cry for help tinged with mysticism and spirituality.

"CRX" reaches number twenty on the Italian chart and leads critics and audiences to believe the band could break into the mainstream. In reality, after the album's release, Palma and Argenteri would leave the line-up, sending the band into a long hiatus: aside from a few tracks released digitally, the follow-up album, "Reale", would not arrive until 2006.

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26/05/2024