 Reviews of the album Outernational Attack (2004)
Not really a "reggae" release as such, but this CD has it's roots firmly in the jamaican music, even though that's not the only musical influence to be heard on this multi-musical, multi-lingual, multi-cultural and multi-beautiful CD.
Piano-B (Italian for "Plan B") consists of members from various musical backgrounds and native countries, working together to bring original music with a strong positive vibe and message.
Trip Hop, Drum'N'Bass, Experimental even Lounge influences can be heard here, all smoothly blended together with vocals in different languages. English, german, arab, italian, french, creole & indian lyrics give this release a worldly feel, and somehow this mix of cultures works wonders. Greatest tracks in my opinion: the bouncy yet mooth "Roots", featuring vocals vagely reminding of Erkyah Badu; the incredibly moody and groovy "Balanced" and the fantastic opening track "Show Love", but take it from me: there's not a bad track here.
Not a release for the reggae purists, but music lovers with an open mind and heart will love this one!
Inspector (Riddim on the Wire)
Daniele's music has always impressed me ( and he has sent me many demos). He has a unique approach to composition and a true sense of dance-ability.
Neil Perch (Zion Train)
I enjoy the album very much although it is not really reggae or dub. It is a mixture of many different styles. From an industrial dubby intro to world music with Arabian and Indian lyrics, Piano B provides a wide range of music.
The main connection to reggae music comes through the various singers and their conscious lyrics. My favourite track is "Soul First" which features the beautiful voice of a female singer and longing trumpets from some far away peaceful garden, reaching your ear in a warm spring night. :-)
"Make Us Sing" is one other notable song. Rootical vibrations in a modern fashion, reminding of the latest Rottsman releases. Well, actually most of the songs have something very notable but it is difficult to describe because it is such an unusual style. It's one of these records that fit into no cupboard. You can't put it into reggae nor dub nor trip hop nor anything else. An own yet unnamed style maybe? ;-)
I really advice all to check this stuff out. It's a very good piece of music but again: If you are looking for pure reggae music, you should look for something else.
Ralf Wunderlich (Dub Flash)
Do you want to listen to some new and unique tunes?
So Piano B is definetly a must for you. The first album release of the italian based, but international group is connected somewhere between ragga, dub and of course with Trip-Hop inffluences.
Alltough it's very hard to describe, following a few words about my favorite tracks:
the album starts with "show love", this one makes you feel like chilling on a sandy beach and moving with the aves."soul first" is groovy and fresh, with a small breath of drum'n'bass. beauty and peaceful trumpets."war'bout ya", my favorite, this smooth melody stays in your mind all day long."fed up" begins with a heartbreaking piano part, but then comes with a straight variedly hip-hop style.again, hard to describe, but in a very positive way. i hope to see piano b on stage, sure they performing very well.
Nebula (Trip-Hope)
L’unione di culture diverse, di suoni diversi, di esperienze diverse. Alla base del progetto Piano B c’è senza dubbio la voglia di sperimentare mischiando gli ingredienti tradizionali della musica (rock e soul) con gli stilemi più moderni (hip hop e drum’n’bass). Il risultato? Un disco come “Outernational Attack”, capace di parlare italiano, inglese, francese, tedesco, arabo, indiano. Insomma, un album multirazziale e multisonoro, cosmopolita per inclinazione naturale.
Il genovese Daniele Carmosino è una delle colonne portanti del progetto “Piano B”. Sua, infatti, è la produzione del disco di debutto della band. “Outernational Attack” ha un suono tipicamente anglosassone: è genuino, onesto, randagio. Qua e là è facile incontrare rapide suggestioni reggae. In conclusione: un album coinvolgente, da sistemare fra Royalize, Roni Size e Terranova.
Francesco Casuscelli (Corriere mercantile del 24-6-04)
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