BATTIATO Pollution 1972 ORIGINAL ITALIAN SPACY PROG PSYCH LP Pink Floyd LISTEN

$

80

BATTIATO "POLLUTION" LP

ORIGINAL 1972 LP on the Italian BLA BLA label, STEREO BBXL 10002

COVER IN VG++ shape, some spine wear, print appears to be slightly misaligned

VINYL plays VG to VG+, light crackle, occasional pops

Franco Battiato’s second album, 1972’s Pollution, is often considered his best, and certainly his spaciest, work.  Frank Zappa called it “genius” back then, and when Uncle Frank calls you a genius, you’re either really talented or you’re Captain Beefheart.  Turns out this time Zappa was right – Pollution might be considered “progressive rock” by today’s standards, but it’s liberal use of sound effects and wide stereo panning makes it a quintessential headphone album, and one you should really check out late at night lying on the bed with your friends Mr. Percocet and Sir Vicodin.  Franco loves the new VCS3 synths, which he puts to use liberally here, but unlike his debut album Fetus (featuring a lovely shit-brown foetus on the cover, thank you), there’s more of a rock band behind all the VCS3 madness on Pollution.  Which is good news for you, rock fan.  The album opens with a big classical Strauss waltz, which is promptly blowed up real good Billy Sol Hurok style via H-bomb explosion, after which we get a groovy treated guitar riff that’s kinda Sabbath-y in its doominess.  And therein lies a template that each track here seems to follow – start off with a few minutes of VCS3 trickery, then hit a groove hard.  The trippy “Beta” begins with a few minutes of Bruce Haack outer space synth squiggles before finding a pretty good spooky funk groove.  The wailing vocals and meandering safari piano that float on top make it sound like King Crimson’s “Formentera Lady” with a guest spot from Rick Wright circa “Paint Box.”  Side 2 of Pollution features more VCS3 effects – crashing waves in the 9-minute title track, space bubbles on closer “Ti Sei Mai Chiesto Quale Funzione Hai?” – and things generally get quieter, darker and doomier.  There’s probably a story here but I don’t speak Italian, at least not much more than I need to get a meat lover’s Stromboli with extra sauce, but even I could guess that the funeral march and sobbing man that closes the album means it didn’t end well.  Fellow freakrock connoisseur and man-who-lives-with-druids-in-a-cave Julian Cope did manage to translate a few passages, one of which is surprisingly metaphysical – “Dentro di me vivono la mia identica vita dei microrganismi che non sanno di appartenere al mio corpo…lo a quale corpo appartengo?”  Which means “Inside of me live my identical life – some micro-organisms that do not know that they belong to my body.  Me, what body do I belong to?”  It’s an interesting theory.  What if the entire human race exists inside something much larger, or makes up something much larger, and yet we aren’t aware of it.  If that’s true then, what genius-level trippy headphone psych prog music are our microbes up to these days?

HEAR IT!

PLEASE NOTE I NO LONGER SHIP TO ITALY DUE TO A CORRUPT POSTAL SYSTEM (THERE, NOT HERE).  BUYERS FROM ITALY AGREE TO PAY FOR GLOBAL PRIORITY MAIL INSURED ONLY!

The less exciting stuff

Media mail shipping with delivery confirmation starts at $4.00 in the US, with each additional record only $1 additional shipping.  Overseas shipping has, unfortunately, gone way up in the fast few months, which translates to $15 for the first LP to Canada ($3 each one thereafter) and $24 for the first LP everywhere else in the world, with each add'l LP an extra $5 (so it pays to buy more, nudge nudge wink wink).   I accept payments through Paypal. 

I try to grade as best as I can, and I list as many blemishes/imperfections I can find (writing, ringwear, scuff marks, etc.) – Also, please note that I DO listen to these albums – I may not listen to every track, but my grades are based on LISTENING, not just looking at it, since chances are you’ll be listening to the record you buy, not just looking at it.  Most of the albums I sell are the ones I’ve enjoyed for years – and I treat my records with kid gloves.  But sounds speak louder than words, so check out the sound clips below – they’re from the actual record you’re bidding on. 

SHIPPING AND PACKAGING

Listen, I buy a bunch of records too (when I’m not getting outbid at the last second, which is more often than not) – and I know what it’s like to get a rare, one-of-a-kind album packaged dangerously in a flimsy bubblewrap package.  I hate that too.  So rest assured, I ALWAYS package albums with stiff cardboard reinforcements, same for 45s.  And yes, the records are removed from the sleeves (for albums).  I ship out once a week, every Friday, because I have a regular day job.  But I’d be willing to give that up if you’d all be so kind as to bid my items up to stupidly high amounts. 

 For more security and international tracking, you may request GLOBAL PRIORITY MAIL - but bear in mind the cost of this service is upwards of $30.  For expensive items, however, it may be well worth it.  Unfortunately, there isn’t a cost-effective way of tracking parcels to foreign countries yet, and shipping times vary depending on your country’s postal system.   Italy in particular seems to be really bad at delivering packages quickly, or delivering packages at all, now that you mention it.  I will always email you when your package ships, but once it’s on its way, please don’t ask me when it will arrive because I don’t know.  If the world’s postal systems can ever agree on a universal tracking system that’s affordable, I’ll be the first to use it.

NOW IT’S YOUR TURN…

I will always leave positive feedback for successful transactions, and would appreciate the same in return.  All I ask of you is the following – please pay for your items within 14 days of the close of auction.  Compared to other sellers, that’s a generous amount of time, so if you don’t pay within 2 weeks, then I have to assume something’s wrong.  You’ll get an Ebay payment reminder at that point, and possibly a decapitated horse head in your bed.  If, after 30 days, you still haven’t forked up the cash, I’ll relist the item and yell at you if I ever see you in town.