In 1997, after several stints in Umbrian cover bands, Nicola Cruciani founded Flavour with Francesco Francia, Giovanni Armadoro and Paolo Feliciotti. The following year they released I MAIUS MCMXCVIII, a bootleg mixing live recordings from May 1, 1998 and home-studio sessions. The album pairs extended psychedelic jams with a lo-fi production approach.
The band dissolved in 2001, but in 2005 Flavour Sperimentale became an open web-based laboratory: ZU explored prepared piano and serial minimalism, and in December 2006 Elektronische Musik delivered abstract electronics built around synthesizers and loops. Between 2008 and 2010 the “psychedelic trilogy” arrived—A Provision of Mirages, Madamadama and Queen Moo Breakfast—uniting psychedelia, experimentalism and ambient suites.
Parallelly, Flavour Lab was born as a space for alternate versions and extreme experimentation. In 2007 the Onirica EP constructed a single 14-minute experimental track. Abstract Like an Absence (2008) mixed loops, vocal fragments and cinematic textures. By Hook or by Loop (2009) was a radical serial-loop experiment. Between 2011 and 2016 came San Salvi (inspired by the Florentine psychiatric hospital), Aldous Huxley (translating the “doors of perception” into music), and the ambient suites Elements and Evolution.
Another project, Bar Psichedelico, emerged as a narrative sonic refuge for Cruciani’s musical ideas.
- Calambur (2007) delved into loops and low-frequency patterns.
- Ambient#2 (2011) experimented with sparse textures.
- The Slight Shade of Fading (2012) alternated psychedelia with stretched-out rhythms.
- Nyctophilia (2013) evoked a suspended night between ambient soundscapes and spoken voices.
- Odissea Interstellare dell’Aringa Rossa (2015) offered another ambient-cosmic tale.
After a hiatus, ROBOTA (2023), The Absent Symmetry (2024) and You Were AI Here (2024) completed a trilogy exploring the balance between AI and human creativity.
From 2010 onward, Cruciani also released works under his own name:
- Orange Bike (2010): an EP of micro-electronic loop compositions
- Zen Seeds (2012): a minimalist piano project
- Viaje Onirico Mexicano (2013): an homage to Luis Buñuel’s surreal dreams
- 24 Hours (2013): an ambient suite about an imaginary ordinary day
- Avant-Garde Chemistry (2014): a journey through musique concrète and electronics
- Themes from the Lumber Room (2015): a blend of ambient and psychedelia
- Filastrocca Cupa (2023): a single of dark alternative rock
Since 2005, the Flavour Sperimentale laboratory has appeared on international compilations—embodying minimal-ambient, industrial noise and abstract soundscapes—via netlabels such as:
- IFAR (UK)
- Shorty Music (Ukraine)
- Otcrah Records (Mexico)
- Completely Gone Recordings (USA)
- Camembert Électrique (France)
In 2017, Cruciani joined forces with Vincenzo Lardo (a.k.a. 240bpm) to conceive In No Man’s Land, a concept album that blends poetic narration with layered soundscapes. In 2021 they renewed their partnership on You Were All Here, released simultaneously on Attenuation Circuit, Completely Gone, Otcrah and Camembert Électrique—a tapestry of art rock, electronic psychedelia and choral voices.
After the 240bpm phase, Flavour Sperimentale continued to explore new boundaries:
- 2018 · Эхо Космоса, cosmic ambient and interstellar visions
- 2019 · Say Goodbye to Winter, featuring the original band in minimalist progressive rock and improvisation
- 2021 · Small Songs for a Smile, an intimate piano collection entirely composed by Giovanni Armadoro
- 2023 · Live at Water Fest, a live performance reuniting the original Flavour lineup
- 2024 · The Infinite Horizon, an ambient requiem on grief and memory
- 2025 · A Fleeting Sense of Perception, experimental ambient with emotional tension
In 2024, M.E.N.—a trio with Marco Grieco, Vincenzo Lardo and Nicola Cruciani—debuted with Spillover on MaRacash Records. It fuses prog rock, psychedelia, holophony and 8D immersive audio into 64 minutes of complex structures and melodic moments, reflecting on time and spirituality.
Also in 2024, Cruciani launched a performative collective, Nik & l’Accademia Patafisica del Bar Nessuno, with Maria Verde, Claudio Lardo, Dino Di Leo, Marco Grieco and Vincenzo Lardo. The album La Giduglia presents seven scene-tracks that mix irony, surrealism and pataphysics—a theatrical pop where each song is an act in the imaginary Bar Nessuno.
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L'articolo Biografia Bar Psichedelico di Bar Psichedelico è apparso su Rockit.it il 2025-07-13 09:48:14