Arlo Bigazzi & Elena M. Rosa Lavita -
D’Altronde Sono Sempre Gli Altri
Elena M. Rosa Lavita, whom we reviewed some time ago with her breathtaking and horrific interpretation of Tjajkovskij´s Swan Lake, has a new album out. This time, she has made an album with Arlo Bigazzi, whom I don´t know. If you check up on him on Discogs, then it's quite obvious that we're dealing with a true veteran of Italian music. He has been in the industrial band Militia as well. These two cool people have gotten together to create an album called D´altronde Sono Sempre Gli Altri (which means After All, It´s Always the Others). The album has been released as a limited tape on Industrial Ölocaust Recordings, and on CD via Materiali Sonori. An 8 track album, about 30 minutes in total.
The first track is called Bruit Secret, starting with the metallic scraping on bass strings and some eerie-sounding synth work. Reminds me of Coil´s S Is For Sleep on their compilation called Unnatural History Vol.1, which has that relaxing and eerie complexity. Really love the sounds here, the strange shimmering of bell sounds, instrumental basswork, reverbed feedback, and synth elements here and there.
The second track Manrovesci, moves further into down-tempo electronica beats mixed with excellent bass playing. Excellent high-quality soundtrack stuff for a great horror flick.
The third track 11° Giorno Apoplettico Spirituale feels like a spider crawling on your spine! Everything is spine-tingling, and the haunting slightly jazz bass-playing manages the listener to be nailed to the ground... in an incredible meditative way! Highly evocative dark-ambient textures here as well, very organic sounding.
The fourth track Indipendenti Dagli Avvenimenti Esterni gets back to the roots of early gothic post-punk, the minimal atmospheric sound of Bela Lugosi´s Dead? Just being further into slow-driven ritualistic minimalism. Really love the kind of Robert Fripp´ish ambient guitar work here!
The fifth track The Great Enemy of Art Is Good Taste offers a more melodramatic approach with strings! Slowly build with thumping sounds, which sound like steps on a staircase. Beautiful bass playing comes while the epic strings build up a certain melody and tension which grows patiently with every second.
The sixth track Ahi Serva Italia Di Dolore Ostello seems to me to be the sad track on the album. Love the inventive injections of distorted feedback here, which almost sounds like a human voice screaming!
At this point, I could go on rambling bout the last two tracks, but I will not. There is no point really, because everything should be crystal clear after what I have just written. This album is bloody amazing, and I will hear it again and again! It offers a wide range of moods with a pure minimalistic sound approach. The listener is bound to be amazed and highly intrigued, in the same manner of discovering a hidden part of the brain. It also feels strangely familiar in a good way. This one gets the green light for sure, big green lights!
Website (label):
Bandcamp (artist):