Andrea Sartori: Il tagliacode (Persona, 2007)

Stravinskian techno. Doesn't sound very zippy, huh?! But you'll change your mind after just a few notes, if you happen to listen to "Il tagliacode". The album's one of those jazzy, abstract, broken-beat-based acoustic/electronic hybrids which often go under the name "intelligent dance music"; unlike most of the music in the genre, though, crebrality's not the first trait emerging from its complexity. On the contrary, the main impression is lightness - which doesn't mean silliness: the music still sounds very classy, even "aristocratic", and the evident complexity of its rhythms clearly cuts out any connection with italo-disco's flippancy; instead of trampling the listener with mind-blowing rhythm discharges, though, the tracks catch him in carefully-built tech-house grooves, abstract-yet-airy lounge tunes mixing live instrumentation, glitchy exotica/soundtrack suggestions and acid electro basslines. It almost sounds like a 21st Century reworking of the old "library music" concept. You could imagine the result as some sort of Amon Tobin/Akufen meeting point, but much less ostentatiously "intellectual" than both. The best thing you can do's anyway checking out a couple of tracks ("Uova di gatto" and "Vodkatronic" for instance).

Andrea Sartori was born in Bologna in 1978. He graduated in Informatics and started making electronic music about the 90s, under the name Deepalso. Later, he met fellow Italian techno artist Touane, who introduced him to the guys of Berlin-based label Persona. "Il tagliacode"'s his only album up to now, and features eleven electronic tunes based on some manipulations of jazz-music reharsals recorded in Foligno.

Tracklist:

1. Supertele
2. Uova di gatto
3. Santa Chimera
4. Il tagliacode
5. Rompicapo
6. Ehi amigo, serve un'autoradio
7. Horror vacui
8. Oltre il profondo
9. Prima le signore
10. Vodkatronic
11. Outro

Download (~160 kbps)


Similar music on the blog:
Touane: Figura (Persona, 2008)
Jolly Music: Jolly Bar (Nature/Wide, 2000)

VV.AA..: Let's Talk about Muertepop (Muertepop, 2007)

The post-rock, indietronic, ambient, glitch, electroacoustic scenes have often met during the last decade, giving birth to a fertile ground for musical contamination. An idea of this quite poorly known territory is well sketched by this much varied compilation. The most evident defining trait of the music is the strong predominance of instrumental and electronic components: lush or barbed, layered or pointillist, most of tracks don't even feature vocals or acoustic instruments. Atmosphere overarches melody and rhythm in the constructions, and timbre acts a primary role in setting the mood of the music. The latter is mostly bleak, cold, melancholic - most of the textures are loosely structured and rarefied, or I'd better say emptied-out - but sometimes lit up by sugary ambiences loaded with hope and lyricism. There's an overall experimental tendency animating the music, though the boundary between experimentation and mannerism is often quite faded.
The tracks aren't all equally good obviously, but the variety and the representativeness of the compilation definitely makes it an interesting and pleasurable listening.

"Let's Talk about Muertepop" is the first release by young-born netlabel Muertepop, active mostly with indietronic music. The compilation features a wide inventory of artists, including quite prominent names such as Port-Royal, Ioioi, My Awesome Mixtape. It's available for free download on their website.

Tracklist:

1. Port-Royal - Internet Love
2. Etere - Dans les boulevards (Ohz remix)
3. Leben - Molly Has Been Cured
4. Mark Hamn - Akoustik Pool
5. My Awesome Mixtape - Ode to Poetry
6. Ioioi - Bright Future
7. Cocoon - Neural
8. Fever Asylum - Tomorrow You Will Listen to
9. Livi(d)o - Qualcosa nella mia mente
10. Guitar to Abdicate - A New Place
11. Let's Drive to Alaska! - As We Sleep
12. Rikieffe - Mosca ceca
13. Overtuner - Broken Melody
14. Monowatt - Brainwave #0
15. Urkuma&Strinqulu - Lundulu
16. Smart Drug - Rosina
17. Scientist&Cynic - The quite gnome (removed)
18. Le supersquillo - Go way John (removed) 
19. Falter Bramnk - Big Pink
20. Gilvia - Gls3

n.b. Tracks 17 and 18 have been removed on the label's website. If you have them please do contact me.
Download (192 kbps)

Similar music on the blog:
Tanake: 3ree (Fratto9/ Ebria, 2007)
Port-Royal: Flares (Resonant, 2005)

Touane: Figura (Persona, 2008)

Techno music can be cold, stern, alienating; it can also be delicate and fluffy though, and this is the case of "Figura". An album of watery sounds, crystalline electronic echoes, and comforting beats. Glitchy streams that never sound "broken" or disquieting, but gently cradle the listener with their progressive mutations: supple timbres, whispered vocals, pointillist percussion, slight dub tendencies... The overall flow is extremely natural and ravishing. It seems like going for a walk in the springtime, with nothing in your mind - it makes you feel the wonder of the breeze, the blossoms, the drizzles.

Touane is Marco Tonni, 1979, born in Rimini but living in Berlin since 2005. This is his sophomore full-length release.

Tracklist:

1. Fruehstueck
2. She Let Some Light In
3. Pioggia
4. Autoerotica
5. Di sotto
6. Take Off
7. Figura
8. Promenade

Download (320 kbps)


Similar albums on the blog:
Jolly Music: Jolly Bar (Nature/Wide, 2000)
miles_gurtu: omonimo (Shakti, 2004)

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