Roberto Cacciapaglia: Sei note in logica (Philips, 1979)

After having graduated at Milan conservatory, composer Roberto Cacciapaglia soon began experimenting with computer and electronic music for C.N.R. (National Research Center) and RAI Musical Phonology Studio (founded by Luciano Berio and Bruno Maderna).
He collaborated with Franco Battiato for his album "Pollution", then recorded his first album "Sonanze" with the production of German Ohr/Cosmic Couriers labelmmaster Rolf Ulrich Kaiser. "Sonanze" was recently published on the blog laltritalia.wordpress.com.

"Sei note in logica" is his second LP and features one long composition for voice, computer and orchestra. The mood is much more limpid and light than the one of "Sonanze": influence by Steve Reich and Terry Riley's take on minimalism, the work revolves around static, crystalline six-note patterns which are permuted and transmuted throughout the composition creating a heavenly sense of ecstasy. The female choir's utterings and its subtle interlock with electronic electronic elements create the album's most peculiar and captivating component.
"Sei note in logica" is a very rare and mature exemple of Italian ecstatic minimalism, less melodic-driven than the one of Arturo Stalteri and more static than most of Piero Milesi's works, but certainly more abstract and formal than both of them.


Tracklist:

1. Sei note in logica (parte I)
2. Sei note in logica (parte II)

Download (192 kbps)

Croma: Discromatopsia (Harlock, 1999)

Croma were a chamber-rock band from Bolzano whose members came from the most diverse experiences (hardcore punk, conservatory, visual arts). "Discromatopsia" is their only official recording and consists in a very personal take on minimalism, inspired by the most melodic works of Steve Reich, Philip Glass or Wim Mertens's Soft Verdict.
Though the melodic vein is always very prominent and the drums, the bass and the piano contribute to give the songs a consistent rhythm texture, Croma's music is as hieratic, soft and geometric as the one of the great masters of minimalism. The frequent pairing of oboe and soprano voice even emphasize the usual aura of ecstasy and abstractness of the genre.
As for the vocals, most of them are recited in a way that will surely recall Massimo Volume, even if the lyrical style is quite different. One of the songs, "P.g.m.g." is a readaptation of The Smiths' "Pretty Girls Make Graves".
The CD release is completed with two electronic remixes following a 5-minute track of silence.

Tracklist:

1. Bisettrice spazio-temporale
2. Butterflies' battery
3. P.g.m.g
4. Discromatopsia
5. Out of Control
6. Cenotaphé à Newton
7. -273,6°
8. [silenzio]
9. -273,6° [Remix]
10. Cenotaphé à Newton [Remix]

Download (320 kbps)

Piero Milesi: The Nuclear Observatory of Mr. Nanof (Cuneiform, 1986)

Milanese composer Piero Milesi is probably best known for his work as the arranger of Fabrizio De André albums "Le nuvole" and "Anime salve". He is in fact one of the most prominent Italian artists in the field of electronic minimalism.
After having studied cello, he graduated in experimental and electronic composition in Milan conservatory. Then he joined the Gruppo Folk Internazionale entourage and got a degree in architecture with a thesis on the relations between space and sound.

"The Nuclear Observatory of Mr. Nanof" is his first work to be published by the quintessential American avant-prog label Cuneiform Records. It's the soundtrack of the homonym experimental film directed by Paolo Rosa and produced by Studio Azzurro. The film was a surreal exploration of an enormous graffiti engraved on the outside wall of Volterra mental hospital by resident Oreste Fernando Nannetti - a self-proclaimed "Astronautic Mineral Engineer of the Mental System" who referenced to himself as NANOF11 when talking about the author of the graffiti.
Milesi's music is extremely evocative. Though very repetitive, it subtly breaks the typical staticity of minimalist compositions. Thanks to a cautius use of the melodic element, it shows a mild linear evolution, while the soggy synth sounds give the music an autumnal, moisty mood. Circularity and fluctuation are not the key sensations created by the music, which rather arouses a sense of stagnation, claustrophobic idleness.


Tracklist:

1. Mr. Nanof's Tango
2. Tom Thumb
3. Between the Scale and the Apple
4. Scene of the Madmen
5. Waiting for the Fete
6. My Dad Had Two Mommies and Two Daddies
7. Graffiti
8. Towards the Tree in front of the House
9. The Procession
10. Three Figurations: The Braid, the Rhombus, the Star
11. The Presence of the City
12. Pantelleria
    
13. Questa non è la mia voce
14. Writing on the Glass
15. In the Car with Mr. Felsen
16. Let Ninusk Be
17. Waterfall

Download (160 kbps)