Gianluca Becuzzi/Fabio Orsi
The Stones Know Everything
Digitalis 2007
01. Blue Drones for a Ballad (Part One)
02. Another Day Is Fade Away
03. The History Knocks My Bedroom Door
04. Another Night Is All Around
05. Blue Drones for a Ballad (Part Two)
01. Lights from the Middle of Nowhere (Part One)
02. Timeless
03. Lights from the Middle of Nowhere (Part Two)
How LUCKY am I to own this monster? It almost got lost in the mail, because Brad (owner of Digitalis) has got some numbers wrong - he's gotten too excited about an order from Moldova. I can understrand him, as well as the U.S. postman who thought Brad was actually making country names up. Both of them must've shrug their shoulders and moved on with their lives, but The Stones - they know everything and, in spite of the messed address, have "found me" instead of me doing the search. Let me tell you there is something here of a magnetic-type connection. More than aural delight - a vital power that awakes my senses, tingling the most personal feelings. This music sucks you in until you reach the end, sharing every emotion available.
Laced with dense, atmospheric drones, strings, found sounds, all given intricate manipulation, the composition spectrum is in constant change. A seamless stream of sound - it can easily keep a mind from being bored but aims for greater depths. The duo's songs have a habit of building achingly slowly until they reach a rumbling stasis, forever on the edge of overflowing the cups of your headphones. 'Lights from the Middle of Nowhere (Part One)', the longest of the 8, builds up from lush tones, metallic scraping, giving way to layers and layers: something vaguely resembling birds in a forest, an interesting mix of ambient organic with industrial, falling apart and finally, saving a pretty ambient piano for the last, plus loud guitar - a very musical, very college radio near-dream pop melody. Awesome, much in the vein of Peter Wright/MCIAA (whom Orsi had an earlier split with), though busier and more diverse. My favourite part: the sound of pouring rain that pops up on the first disc - you can't care less about a hat or an umbrella - everything is still and peaceful - one of those late, warm summer rains that makes things perfect, and so beautiful they hurt.
I guess, like with all best "good music", its strength lies within the listener. Someone has told me the best way for him to appreciate a drone-like work is by the aid of visuals. Screw that - I am in praise of total blindness and intuition. "The best way of experiencing music is attention to the sound emerging from an empty void. An appreciation for what's separated from visual distractions of its actual performance".
Just try to remember two things: headphones + volume.
>> gsize / fsend (125mb)Laced with dense, atmospheric drones, strings, found sounds, all given intricate manipulation, the composition spectrum is in constant change. A seamless stream of sound - it can easily keep a mind from being bored but aims for greater depths. The duo's songs have a habit of building achingly slowly until they reach a rumbling stasis, forever on the edge of overflowing the cups of your headphones. 'Lights from the Middle of Nowhere (Part One)', the longest of the 8, builds up from lush tones, metallic scraping, giving way to layers and layers: something vaguely resembling birds in a forest, an interesting mix of ambient organic with industrial, falling apart and finally, saving a pretty ambient piano for the last, plus loud guitar - a very musical, very college radio near-dream pop melody. Awesome, much in the vein of Peter Wright/MCIAA (whom Orsi had an earlier split with), though busier and more diverse. My favourite part: the sound of pouring rain that pops up on the first disc - you can't care less about a hat or an umbrella - everything is still and peaceful - one of those late, warm summer rains that makes things perfect, and so beautiful they hurt.
I guess, like with all best "good music", its strength lies within the listener. Someone has told me the best way for him to appreciate a drone-like work is by the aid of visuals. Screw that - I am in praise of total blindness and intuition. "The best way of experiencing music is attention to the sound emerging from an empty void. An appreciation for what's separated from visual distractions of its actual performance".
Just try to remember two things: headphones + volume.
>> love it, buy it (Squidco)
6 comments:
for me the best way to listen to music, is in a state of abstraction (its kind of shutting down my awareness of of fiscal space), i achieve that state when i'm writing... and listening to music at the same time
so... in a way a disagree with you, because writing is also visual
sorry... i'm spamming your blog but i have to say this... people are more beautifully when their is music in the air, even you and your blog :P
a friend of mine told me to train my ears without any visual distraction
he was explaining me how to listen to jazz and said olny a trained ear could apreciate musical genius
dada, when you write you have a double visual challenge, because you have to "see" inside your mind and on the paper/monitor too.
writing is more systematic, however much you'd like to abstract it.. you have to order your thoughts; whereas experiencing music can be purely perceptual. it's a different state of abstraction, in which you're allowed to totally free your mind.
that's how i see it anyway.
Many thanks for this...I assume you know about the Machinefabriek retrospective, but in case you don't, edfog over at SFRP recently posted a link...have not listened to it yet, but it might be of interest:
http://www.skafunkrastapunk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=212613#212613
or if you don't have access to sfrp,
http://www.megaupload.com/de/?d=6K6U9Q9W
Post a Comment