TRAKS MAGAZINE #5

No.5- September 2016

www.musictraks.com

Afterhours The right moment

Ottavia brown mayflower madame LO STRANIERO PIQUED JACKS salvo mizzle quarzomadera

REVIEWS

INTERVIEWS

NEWS

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Interview AFTERHOURS The right moment Interview Ottavia Brown Great Romances Great feelings Interview mayflower madame Review Lo straniero Interview piqued jacks interview salvo mizzle review quarzomadera interview p.a.n.f

reviews

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Interview Han

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review baryonyx

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review Mezzo preti

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VIDEOS 29 Review 30 maru review 32 yattafunk interview 34 oil TRAKS MAGAZINE www.musictraks.com Editor in Chief: Fabio Alcini info@musictraks.com

interview

Afterhours the right moment

Even harder, and painful, than the previous records, Afterhours publish a double album entitled Folfiri o Folfox, named after two different cycles of chemotherapy. The main indie rock band in Italy got through many significa¬tive experiences in last months. Death touched the group relatives, like the father of singer and leader Manuel Agnelli, and the pain is evident in the lyrics of the album. They changed some members, then media exploded with the news of Agnelli taking place as a judge of tv talent “X Factor”, causing rage among some of their fans. Still, the album debuted at number 1 in the charts, amid plenty of praise from the press. TRAKS had a chat with Rodrigo

Photo courtesy of Nora Bentivoglio

Click and listen to “folfiri o folfox�

interview

photos courtesy of Nora Bentivoglio

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D’Erasmo, active part of the band since 2008.

The controversy over X Factor maybe is not so important, but from a journalistic standpoint I have to ask you at least one question about it: I’d like to know what the band thinks of the issue.

The band fully supports Manuel’s choice. We think it’s the right time for him to take that place , bringing his own vision of music, as well as taking advantage of the visibility that will result, to carry on with even greater credibility and effectiveness the causes we feel strongly about. See the issue of copyright or the theme of the professional musician for example. But also the opportunity to continue organizing festivals and events, always attempting to raise the bar of the artistic proposal and debate in this country.

Your choices about lyrics and music have always been clear and honest, but it seems that none of your previous albums was characterized by pain like this one. Was it difficult or the freeing aspect prevailed?

Certainly the cathartic aspect was very powerful and composing and writing the album somehow relieved us from all the pain we experienced . We wanted an energetic and powerful album of rebirth. To sublimate all that bad and painful we had to face in recent years was perhaps the most difficult, but also most rewarding, course to achieve this result.

God or search for answers from the same is present in many songs on the disc. Although perfectly human, is it not strange for the band of, for example, of “1.9.9.6”?

God is there, in the album I mean. And also very present. But I think it’s more a spiritual presence in a broad sense. There is a lot of spirituality in this album. Having said that, we are not believers, it is more in fact a state-

ment about his absence.

Surprised at the number one ranking for a such a “difficult” record?

Ideally yes. Not that the last album had entered lower in the charts. The last two got in at second place. Ballate per piccole iene at third.

Sure FOLFIRI, published just at the beginning of summer is an even bigger achievement.

Really, we feel a big public hug. For us and for these songs.

Which are the Italian bands that awaken more your attention right now?

Personally speaking, I like Iosonouncane. Il Teatro degli Orrori. I heard Krano few nights ago playing before Zu (which incidentally remains one of the best live Italian bands around) and they surprised me positively. A good project is the one of Alfio Antico with Colapesce. I’ve always liked Verdena, especially for the obsession of work on music.

Alas, nothing new has hit me recently.

I welcome any suggestions!

interview

OTTAVIA BROWN

Great romances great feelings It’s called Infondo the first lp of Ottavia Bruno, aka Ottavia Brown, to be released on September 23: swing, vintage, nostalgia and a lot of passion for songwriting. We put a few questions to the singer.

Can you tell your story?

I have always been “suspended” between music and illustration; I have always worked as

an illustrator and singer with the same research and energy. Only after all these years I realized that combining these two worlds I was living separately could be the turning point to make something of my own, that would tell my stories and turning in music my images. The musical research between blues and swing has always been, as the visual illustra-

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ments; I started as a young girl from blues and soul, then along the road of time I related to genres such as jazz and swing but not only; music, as the history of art collecting not only genres but lives, lives and songs of artists; my interest is focused on a swing artists group between Italy and America lost between wars, dreams and incredible stories; listening to the songs of people like Rabagliati, Carosone, Natalino Otto... Noir and very “romantic” movie scenes in the strict sense of the word “romantic”, or the great ideals and great feelings.

Why did you choose to do a cover of “Abbassa la radio” of Rabagliati?

This is a story to which I am very fond; I was lucky enough to grow up with a great best friend who was my grandmother. I enjoyed until recently; this woman of 1917 has sent me an Italian world that no longer exists except in souvenir photos. One of her favorite singers was always Rabagliati, swing-man of the 50’s; she send me this retro world of Trio Lescano, Quartetto Cetra... Over time, going to snoop who was really Rabagliati I knew his story; a story of big dreams of migrant: from the assignment by the Century Fox look-alike of the newly deceased Rudolph Valentino, the misery of the fake African singer with the black painted face, to return to Italy to export the swing with all the restrictions now at the end of a fascist regime. Rabagliati’s, like so many other characters, are stories that I have tried and keep trying. The chorus is a quote of his song Silenzioso Slow. It’s not a cover, melodies and lyrics are unpublished, I have taken a few words to pay homage to one of his most famous tunes.

tion, based on stories of past and noir atmosphere by graphic novel; the meeting point were the characters, let them talk and dance!

Where does comes the passion for the swing?

The passion for the swing was born after a long search of music lasting several experi-

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interview

mayflower madame Coming from Oslo, Norway, Mayflower Madame’s music is, almost obviously, filled with obscurity. Their debut, Observed in a dream, brings dark wave and shoegaze influences.

We asked them a few questions.

Can you tell the story of your band so far?

Mayflower Madame was actually conceived when me (Trond – vocals/guitar) and Rune started playing together as kids in the early

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2000s, but today’s band was formed in Oslo in the winter of 2010-11. At first we struggled to find a singer that fitted our sound, but after a while our patience ran out and we booked our first gig without having a complete band. I was “forced” to handle the vocals, but luckily we found out that this was a good solution. We recorded a demo and in August 2011 we were voted “Band of the Week” on a

national radio show for unsigned bands. This was a mini-breakthrough for us and we decided to release a record. In 2013 we released our debut ep, Into the Haze, which created a buzz on a bunch of esoteric music blogs and gained us comparisons to bands like The Velvet Underground, Bauhaus and Spacemen 3.

Last year we released the single Lovesick and started the recording of our first full-length album, Observed in a Dream, which was released spring 2016.

What have been your main sources of inspiration and intents in the making of your debut album, “Observed in a dream”?

The music on the album is a natural completion of a sound we have been gradually developing since we started out. Ideally we want the material to come “naturally” and we did not have any predestined “guidelines” of how

we wanted it to sound, but overall we feel an attraction to music with a dark and haunting quality – and I guess that at least the guitar and vocal work on the album has developed from a wish to combine and process various elements from psychedelia, dark wave/postpunk and shoegaze/noise-rock. I also find inspiration in art, especially from early 1900s avantgarde movements like German Expressionism and surrealism. Lyrically the album is a tale about desire, anxiety and longing.

How was the song “Lovesick” born?

Lovesick was born with the rhythm guitar riff which we instantly felt had an enticing, hypnotic quality to it. The drum beat and bass groove then hugely contributed to that quality and, on top of that, the atmospheric flare of the lead guitar and the synth completed the song in a fitting way.

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review ses. The piece runs on a thread of unease, using protagonist/ chorus type of vocal dynamics. With something that refers to Battiato then it comes 1249 modi. The tune backs on the stylistic features of an elegant synth pop, without giving up to bite here and there. Cavalli di carta indulges with imagination; above all the keyboards sounds pretty amazing. Braccia ribelli approaches with rather intense lyrics and sounds, all in all, gentle. Jet lag decides for an underwater sound and muffled atmospheres. Eponymous song, Lo Straniero attacks the throat with a large dose of aggression. The song also finds out what a certain ambition here and there, and some attitudes with the dancefloor. The ties with the literature (especially with Camus, who supposedly inspired the band’s name) emerge in full with Sotto le palme di Algeri. Closing the album, Angeli sulla punta di uno spillo finds itself on opposite rhythms than the opening ones.

Any hints of new wave clings to the one-piece dress, which reveals fluid but with some tears.

Good debut for Lo Straniero, which shows a variety of ideas. The songs of the band can be catchy, without losing substance.

Lo straniero Published by La Tempesta Dischi, with Sony Music Distribution, Lo Straniero make their debut. The quintet was born in 2014 and already holds good reviews. The album, self-titled, is based on the ideas of synth pop, but with wide digressions. The lyrics are well-written, sung by Federica Addari and / or John Facelli. The band refers to songwriting as a certain well-defined band of Italian Nineties (CSI, Ustmamò). Lp starts by Speed ​​ al mattino, stringing sounds quick and darting lyrics referring to the noble tradition of Italian pop songwriting. Second track is the fastest L’ultima primavera. The synth pop clues remain many, with a loud drumming and some evasion in the dream pop. Rimango qui records a transition from female to male voice and also a change of pace. It slows slightly and follow less straight lines. Nera accelerates, although here and there are pau-

click and listen to “lo straniero”

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reviews interviews

WWW.MUSICTRAKS.COM streaming of full albums videos news 24

interview

Piqued jacks a virtue of necessity we were already in the studio.

What were the difficulties you encountered in proposing your pieces acoustic version?

Honestly, no one. Indeed, a lot of joy (and fans) that maybe otherwise would not have even come close (when we play the electrical set we sweat much more, in fact).

Your career, especially in concert, leads one to think that you have a special bond with the United States. In addition to the choice of musical genre, what are the reasons that led you to look so frequently overseas?

Good point! Our ties to the States, before becoming concrete, was born from the fact that we have grown mainly our listening to music in English, finding our reference points. Before moving across the Atlantic we sent a huge quantity of emails everywhere, however, the only one with a positive response came from there. Now the United States continues to be our objective and a world in which we look at as an example for how to approach professionally to music even at independent level, unfortunately undervalued in Italy.

Can you tell the main instrument you used to play on this record?

Five main instruments are also those who usually play, piano, guitar (acoustic this time),

Aerial Roots is the new work of Piqued Jacks: the new lp is a revival in acoustic of debut album Climb Like Ivy Does. The band has decided to emphasize the folk-acoustic roots of many of their songs. We put a few questions to them.

Let’s start with an obvious question: why repeat the songs in acoustic version of “Climb Like Ivy Does” with “Aerial Roots”? Three words: virtue of necessity. Touring in America, to play as much as possible, we decided to turn us into acoustic version, thus not limiting ourselves to a few songs but most of the repertoire. Just during the last tour in many came to love our (not so) quiet alter-ego, advising us to record an album. We were already thinking to it, because we have devoted to the acoustic songs more and more attention, so no time to get off the plane that

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bass (acoustic him as well), drums and vocals.

One of the fun and exciting parts was experiencing a lot of instruments and sounds to beautify and finish the songs. We used our trustworthy child’s glockenspiel (a kind of xylophone), the valiha (a traditional Madagascar instrument), trumpets, strings, various percussion (including the mythical triangle), the harmonica and the accordion (often confused, but they are two different things!). Last but most important, the heart that we always put.

Who are the Italian independent artists that you value more right now, and why?

North, Le Capre a Sonagli. We played to-

gether when their name was different. They disappeared and reappeared with this crazy project, one of a kind. Their latest album is a bomb and they are attaing a lot of succes.

Center, Shed of Noiz. Our friends for a long time, lately a little quiet but with great ideas and potential. We would like you to revisit their glory, we say that this inclusion is a wink giant turned to them. South, Terzo Piano. We did not meet, but we heard them and we appreciated their original music, according to an indie rock finally worthy of the name and the one that it seems a lot of determination.

All of course according to our modest opinion.

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interview

Salvo Mizzle trivial things make me shudder Belzebù pensaci tu is the second lp of songwriter Salvo Mizzle. Twelve songs with a bit of provocation and with many intimate tunes, influenced by rock and old style songwriting.

An album of many virtues, but that does need some explanation. We asked them directly to the songwriter.

Your debut was a couple of years ago: what has changed in your approach to the making of this new album?

It is definitely changed something at the organizational level. The first album Via Zara arrived and I did not understand much. I had these songs that we were trying, and overnight we had to record them. Many arrangements, as well as some songs, were born precisely during the recording. Of course all this was possible only for the fact of having recorded entirely at home. For the latter it was all different. We recorded it in the studio,

there are so many tools and so many people who participated in it. So, we had to be more methodical, also to avoid loss of time and money.

What it was the idea of ​​the title “Belzebù pensaci tu” (Beelzebub take care)?

The title was created for fun. Often, faced with difficulties, we ear people telling things like “Jesus help us you” or “if Jesus wants to” ... so I imagined a Christ extremely stressed that observes the world to go to hell and not know what to do. It’s a provocation. Often we rely on the great figures, to avoid take responsibility for how we run and we run our lives badly.

Why did you choose a “difficult” song as a “Cane morto” as a single?

At first, I thought of “Che stile” as the first single. It would be the easier and appropriate choice, because it is a melodic piece, direct,

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pleasant... so the best single. As usual, however, trivial things make me shudder. Even at impact level, launching an album which is called Belzebù pensaci tu with a romantic song like Che stile did not seem the right choice. Cane morto is the type of single that I expect from the band or singers that I like.

One of those songs that makes you say: “Let’s see... what the hell he has done this time?”

Can you tell the main instrument you used to play on this record?

Ehhh here you would like Dr. Maleforte “Pietro Latiano” (co-producer of the album and lead guitar). Anyone who knows me will understand why! There was a mixer, a software to record (CUBASE if I am not mistaken), microphones, guitars, amps... more. I’m a lazy crazy but I swear that one day I will learn!

Who are the Italian independent artists you esteem the most right now and why?

There are many. First names that come to me: Colapesce, Giovanni Truppi, Appino. People you respect and that respect what they do.

click here and listen to “belzebù pensaci tu”

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review Important guitar pieces characterize Giochi per dimenticare. Il gregge follows, where social controversy intersects with hard rock and vintage blues influences. About vintage: Al veleno dynamics are not foreign to many Seventies bands, like Deep Purple and King Crimson. Era Loop is devoted some more to the guitar, in a very electric piece with a distinctive sour mood. We slip effortlessly into psychedelic moods with Amico di ieri, a cover of an old piece of Le Orme, here rendered with higher electricity doses. Melodic episode, then here it comes Leggimi nel pensiero, a peaceful oasis in a never too calm lp.

The album closes with Astri (Nascita, Vita, Morte), the final instrumental suite, that goes beyond seven minutes of length, returning to powerful rock styles. A pondered album: the band has reached sufficient maturity to handle at will influences and sound choices. The lp is compact without being monotonous, impactant without losing important nuances on the road.

Quarzomadera Apologia del calore is the new and fourth record of Quarzomadera: eight songs oriented to an alternative/stoner rock matrix, with Italian lyrics. Recorded and mixed in February, the album closes a series devoted to the four elements in nature: the water with Cardio & Psyche (2006), the air with Orbite (2009), the land with L’impatto (2012). The first song of the album, Nel nucleo, is already quite powerful. Together with stoner influences you can guess slightly symphonic inclinations.

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click here and listen to “Apologia del calore”

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interview

push against new fakes a thicker sound [Im] mor [t] ality is the title of new record of Push Against Fakes. Reading the title you can’t understand if the aim is really high or really low. Anyway, the electro / IDM record, composed of ten tracks and publishe by Phonocake in Germany and Stato Elettrico in Italy, represents the third work of Michele Mantovani, formerly with Laik-Oh ! We interviewed him.

What are the premises on which it is based “[im] mor [t] ality”?

I came to this third album after closing the experience with Laik-Oh !, the band with

which I released an album and played more than thirty dates last year. I had a bit of recorded material in 2015 and in early 2016 I started working on it and within three months the album was more or less complete. I felt the need to express myself as a “soloist” again and the material in my possession it seemed suitable for a new disc.

Why the publication for two different label?

The German netlabel Phonocake had worked with me publishing the previous album, “Any Color You Can not See” and immediately agreed to publish the new disc. Later the

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Roman Stato Elettrico stepped forward to a collaboration, so I did not hesitate to propose to both netlabels to publish the disc together.

It was very simple.

Did you have any difficulties in the making of the lp?

The main difficulty was to get a different sound than the previous album. Actually I do not know if I did it, but definitely [im] mor [t] ality has a thicker sound than the previous work, mainly due to a greater presence of low frequencies.

How is it born Away?

Away is one of the tracks that I prefer. I had initially rejected because it could not find a “final” section that would make about the rest of the song, but after working intensely on the sounds it took the shape I had in mind, and the final part sounds “danceable” just like I wanted. Like most of the tracks on the disc even Away it was born at night and reflects the very idea of ​​nighttime trip I have.

Who is or who are the Italians independent artists you like the most right now and why?

Aucan and Godblesscomputers are the firsts to come to mind. Aucan is the band that pushed me toward the electronics and I think it is the most creative bands in Italy in recent years. Among others Jo Ferliga has mastered [im] mor [t] ality and the fact of knowing him has done nothing but confirm my esteem for him, both from both human artistic point of view. Godblesscomputers is the live, in my opinion, more “loaded” of the moment; you really can’t not move to a show of his...”

Click Here and listen to [IM]mor[t]ality

reviews Bruno bavota “out of the blue” It will be released on September 30 the new lp of Bruno Bavota, Out of the Blue. The Neapolitan pianist, already rewarded by the success thanks to its Mediterranean, will be published by the American label Sono Luminous. Out of the blue, the title track, introduces the subject in quite soft, triggering immediate comparisons with Ludovico Einaudi. But the song comes to life almost immediately and becomes a storm, allowing the strings to get a crack a layer of vehemence that it had already created. Mountains turns to a loop on the first notes, but amplifies the signal trying to build something closer to a soundscape. Marea is more melancholy.

Bavota does not hide and makes the atmosphere of their songs is very clear with the first four notes of each piece. Heartbeat appears like a dreamy pop song. In Mr. Rail piano resumes its centrality, albeit supported by the other elements. Passengers is wedged in nightclubs speeches, softer than bitter, but with conspicuous hints of sadness. Lovers opens with a simple ride, which gradually widens to celebrate a sort of minor sonata, very full of regret. Beyond the clouds respects the title, stirring sorrows and dreams. The guitar is back to its path with Warm embrace.

Dusk in the East plays with harmonies and fragile balance. Horizons conforms to small groups of notes suggesting persistent plots. Breath on the contrary is full of detached notes with important breaks, only hinting at a later time the melodic speech.

The disc closes on the insistence of Snow.

Thick and very consistent, the work of Bruno Bavota is remarkable for the ability to build soundscapes perhaps not so surprising but often very interesting.

pin cushion queen “Settings_2”

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Second ep of Settings for Pin Cushion Queen: Settings_2 is the middle ep of a 3 set project. Like the previous episode, ep has three songs: soundscapes, industrial influences, electro rock and electronics provide the basic ingredients of ep. Merrygo-round is the first, not so merry, track.

Indeed the background of the piece is pretty dark and pointed, as if to hide a background rather full of broken glass. Under Electric Light is a black nursery rhymes speech, with movements behind the scenes and whispers melancholy. Conversely Craco, punctuated methodically. Good the second test of this path of Pin Cushion Queen, who rely on multiple analog ways. We like the attitude, creativity and also the courage of the ep.

congo red “spirit guide” Congo Red is a musical project born in Los Angeles from an idea of ​​Italian Ennio Liverani, Californian by adoption and musician active in the West Coast indie rock scene.

Lp is born to be the soundtrack of Spirit Guide video game by Behesoft, available for PS4 and Xbox, in the autumn. Record starts from Altai, which comes with a loop in the speech, substantially ambient, but quite lively and the large orchestral views of the disc. Much more pointed and led by drumming is Sentinelese. There are blues/soul feelings and a low very scratchy behind War Tune, which slowly opens to tribal singing around the campfire. Hail of Arrows builds its harmonies starting

from the bass, with a certain growth also by the use of choirs. Alternating sensations those submitted by Westerners, that grows from the dark to arrive at an outcome almost funk-rock. A display of muscle battery characterizes the opening words of Txapanawa, more jazzy in the progress.

Monoceros takes us on more ethnic slopes.

More dramatic pace of the Man of the Hole: drumming and guitars carry the speech of menacing slopes.

Afterlife closes the work, structuring as a speech on a new round of long lick of bass.

Very full of activity, Spirit Guide develops as a highly dynamic project.

newtraks nothing, like I already knew it and all I had to do was sing it out loud to remind myself and anyone else how it went. I’m of the feeling that when a song writes itself, without over-thinking it or forcing it it is probably a good song so it’s best to just let it be.

Demy Labate and Redend remixed the song: what do you think of those remixes?

It was thanks to a friend we had in common who liked the song and was convinced that it could work in a club context.

They put me in touch with both DJ’s. I think that both of them have done an exceptional job, adding extra layers to the song. Of course I was moved from the first listen, in a totally positive way. I hope to repeat this experiment very soon!

You are working on a new ep: how it will be?

Yes, I want to release it this autumn, probably in November. It will have three tracks, I already have a title for the ep and about a month ago I completed what will probably be the closing track, a ballad on the piano with a subtle vocal, very minimal and ethereal.

Another one of those songs that came out of the blue, fully formed. At the moment I am beginning production on what will be the first single and opening song and I am very excited to say that it will be produced almost exclusively in the USA! Who is the Italian artist you like the most?

I really like WrongONyou! All of the singles he has put out so far are amazing and have a real international air to them, something that is generally absent in our current music scene.

Han

For now, we know of him only one song, Can you feel the sun? But Han, acronym for “He’s a Nobody” has already put on track good talent, ideas and he’s coming back with an ep this autumn. We asked him a few questions.

Can you tell your story?

Ever since I can remember I have loved music, but I only became entangled in it by chance. During my first years of university my friends were putting together a band but they couldn’t find a singer. As a fan I could feel the charm of the being in the rehearsal room and often I would gladly go along and watch them. One day, as a joke, I started singing and just like that I became part of the band, seeing as they had no alternatives. From there, after a few line-up changes and very few live shows, I decided to go it alone, my way.

How is it born Can you feel the sun?

It was born in my house in Milan, but I couldn’t exactly explain how. It came out of

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review

Baryonyx

Without being a concept album, the record has a story, sung and properly accompanied, passing from initial euphoria (Mondo a Colori), suddenly lost due to the loss (Inferno #3), to continue in a state of estrangement and subsequent slow recovery (Ergosfera / Trilobyte) that will end with the new renaissance (Voce84). The album ends with the track P.P.F., acronym that stands for Past Present Future. After the instrumental introduction of Luci bianche oltre lo Zenit, it start with a good ration of drumming in Mondo a Colori. The song presents expressly rock sides, with some interference of electro and a spirit between pop and most aggressive situations.

Inferno # 3 opens in Dante’s extended quotations and rhythms rather mad. The song will soon structure a climax with some breaks rich of sense of danger. Pop and melodic side of the band emerges in full with the ballad Ergosfera. It instead presents an almost rockabilly Bonacciale, which then corrects

Baryonyx is a Tuscan alternative/electro rock band formed in 2007 in Leghorn. After many vicissitudes, the band recently returned to be a duo, with the help of occasional musicians in this new phase, experiencing the use of electronic music, outlining an electro rock style. So they start recording the first lp, between rock and electronics, entitled Fuori il Blizzard (Out of the Blizzard). The album is made by eight tracks with italian lyrics.

Heard in sequence, the songs allows the listener to relive the emotional thread conductor of the disc: lights, glows, distant echoes, fire and ice, heaven and hell, good and evil, stellar and primordial cold rides atmospheres of distant worlds, mixed with electronics and drum’n’bass. This one, accompanied by guitars when elusive when biting, was created in collaboration with “Led Green”.

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herself and heads towards more electric shores. Trilobyte proceed with measured steps and explicit electronic sounds. Some wave influence is felt here and there. Voce 84 reveals some nostalgia for lost eras of dance and pop, but with rhythm quite high. P.P.F. closes the album on melancholic tones. Baryonyx, with their long delayed

cLICK AND LISTEN TO “FUORI IL BLIZZARD�

debut, shows their creative arsenal and leaves a good impression. Anyway the future can go, this first try shows a respectable potential and good ideas.

review

mezzo preti Their name is Mezzo Preti, that in Italian sounds like “half priests”, but in reality it is referred to a neighborhood in the birth town of Annalisa, Montesilvano, in Abruzzo. A more or less acoustic folk duo, but with traces of originality, Mezzo Preti are in fact Annaluisa Giansante and Francesco Adessi. The duo has published an ep composed of four tracks that makes use of acoustic and electronic means, and that paints portraits often quite vivid and powerful. The album starts from the title track, Mezzo Preti, danced like an half-andhalf frontier tale, bringing to the listener assault characteristics but also some good fun.

Less fun and more determined Wow, that reveals some idea of ​​blues in the base of the song, keeping the amount of movement and

momentum from the previous track. Not that the ideas change with Canzone d’amore per una puttana (Love song for a whore): here it changes the sounds, the theme of the story, the pace. But there is always some urgency in the four tracks ep, as if the songs had been about to emerge from a long time and could not wait any longer. The work closes with Forma e sostanza, a reintepretation of CSI song (taken from the lp “Tabula rasa electrified”), made with the vibrant presence of counterpoint and with the clarity of folk.

Excellent proof from Mezzo Preti: duo demonstrates to be able to raise more than one eyebrow with this ep. Originality, substance and quality of writing are all there in line, surely ready for a not too far lp.

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videos mosé santamaria mine vaganti

click and see NEVER TRUST

LA TARMA

TIME IS UP

QUALCOSA DI CUI HO BISOGNO

NON

THE UNSENSE PANDORA

come l’ombra

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review

Maru

Maru, Sicilian singer-songwriter, grew up in Syracuse but started her project in Cremona, where she moved in 2012 to attend the Violin Making School. The first album, of the same name, is presented by the song Nini, also with a video clip. Produced by David Di Rosolini in Turin, the lp goes from light ukulele and xylophone sounds to a real band, with guitar and drums. The record starts with Zerotre-

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settedue, who makes every effort to open the listener’s ears on a world that is often funny, sometimes with a touch of bitterness, includes ukulele and is sung in a pretty colorful way. Denti da latte preserves the innocence and freshness of the previous track, deepening the speech with lyrics that tells of love, childhood and other things as well.

Maledetti introduces some minor suffering in both the sound fabric, and in the lyrics, but without sacrificing the overall serenity.

Nini is the single, and of a single also has the step, even trough a veil of sadness, on a song that has a lot of nostalgia. More pointed Olliunchenit that opposes the clean xylophone sounds to vocals rather harsh. We return to more intimate and minimal atmospheres with Un meteo nel caffè. Pueblo is divided between joy, love and yearning, specifically aiming to displace the listener, even with ra-

ther curious dietary advices. Ventiquattromarzo falls into the most intimate sphere, with a clean and simple melodic line. Senzaemme builds different atmospheres choosing, for once, the guitar, acoustic of course, and it builds on folk without deviating from the album in a too violent lines. The album closes with the tune Il Trucco + Astor, double song in which the main theme is a certain idea of ​​lo-fi. To want to be critical, the singing of Maru is often imperfect, words sometimes difficult to understand. And then there is too much ukulele, come on! That said, the work is good just like that, with that bit of spontaneous, imprecise and gaping, which serves as a counterweight to that bit of good, inspired and convinced that fills the album. A good starting point.

Photo by giulia micalizio

review boards and no fade outs�) but then they mix two genres not really similar, like funk and metal. The result is Yattafunk sucks, a debut lp conceived of eight tracks often very drawn and rather dirty, in which the metal side often has the upper hand. It starts with the title song, Yattafunk, which opens with slaps of bass and it continues on pulled punk-funk rhythms. Fast is also Hell Yeah, that leaves aside the funk side to focus on a sound close to metal, mainly thanks to the guitar.

Pullover on the contrary is another furious song, with vocals up to falsetto, and with characteristics that can make you think to hair metal of Eighties, only meaner. Particular combinations those of Leggins & Knives, still inclined to leave free hand to guitar, with some crossover hints.

Squirtnado brings back the funk part, adding some curious jazzy ideas in the second half. Hallowed be thy funk leaves room for other bass licks and for a good rich cavalcade of metal influences.

Hypocondria highlights the desire to play and to have fun of the band, leaving loose reins. The lp closes with Mr.Ball (The Clochard Killer) that aligns more to hard rock

Yattafunk The rigor and contamination: Yattafunk present themselves as very hard-core ( “no Melodyne, no autotune, no triggers, no re-amp, no cutting between a note and the other, no key-

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ideas of Zeppelin/Sabbath lineage. A good start for Yattafunk, perhaps subject to some improvement in the attention to detail, but still sufficiently equipped with good instincts and energies to make their work interesting.

click and listen to “Yattafunk sucks�

interview

oil

The OIL puslish an ep, Electroshock Serenade, which tells stories of escape and emotions.

We ask a few questions to the band.

Can you tell your story?

[Federico] As OIL, we exist since 2009. Me and Alessandro we were bass and guitar of BlueBonnets, a band of mainstream rock sung in English very much appreciated. After the dissolution of BlueBonnets, and a break of almost three years, we started to play together and to compose new original songs and created the basis for what in 2009 would become the OIL project. In the first period of the band, the drummer was Umberto Pantano. Great musician and teacher. In 2011, with the exit of Umberto from the band, we began collaborating with Massimo Savo. Thus began the encouragement that led us to the registration of Upstairs, the first self-produced album

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that was released in September of 2013.

Electroshock Serenade, our second work, was released in May this year.

How did you approach the work on “Electroshock Serenade�?

The approach with which we have dealt with the recording of five songs that make up this ep was very easy.

We tried to follow the path of the difficulties that we have been in achieving the previous record. Upstairs had a biblical gestation. We spent two years in the home studio of Massimo (our drummer) because we wanted to take things slowly and take the time needed to assemble and disassemble the songs at will. Adding and removing tools, overdubbing and deleting tracks. We ended up on a verge a nervous breakdown, being constantly dissatisfied and draining energy and mental resources. For Electroshock Serenade we knew with certainty that we would run a completely different path. We went to the VDSS Recording Studio, and here we put our ideas into the hands of Filippo Strang. We asked him to pull off what he could hear in our songs. To tell us how he would have liked that the songs of OIL sounded. He has become a sort of artistic producer. Four days in the studio, and it

turned out the lp you’ve heard.

How is it born the song “Carefully�?

Carefully it is one of the latest pieces composed for Electroshock Serenade. The lyrics focuses on the needs that many people have to woo the neighbor with false compliments just to suck each resource. Characters who spend their lives in mutualism relationship

with other human beings just because they are not able to be alone with themselves, or because they need constant reassurance. dark and sinister figures, who use those nearby as a reservoir of ideas, feelings of emotions. They are those that rob your joys and your achievements, to make them their own and to recycle them.