TRAKS MAGAZINE #11

No. 11 - NOVEMBER 2017

ANTONIO “RIGO” RIGHETTI dancing scrap ellis cloud silvia conti lefter

REVIEWS

INTERVIEWS

NEWS

www.musictraks.com

contents 4

Antonio “rigo� righetti

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dancing scrap

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tour

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ellis cloud

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reviews

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silvia conti

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lefter

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videos

TRAKS MAGAZINE www.musictraks.com Editor in Chief: Fabio Alcini info@musictraks.com

interview

ANTONIO “RIGO” RIGHETTI if your soul asks “Cash Machine” is the new album of Antonio “Rigo” Righetti recorded at Northhouse Studio in Ebbw Vale, Wales. The album collects love for music, life, human condition and the folly of making a profession that is considered a luxury, and hence the title. For several years beside one of the most famous singers in Italy, Ligabue, “Rigo”, at the beginning of the 80s, played Springsteenian rock with Rocking Chairs. His bass has also sparked with the Gang and in some tour with artists like Willie DeVille, Elliott Murphy, Mick Taylor, Steve Wynn.

interview

Let’s start with the cues that led to the writing of the record and also the title: can you explain where the inspiration comes from?

It all started a couple of years ago, I was headed to tell, without being insightful, our daily life and the thing that unites us is a kind of unpersonalization, linked to new technologies that are certainly interesting and useful

but they put a brake to our instinct, the topic was already on “Water Hole” with the feeling of “siege” but on this record I pushed even deeper, I think of the boundaries of biotechnology and hypothesize that larger groups, more than investing in research to make us feel better are investing in something that

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ding to record in Wales, I did not succeed but the idea was still present, I had to relocate to thrust me, Chris Peet, who owns the Northhouse Studios where I recorded hit me immediately for the great professionalism and lightness, we made a tracking (recording of drums bases, bass, acoustic guitar and voice) extraordinary, mild, effortless. Back to Italy, the light of Wales, its nature, that language so hard, all of that entered in the album.

Your career as a writer now travels in parallel with that of a musician, in particular with this album that starts from assumptions similar to those of your latest book, “Schiavoni Blues”. Do you find it more natural to express yourself through the pages of a book or the notes of a song? What are the main difficulties facing the two media?

I’m a hyperactive, initially, I thought that in the book I would have liked to accompany an original soundtrack, I wanted to attach an extended play, then in Wales it became a 13-song lp that is still a kind of soundtrack but also something more, so I did two exits.

There are many points of contact, there is the song dedicated to Guido’s figure, my father, there are three instrumental themes. The song comes out of the space more easily, in a few minutes of a spectacle, even just on the phone and from there she lives, the pages of the book require enormous dedication and care, all due to the difficulty I have to accept my limits.

The echoes of the great masters with whom you’ve got the skill and good fortune to play are also heard on the record... Is there a particular lp that has influenced you or that you were listening to in the working sessions on this album?

makes us spend better, make us become “cash machines” precisely, outpatient POS with underwear codes.

You chose to register at Northhouse Studio in Wales: what did you find there and what quality did you give to the album?

A few years ago I started with a crowdfun-

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interview There is always the gigantic and human figure of Johnny Cash, his warm and granitic voice, his appearance, that heroism linked to his fallibility, that splendid parable, among triumphs and falls that ever since I was sixteen and I heard Johnny for the first time hit me. Johnny’s “American Recordings” are there, when I want to get excited. Just listen to Johnny and the shivers rise to me.

Along with you there are your forever companions, like Previte and Pellati, as well as guitarist Antonio Gramentieri. If you had the chance to choose one more musician, completely at your choice, who would you add to your lineup?

Jim Keltner, is one of my dreams in the

drawer, a piece with Keltner on the drum.

From the height of your experience, can you tell us what you like and what you do not like about the music in Italy today?

I do not like the logic of the increasingly strict “pool” that music has become, I do not like this “end of the world” climate that is pervading the environment, I do not like who also negates our dreams and not only in talent shows; even musicians or pseudo-such, who pretend to do music with the same protection as any other trade. It does not work that way, I say, quoting the immense Kandinsky, that it takes an “inner necessity” to express yourself to do music (but even cinema, literature, photography), if your soul asks you.

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interview

dancing scrap Dancing Scrap publish new album This is Sexy Sonic Alternative Iron Punk and go on tour, mainly in Europe and UK. We asked them a few questions. Can you tell your story so far?

Bobby (Bass): We’d need an episodic interview just to go through all the stories and important stages!

Danilo (Drums): I was thrown straight into the deep end when I became the new drummer for Dancing Scrap, and only shared some of those moments, although still living the full experience.

The album title is a declaration of intents: Which objectives did you want to achieve?

- Ronnie (vocalist): My idea was to mock the need that many have to put us into a specific category: I fully understand that on a marketing point of view it might be necessary, but on a mere artistic point, it’s not. The idea is to

just listen and experience whatever the album transmits to you, regardless of the labels.

With the title ‘This is Sexy Sonic Alternative Iron Punk’, we purposely tried to create confusion and, hopefully, curiosity!

Bobby (Bass): In other words: Have fun and have others have fun without any label constraint Sal (Guitar): Exactly, have fun and make others feel good with your art.

Could you please explain how your chosen single ‘I Like It’ was born?

Sal (Guitar): It all started through one of my riffs, then Ronnie and Bobby put their own on top of it.

Ronnie (Vocalist): Yes, ‘I Like It’ was born from one of Sal’s ideas, which we developed together with Bobby. It couldn’t have not been the first single, but in my opinion, it is not one of the songs that would define us as

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a band. Probably that song doesn’t exist yet.

Our first album, ‘Cut it out’, was mainly composed by songs I had written and eventually enriched by Bobby’s intervention; unlike our new one, which is mostly based on Bobby’s and Sal’s ideas, all arranged by myself.

I believe that the next one will be the first real album written by the whole band.

You have already played a lot abroad. What expectations do you have for upcoming UK dates?

Danilo (Drummer): The Eastern European tour was my first experience abroad, and I found it deeply emotional, and it taught me a lot. Outside the borders, other cultures seem to still be open minded and not afraid of something different. As for the UK tour, I’m expecting a much demanding audience.

Bobby (Bass): Regardless of the size of the audience, the reception has always been very

positive. And you can find it all online. About the upcoming tour: I’ll let the people who’ll attend the dates speak for it.

Sal (Guitar): We’ve always been fulfilled by the audience reaction and their willingness to let themselves go while enjoying our music.

Ronnie (Vocalist): We spent 3 months in London, playing 15 gigs, so we can’t really call that past one a tour. Bobby and myself are the only two left in the band who took part to that adventure. It affirmed that our music is strong, and definitely enjoyed by the same people who invented it in the first place. We could have stopped straight after that, but hadn’t yet published an album, so we decided to go ahead. Or maybe we kept going cause we wanted to go back to the UK, which will happen at the end of November, but this time we won’t just stop to London!

(Reviewed by Angela Curiello)

tour

GAB DE LA VEGA 11/02 – Richmond, VA – House Show 11/03 – Washington, DC – The Pinch 11/04 – Philadelphia, PA – TBA 11/05 – Somerset, NJ – Audio Hub 11/06 – Boston, MA – PA’s Lounge 11/07 – Albany, NY – TBA 11/08 – Burlington, VT – Pingala Cafe 11/09 – Quebec City, QC – Le Knock Out 11/10 – Montreal, QC – Traxide 11/11 – Sherbrooke, QC – Le Murdoch 11/12 – Drummondville, QC – Les Compagnons D’Armes 11/14 – Ottawa, ON – Flapjack’s

WESTMOOR (PHOTO) 11/27 BLACK HEART, LONDON 11/28 THE NORTH, RHYL - WALES 11/29 FULFORD ARMS, YORK 11/30 SANTIAGOS, LEEDS 12/01 PERCY’S, WHITCHURCH 12/02 SUNBIRD, DARWEN DANCING SCRAP 11/20: Eagle Inn (Salford) 11/21: Rebellion (Manchester) 11/23: Grand Central (Manchester) 11/24: Victoria Bikers Pub (Lelcester) 11/26: Fiddler’s Elbow (London)

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interview

Ellis cloud

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Born in The 20’s is the title of the debut album of Ellis Cloud, art name by Riccardo Lo Faso, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist of Palermo. A record that was born in New York between Brooklyn and Manhattan in the past two years, with the artistic production of Gabriele Plescia.

“Born in the 20’s” is your solo debut: can you tell how you got here?

I’ve always loved to be part of a band for a hundred different reasons. But being in a band, after all laughter and nights, it has always been a disappointment, a bit like the concept of democracy. The bands who succeed are those in which all members agree to give up their work as a cigarettes promoter and put the university exams in standby to risk and make themselves heard. The last band I had was the icing on the cake: The members of the band fuck each other, the drug had them slowly and the bubble sooner or later burst. After so many years of these stories here, decide for sure to go solo.

You spent two years in New York before making this record: what did you leave this experience?

Ten extra Kg. I want to see you with Domino’s and Mexicans who make you delivery late in the night. I just want to see you.

The album is a kind of concept album about characters born in the 1920s: how is inspiration born?

From the dozens of desperate and crazy people I’ve met at NYC, the follies I’ve seen make for some people to buy a iPhone and desperation in the eyes of those who are denied wi-fi when they get in one place. More seriously, it was born from the frightening anthropocentrism I witnessed. But how is it pretentious to write “anthropocentrism”?

Talking about the music, for the album you have chosen a whole range of soul-to-rock and electronics: what are your fixed points and the lps you can’t do without?

I can tell you 6 records that I devoured or that I picked up when these pieces were born.

Janelle Monae - The Archandroid J. Dilla - The Shining Vampire Weekend - Contra David Bowie - Low Flying Lotus - Until the quiet comes St. Vincent - Strange Mercy “Walk on water” video is original and witty: can you tell something about its conception and realization?

Yes. I never thanked the director of photography. And I will not even do it on this occasion, because he got drunk at 2 o’ clock at night, starting to quarrel with everyone and destroying parts of the set. She acted like a highly altered and less sympathetic version of Sheldon Cooper.

Fuck that, now you know.

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reviews very powerful climb, with a particular and almost esoteric closure. A record full of energy and conviction, the new of Latente.

The theme of inadequacy, of “being always feeling wrong” is developed with the right combination of almost adolescent aggression and more mature passages, all seasoned by some crazy variables.

latente “monte meru” Monte Meru is the new lp of Latente, a conjunction between past and present, after the ep “Un’altra faccia” (2010), the debut album “Basta che restiamo vivi noi” (2014) and the many live gigs that followed. Monte Meru is affected by the experiences that the four musicians have lived in these years and incorporates listening and influences that have led them to their current dimension.

The first bite of the album comes with La mia stanza buia, filled with rage and very rough rock sounds.

Stop and go intense the ones on which Nervi opens, then going on with very noisy electric evolutions. Fumare starts slowly and then expands with power and fire. The melodic lines of the song take over, in this case, compared to aggressive trends. Alchimie continues the race, with some melancholy substrate and echoes from classic Italian rock, leaving room for a quasi-instrumental queue in the final. We go back to the melodic and the dark atmospheres with Brace, in a song, however, capable of full explosions. Lucido decides for minor tones and this time the tune keeps itslef faithful to the premise, lowering the vocals for once. Ti vengo a trovare pushes on the accelerator, with the rhythmic section, in particular, facing very personal anguish. Accontentarsi è diventato facile has high pace and grumbling ideas. Tre isa transition song. Pp closes with Everest, a

kaufman “belmondo”

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Label INRI releases new album by Kaufman, Belmondo, a title that commemorates Jean Paul, symbol of French Nouvelle Vague films and “last breath” life. The band, led by Lorenzo “Kaufman” Lombardi, presents eleven four-handed songs with Alessandro Raina, produced by Luca Serpenti. The lp tells about “love in times of anxiety and whatsapp blue tails”. But also the themes dear to French cinema and Italian songs: the end of summer, casual encounters and concerts, the promises of eternal love, the stories that end, the discovery of sex and the sense of the time that passes and changes things. Belmondo starts from La febbre, introduced by electronic skirmishes but then fluid in its own, with an average rhythm and veiled by melancholy sensations. Mood does not improve with Macchine volanti, but it gains in pace, in science fiction dreams, in

Homeland is the debut of Kids on Neptune, rock band from Forlì. Published by Seahorse Recordings, Homeland contains ten unpublished songs, entirely composed of the trio and reflecting musical influences and style. The tracks are characterized by rock sounds, deep low frequencies and sharp guitars. Lp starts with Bodies in lies, aggressive and direct but also able to slow down when needed. More syncopated the rhythm of A collapse, also subject to change of pace. Evolutions entrusted to the electric guitar in A simple night. Children of the Sun does own things calmly and with echoes of post grunge, before the inevitable sound explosion. A deep female voice introduces the darkness of 2_20. We get out of darkness with Polish state of mind, which has more than one reference to punk, including speed. Not Even Sorry continues in transmitting vibrations at sustained rhythms and with good bass lines. Rhythm slows down with the double negation of Nothing But No One, a song with evocative qualities and vast atmospheres. She will keep us alive resumes high rhythms, with very lively drums and high-speed guitars. Album closes with the title track Homeland, opened by the drummer in martial mode and then with much power still to be expressed in a song of many faces.

Although not kissed in the face by originality, the Kids on Neptune record deserves to be heard because of its genuine energy.

De Gregori quotes and in original language porn movies. Then comes L’età difficile, already used as a single, with a cadenced step mixed with electrical and electronic impulses. Come si sta talks about love and sex (again), with vintage rhythms and synth pop feelings. Senza fiato starts off with some detachment, especially in the singing, but then the song gets passionate, despite the synthetic sounds. We go back to the melanchonic mood and the science fiction with Alpha Centauri, soft step and gentle images. Rhythm runs a little more on Il nostro proposito, a once-intimate and “generalist” song (but it’s just a mask) with atmospheres flirting with new wave and synth pop. Cosmic and science fiction filters through the notes of Adesso, which does not hesitate to show even more soft sides. There it comes Robert Smith, the first single, also thanks to intense progression and quotes that refer (also) to Friday I’m in Love of The Cure, used more as the inspiration of the lyrics than as an effective musical reference. Ragazzi di vita instead cites Pasolini, but from afar, widening the look at ample sound atmospheres. It closes with Animal meta sociali, the last pop song in which the rhythm swells progressively, between synthetic motives and internal contradictions. A good pop flavor is present in all of Kaufman’s songs, but without leaving a certain sense of elegance and excellent writing quality, especially in the lyrics.

Kids on neptune “homeland”

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reviews last tune. The Reveers debut is good, the band demonstrates attention to detail. The quartet moves in the right direction.

reveers “shared lonelines” To find a place is Reveers’ debut album: eight songs with indie rock and melodic qualities for Friulian band born in the summer of 2015. The first look on the lp comes with Low to the Ground, a slow song that contradicts the classic dictate of opening an album with an attack as fast as possible. The band focuses on its melodic qualities, with long sounds and deep resonances. In addition, the passion for the rhythmic pace is also confirmed with the second track of the disc, Fortune Teller, a song in which seems to accumulate a certain amount of nostalgia. With the “Hegelian” Thesis, Antithesis & Synthesis, the rhythms thrills a bit more, though the band’s attitude is always more descriptive than percussive. Music for a silent movie is the title of another particularly soft song with loops all around the song. Mosaic chooses a much more animated, though no less melancholy path. Lp tracks often have elongated and languid lines, as in this case as well. It goes on with Spheres, which comes off the rest of the lp for the choice of a synthetic drumming especially active. Waves from the Sky returns to more gentle and sad ways. Blind Alley, perhaps the most stormy song of the album, is the

yoop “take shelter”

Yoop is a synthpop / new wave duet from Vicenza, composed by multi-instrumentalist, composer and producer Luca Sammartin and singer-songwriter Valentina Sicco.

With atmospheres clearly reflecting influences of the decades of the 80s and 90s and with strong references to bands such as Tears For Fears, Cocteau Twins, My Bloody Valentine, the two publish Take Shelter, a wealthy debut distributed equally on eleven tracks. Strong pop dreams emerge since the beginning of Blow, with drumming in loops and “laser” synthesizers.

The coolest Rainbow rests on a mobile structure highlighting Valentina Sicco’s voice. Loose Cannon opts for pop with darker shades and for marked rhythms underlined by a very active drumming.

There is also a lot of movement within Seesaw, agile and fluid, again very well suited to highlight the vocal qualities.

A moment of pause is achieved with the arrival of a meditative Staircase, resting on an electronic articulated background.

The break from the high rhythms extends to the next piece, Locked, a humorous and rather classic song, though with final acce-

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leration. Cube also takes advantage of the piano to emphasize the melodic qualities of the duo. Instead, Quazar makes an initial recital to find the rhythm, extending the sound horizons and moving decisively to rock ideas in the final part. The Ruins go almost on empty, adding elements to the point, to build a very agile and well-calibrated piece. TWBB returns to moderate tones: after a long instrumental part, the singing arrives to complete a soft picture.

The closure is entrusted to Take Shelter, the title track, which mixes the piano and a particularly active rhythm section. Very rich and full disc, the Yoop’s one, supporting their melodic qualities on solid rhythmic structures. The pop duo’s qualities are indisputable, and it’s good to find them supported by well-constructed sound backgrounds.

ter Cuong Vu and Feliciati’s companion in Naked Truth Roy Powell with his clavinet wrapped in distortion, while Feliciati, in addition to composing and arranging all the material of the lp, plays bass, guitar and keyboards. The album begins with Elevator Man, the title track: highlighting the sound choices chosen by Feliciati for this record, with obvious links to the jazz world but also to the progressive King Crimson, as well as the directions that the the album itself will take. Darkest atmospheres are the one of The Brick, which focuses on a more jazz-like setting, with some improvisation. 14 Stones has a heavier pitch, with sonorities that progressively expand, even with the intake of winds.

Calm and the subtle is the mood of Black Book, Red Letters, with the trumpet starring again. Three Women offers a more dialectical amalgam and a very vivid atmosphere. Unchained Houdini is back on jazz ideas stomping in math. Stepping into The Third Door, also involving a female voice, sees the guitar imposing its will. Minimal input also in S.O.S., where Feliciati’s bass takes possession of the scene soon.

Thief Like Me feeds with a particularly lively drumming. It closes with U Turn in Falmouth, with dark atmosphere. Very interesting work, that of Lorenzo Feliciati: the mix of original work and great collaborators is very ​​ powerful and the results more than appreciable.

lorenzo feliciati “Elevator man”

Lorenzo Feliciati, Italian composer and bassist also member of Naked Truth, Berserk !, Twinscapes and Mumpbeak, releases his third solo album for RareNoise.

After the “Frequent Flyer” (2011) and Codi (2015), the new Elevator Man is the next step of Feliciati in building a bridge between jazz and rock, accompanied by a host of extraordinary colleagues from around the world: drummers like Pat Mastelotto (King Crimson) and Chad Wackerman (Allan Holdsworth, Frank Zappa), guitarists such as Mattias “IA” Eklundh (Jonas Hellborg Trio) and Marco Sfogli (PFM), jazz trumpe-

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interview

silvia conti A piedi nudi (psichedeliche ipnotiche nudità) (“Bare feet (psychedelic hypnotic nudity)”) is the title of the new album of original songs by Silvia Conti. With the the artistic production of Gianfilippo Boni and the collaboration of musician Roberto Mangione (author of some songs of the lp), together with Aldo Coppola’s RadiciMusic Records, the album is a work that demands dedication while scrolling through the entire tracklist.

Among the songs there are the Conti’s version of “Dancing Barefoot” by Patti Smith and a spiritual melting pot with a recent Bob Dylan pearl. Chapters of stories that browse the life

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that happens every day under the bare feet of each of us, everywhere, with that feminine point in the denunciation that gives sweetness and romance to the observation of everything that lives around. A “social” record, an absolutely personal album that returns Silvia Conti to his own music after years of great collaborations, theatrical performances and “that” Sanremo Festival, 32 years ago.

Can you tell how the inspiration for the record was born and explain to us the subtitle of the album?

It is an album that was born naturally, it came almost alone. After years of collaborations I wanted to propose a personal job, to finally express myself in something that was just mine. I love enameling the toenails of each

different color (hence the subtitle) and I started right from this, from the title of the album, to make it clear that inside this lp there is me completely, without any external interference.

There are “quotations” and re-readings from Patti Smith and Bob Dylan on the record. I guess it is with some emotion and a certain responsibility that comes to the work of personalities of this size ...

It’s true but since I’m an irresponsible I just have fun. The two songs you talk about (“Ballando a piedi nudi” and “Non dimenticar le mie parole”) more than re-reading I see them as tributes to the giants of music. A small, mo-

dest thank you.

How does “Tom Tom” come about and why did you choose it as a single?

“Tom Tom” is the catharsis of a very difficult time, it is my way of reacting to the difficulties. It’s a choral song, fun, and it looks a lot like me, so it seemed to me the best choice for the first video clip.

You worked with many colleagues very often: how do you see the time of Italian music and who are today’s songwriters who are convincing you most?

I’ve ever been listening to little Italian music, with some exceptions, so I’m not the most suitable person to deal with this topic. I think that, apart of the great singer-songwriters and after the wonderful experiment of the 1990s of the CSI, little has been done. I guess the blame is also to be attributed to the low musical culture that unfortunately reigns, thanks especially to those who have the record market in hand.

It’s a shame, because there are talents that will remain unknown to many people, and many beautiful things we could hear, but we won’t.

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interview

Lefter Lefter are a musical duo from Udine. The two are acquainted with the previous experience with the Hoosh who saw them playing around for Italy. After the Hoosh dissolution, the two decide to found a new project and to publish a six-track album. We interviewed them.

Your duo is born on the Hoosh’s ashes: what has left you with your previous band experience?

With the Hoosh we have been playing together for the first time and from that experience we have consolidated our musical fee-

ling that then evolved into the Lefter.

The album is full of suggestions that can be placed in the box known as “post rock”, but I also see many references to classical psychedelia. What are your musical goals?

We both have different backgrounds, Red comes from scenes with harder and harder sounds ranging from alternative-rock, stoner to hip hop as Marco prefers more indie, garage, psychedelic listening.

How it was “No Prisoners” song born?

As with the other songs of the ep, “No prisoners” has developed quite instinctively,

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usually we do not stop too long on a piece but we try to let the piece come a little by itself, in this case it started all from drum’n’bass rhythm on which we tried to impress our sound.

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

Instrumentation is the same we use live, Red is dealing with drum and drum machine and Marco deals with voice with reverbs and distortions, guitars and synthesizers.

I guess that gig part is one of the fundamental ones for your band. Can you describe your concerts?

Currently our set is pretty short, about 35 minutes in which there are no breaks, we try to keep the listener’s attention high.

Track by Track The six-song ep opens with an entertaining and very percussive Dalawang, with massive sound that points in several directions.

We can label it post rock, math, hardcore and metal, but it is understood that the band is endowed with original thought. Pimlico runs fast, with atmospheres this time more sunny, though corroborated by robust doses of electricity. There is no moderation in the noxious No Prisoners, crazy climax voted to the noise. The use of the voices by the band is quite peculiar: almost always chorus, almost always indistinguishable, almost always screaming in the background. There is continuity with the next piece, Fa #, which is fluid and magmatic, with the voice that looks like a classical, albeit distorted, chant. This is followed by Sucker, who does not change very much atmospheres compared to previous episodes. The closure, psychedelic and circular, is entrusted to Torchman. Good experiment, that of Lefter, who care little about the fences between genres and labels, succeeding in producing a very loud sound substance.

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videos

unòrsominòre Varsavia

[LESSNESS] WHERE THE NIGHT WILL HEAL OUR PAIN

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CLICK AND PLAY

i’m not A BLONDE (FEAT. GIAN MARIA ACCUSANI) DAUGHTER

LEV REFLECTIONS

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reviews interviews

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