Smiltzo – A Lifelong Quarantine (2021)

In Your Ears

• Krautrock
• Art music 
• Kosmische Musik
• Psytrance 
• Ambient pop
• Electronic music 
• New Age 
• Progressive

 

Eile potsatas postkasti kiri Itaalia plaadifirmalt In Your Ears uue plaadi ilmumise kohta. Kui on tegu eksperimentaalmuusika ja Itaaliaga, siis võis oodata väga erinevaid tahke selles muusikas. Francesco Monaci aka Smiltzo mõjudest lugedes eeldasin veelgi enam erinevate tahkude ilmnemist. Siiski reaalsuses on käesolev album eeldustest hillitsetum, kus Monaci (samuti astub laulja ja kitarristina üles ansamblis Liberal Carme) manab süntesaatorite ja kitarridega esile sünteetiliselt virvendavaid maastikke Saksa kosmilise muusika ja progeroki vaimus. Ei saa alahinnata ka New Age`i mõju muusikas, kuigi selle karidest on Itaalia muusik targu suutnud ümber seilata – no vähemalt ei torka midagi negatiivse(l)t kõrva! Kui reeglina on krautrokki peetud mässulisuse tähistajaks ning 70ndate teise poole (Briti) progerokki mandumise märgiks – mille uuendamise võtsid üle 70ndate lõpus esile kerkinud postpunk-ansamblid, ennekõike Magazine, XTC, The League of Gentlemen (keda võib tähistada terminiga “progepunk”) –, siis Monaci on need äärmused lülitanud tasapaksuks (miinimumiks). Erandiks on lugu "Sodasha", mis ratsutab psytrance-kujulisel hobusel. Ka "Trayodasha" astub mugavustsoonist välja, varieerudes motoorsest rütmikast hakitud funkini, saadetuna massiivsetest kitarridest. Vahepeal tekkis isegi ketserlik mõte krautroki ülehinnatusest – eks kõik suured nimed ongi ülehinnatud! (kuigi sõna “ülehinnatud” on veelgi enam üleekspluateeritud). Jätame selle sinnapaika ning kuulame seda ühtlast kulgemist (tõsi, mille viimane kolmandik on varieeruvust, värskeid ideid ja potentsiaali täis), mille pealkirjad on sanskritikeelsed.

Eniac – Cangiante (2019)

In Your Ears

Bandcamp

• Dub techno 
• Ambient dub 
• Electronic music 
• IDM 
• Dub 
• Electro-acoustic 
• Experimental electronica 

Itaalia artisti Fabio Battistetti aka Eniac'i muusika (samuti oli ta üks kahest Chew-Z-nimelise netileibeli vedajast) kiliseb-koliseb-kõliseb ebamäärase rütmimuusika taktis, mida ümbritsevad kõlakojad – dünaamika liigub kahes suunas, mis liituvad. Üks pluss üks on kaks? Või üks pluss üks on kolm? Või? Konkreetse albumi puhul võib see teatud juhtudel anda suurema summa, mõnel juhul väiksema kokku. Kohati algoritmid muutuvad algorütmideks ja hakkavad laulma robotite keeles, kohati on see ämbient ja dub, ning ämbient ja dub kokkusulatatuna. Vahel muutub asi veelgi krutskilisemaks – üleskeeratud mehhanismid hakkavad elektroonilist oodi esitama. Ning sellistel hetkedel hakkab muusika võimsalt kaikuma meeltes. Albumi on üllitanud In Your Ears, Itaalia netileibel.

Vargtimmen – Joan's Diary (2020)

In Your Ears

ANIME NERE

• Art metal 
• Heavy metal 
• Industrial metal 
• Dark wave 
• Spoken word 
• Jazz 
• Synth-metal
• DIY 

 Rootsikeeli "vargtimmen" tähendab hunditundi, ka psühholoogiline õudukas Ingmar Bergmanni sulest kannab sellist pealkirja. Võib kindel olla, et ABBA stiilis poppi ja diskot sellelt kaheksalooliselt ei kuule. Ei peagi kuulma. Selleks on teised nimed ja referentsid. See ei ole tõupuhas bläkk, see ei ole tõupuhas tumelaine, ka mitte industriaalmuusika, kuigi kõik elemendid on ühel või teisel kujul esindatud. On raiuvatele kidrariffidele ja tumedatele sündivoogudele toetuvat heliseina, mida segatakse sõnaliste seadete ja pealtnäha suvaliste heliefektidega. Teisalt on kergematele ja rasketele klaveriakordidele toetuvat muusikat, mis, tõsi, ballaadideks ei paisu. Ballaad on kompositsioon, mis mängib emotsioonidest ballastiga viisil, jõudes seda kanda või jäädes haledalt selle alla. Ballaadiga ei mängita! Üks lugu on kõikuv-tuikuv tumejäts, mis – tõesti – kõigub koha peal ilma siia-sinna arenemata. Üldkokkuvõttes kõlab see In Your Ears  ja ANIME NERE netileibelite all üllitatud reliis (bläkk)metallisti easy listening-teosena. Piisavalt pealiskaudne, küllalt kergemeelne, mõneti hajameelne.

Butipreferrominapov – Lullaby For My Deaddog (2018)

In Your Ears

• Americana 
• Indie folk 
• Folktronica 
• DIY 
• Folk indie 
• Post-folk 
• Alt-folk 
• Drone folk

Comment: this bunch of 9 compositions bridges successfully the old and modern approach of folk music. For the listener it is an inspiring, horizon-widening outing. There are up the songs mostly getting inspiration from the Appalachian plateau and American roots music (although the artist obviously comes from Italy. In nay cases, Italians have previously developed some very American brands like producing Western movies a la Once Upon Time In America) – banjo and guitar plucked chords are proudly represented and on the other side all of that is varied with droning electronics, acidic keyboards, microscopic electronic beats, treated vowel loops and groovy synthesised whirlpools to add some churning electro-tinged, cybernetic touch to the whole. In that case, one can draw parallels upon The Beta Band. Secondly, resigned glimpses backwards in many songs resemble Wilco. Marco's fragile vocal timbre used to contrast suitably with the aforementioned firework. In one song he yodels like Zach Condon. The magnificent and adorable issue is a part of the discography of an Italian imprint, In Your Ears.

Luca Calcagno – La Pioggia Rinfresca L’Estate (2017)

In Your Ears

• Indie pop/rock 
• Alternative pop/rock 
• Pomp pop 
• Pop rock

Comment: it is nice to be back at the discography of an Italian imprint, In Your Ears Netlabel (for instance, I can remember such a great release as Drunkeninstrumentcorporation`s Always The Same 10 Fucking Songs (2016). Luca Calcagno is a self-taught musician who is working in a music store. There are represented a couple of tracks, the first of them, the self-titled track is a straightforward, deeply ploughing guitar-based composition without any adornments and magniloquent overstatements. OK, the whole adornment is embraced by the key changes on the guitar. It is an example of AOR and regarding the emotions it is more suppressed in comparison to the subsequent track. It is a decelerated chamber/soul/pop rock example with bombastic sweeps on the guitar and full-fledged fringes on synths. It is a rock balladry without growing into disgraceful sensations and embarrassing feels. All the lyrics are sung in Italian.

Ale – Seri-Al Rappers (2017)

In Your Ears

• Hip-hop 
• Rap 
• Urban music 
• Electronic music 
• Electro-hop 
• Grime

Comment: these 219 seconds do slam and jump up within playful electro-hop/grime beats by moving from right to left from atop downwards. It is the vivid backdrop to Italian lyrics being recited also in a playful manner. Although I have no idea what it is all about. The track is a part of the Italian imprint Yo! Netlabel. Highly appreciated.

Drunkeninstrumentcorporation – Always The Same 10 Fucking Songs (2016)

In Your Ears

• Shoegaze 
• Alternative rock 
• Indie rock 
• Fuzz pop 
• Jangle pop 
• Noise pop

Comment: this 10-track issue clocking in at a 33 minute comes out of from Italy, from the deep Cuneo province in the southwest of the Piedmont region of Italy (nearby the border of France). It is the one-man-project of Marco Abbà whose purpose was to put up a fight against boredom by being imaginative and creative. What does it mean always the same 10 fucking songs? Could it be understood in the same way as the propositions as always having sex with the same woman, always doing the same job, any day visiting and posting the blog? By the way, it could be delightful if your understanding and well-being is closely related to it. In case if the aforementioned sources are bottomless are you still intended to abandon them? In fact, I have been listening to this set of fucking songs five times in a row. The more I listen to it the more appealing it seems to be. In fact, it is the merit of this “always the same”. Distorted galvanized guitars, jangly yet still galvanized guitars, lofty synth-based overdrives and poignant electronic sounds and programmed beats atop and at the bottom respectively and tight, coherent structures of songwriting. The listener could hear certain echoes of Bloody Valentine, Ride, Swervedriver and even more distant echoes of post-punk combos yet Drunkeninstrumentcorporation is not the same. The whole contains a couple of amazing compositions as The Attic, Sea Of Memories, Happy Like A Hurricane, and Blanket. The solid issue is a part of the discography of In Your Ears. Great success.

SUICIDEFORCE – IYE12 (2016)

In Your Ears

• Hardcore 
• Trashcore 
• Lo-fi 
• DIY 
• Powerviolence 
• Grindcore

Comment: what could be main impulses behind an inclination to commit a suicide? I guess these can be hopelessness, hatred of people and him/herself as a cursed exemplary among them (among the other cursed ones), overwhelming anxiety and distress coming out from an unknown source and falling fatally over one's head. By listening to this short-running 6-notch issue one can feel physically all the aforementioned distresses and inferior state of moods. It reflects upon mental terror in a very direct way. From the start to its very final pier. It does not take care of you it disseminates its paralysing seeds. Because of that, you shall have to be warned, it might not only be a reflection of suicide machine, it might be a suicide machine on its own. By the way, terror is everywhere where stupid bipedals used to walk around. Terror is a native son of stupidity regardless some cynical and evil creatures may be thinking of themselves as wise ones. A monkey is a stupid monkey. This torrent of overmastering anxiety is a part of the discography of In Your Years. It is powerful, it is violent, it is elegantly horrendous.