ASA – Avoiding Sharks Attacks (2020)

Plus Timbre

• Improvised music 
• Avant-rock 
• Art rock 
• Progressive 
• Experimental rock 
• Psychedelic 
• No wave 

Üks lõppeva aasta lemmikalbumeid tuli Plus Timbre-nimelise plaadifirma alt ja oli seotud artistiga, kes on ka käesoleva neljaloolise albumi üks arhitekte. Sardiinia kitarrist Fabrizio Bozzi Fenu edastab oma eksperimentaalset pillikäsitlust viisil nagu ta tegi seda sooloalbumil "Sant'Andrìa" - nurgeline, peaaegu et staccato-tehnika; teisalt ometi oma katkendlikkuses voolav, iseteadlik ja terviklik; tema partneriteks on Luca Pissavini (viiekeelsel) kontrabassil ning Emilio Bernè mängib trumme ja krutib elektroonikat. See on huvitav muusika, ühelt poolt inspireeritud No wave-liikumisest ja eksperimentaalsest pungist (samas minemata tantsuliseks pungiks nagu mainitet järelpunkaritele meeldis muutuda), teisalt hoides jalgu maas improvisatoorses muusikas. Kummaline nentida, aga improvisatsioon on muutunud teatud standardiks, ankruks, mis tänapäeval enamjaolt edastab avangardi maneerlikkust, et mitte öelda klišeesid. See ei ole avangard, vaid avangardism – olemata avangard, vaid pelgalt mängides selle ideega. Antud kontekstis on pooled balansseeritud, mistõttu lõpptulem on heakskiitu väärt.

Fabrizio Bozzi Fenu – Sant'Andrìa (2020)

Plus Timbre

Bandcamp

• Micronoise 
• Avant-garde 
• Microsound 
• Experimental rock 
• Experimentalism 
• Abstract 
• Electro-acoustic 
• Art rock 
• Avant-blues 
• Post-rock 
• Electronic 
• Avant-rock

Comment: there are no easy times for the human race at the moment regarding this aggressive Coronavirus. It is also about hesitation and fear of having no knowledge what amount of havoc and temporal span it would further embrace. Especially for Europe and particularly for Italy. Fabrizio Bozzi Fenu comes from the country, the island of Sardinia which has been a place for experimental music acts some I have met thanks to a great imprint, La bél. Sant'Andrìa, the 9-notch release is an exciting part of the discography of Plus Timbre due to manipulating with extended guitar chords, up and down patterns, microscopic noisy bugs and subliminal electronic sounds. In other words, one can imagine a stoned blues man who has abandoned playing on common keys and instead of it deconstructing the style with the help of an amount of unfathomable electronic and technological possibilities (by facing possibly a problem of choice). Indeed, the artist used to create a very personal universe at his own disposal by slipping in and out the elements. As an Italian artist he cannot do away with adding shards of beauty to the mix (for instance, Anima). Undoubtedly one of the most preeminent albums so far in 2020.

Daniel Barbiero & Cristiano Bocci – Wooden Mirrors (2019)

Plus Timbre

Bandcamp

• Improvised music 
• Avant-garde 
• Experimentalism 
• Electro-acoustic

Comment: it is collaborative act between an Italian (Cristian Bocci), and American musician (Daniel Barbiero) who both play double basses in the opening composition (clocking in at a 22-minute), and Cristian Bocci only performs live electronics in the second track From a Concourse (clocking in at a 13 minute). First of all, it is a thoroughly improvised act which seemingly starts off a bit awkwardly as if searching for the intention through accidental notes and sonic combinations based on the plucked instruments. By going on, at a time, the listener can hear more contoured, channelized progressions in the embodiment of dynamic gears and semi-orchestrations which may be considered a drier version of Penguin Cafe Orchestra which are strengthened with iterative phases, phase changes and general improvised music aspects. As mentioned before, From a Concourse is the platform for electronic music within these 36 minutes which reveals a bit creepy wobbly electronic effects which do interact with vivid cello manifestos. There are up amplified echoes, loopy cello gears and ghastly shades coming out through contact microphones to eventually build up a sultry, lofty composition. There can be drawn parallels upon some works of the like of Arthur Russell, for example. The solid issue is a part of the discography of Plus Timbre.

Giuseppe Pascucci, Vito Pesce – Nikola, Was Right! (2019)

Plus Timbre

• Improvised music 
• Avant-garde 
• Experimentalism 
• Guitar ambient
• Art music 
• Electro-acoustic 
• Experimental rock 
• Avant-rock 
• Drone rock

Comment: it can be seen on the site of Plus Timbre that Italian duo Giuseppe Pascucci, and Vito Pesce did release a couple of albums (Humansaurs, and Nikola, Was Right!) on 3rd of February, 2019. The last mentioned issue can be admitted by straddling on a mindset of electro-acoustic and experimental rock and improvised music. These 6 compositions are imbued with reverberant echoes and abrasive guitar chords and playful guitar patterns (one can hear lots of iterative sounds, droning, and minimal phase shifts from one chord to be transmitted into another one). Both artists employ a guitar and effect devices around it. Otherwise one could think of electronics and synthesisers added to the mix. I can remember for another Italian guitar magician Gaetano Fontanazza whose album The Grandpa Lullabies (2018, Sucu Music) was also treated with guitars only though one can perceive electronic segments within it. In a nutshell, the whole is truly worth to be listened to. What could I add but let's listen to Humansaurs either.

Mauro Sambo & Matilde Sambo - ...sibilava tra i Denti...(2017)

Plus Timbre

• Avant-garde 
• Improvised music 
• Experimentalism 
• Art music 
• Electro-acoustic 
• Field recording 
• Musique concrète 
• Drone

Comment: these 28 minutes and 48 seconds are based on the play of a couple of musicians whose music meanders through disparate valleys and mountains. There is up the layer of guitars which is surrounded by tectonic sound of a gong, some human sounds, electro-acoustic noises and hisses, at times magnified, at times zoomed out. However, the result sounds always in a magnificent manner. Indeed, you should not be afraid of the technical description of the album. In fact, you can perceive an issue of emitting warmth and providing a welcoming sense nonetheless its heavy technical and artsy buildup. I can hear some similarities with another excellent duo, Natural Snow Buildings. Behind the project are Matilde Sambo who plays electric guitar adds field recordings, and manipulates with electronics. On the other hand Mauro Sambo operates with electronics, plays double bass, gong, kalimba, and percussion. And all the instruments are clearly audible over there. The outing is a bit in the discography of Plus Timbre. NB! By listening to it with an open window you should be warned it may be difficult to differentiate one sounds from the other ones. On the other side, it is a sign of reconciliation of the different ambiances.

Alejandro Rojas-Marcos, David Area & Tomás Gris – Trails (2017)

Plus Timbre

Plus Timbre

• Improvised music 
• Experimental electronica 
• Avant-garde
• Sound art 
• Electro-acoustic 
• Experimentalism 
• Microsound 
• Microtonal

Comment: lots of noises being variegated with spans of silence and penumbras mixed of them. From noises to silence, and vice versa. From acoustically warped instruments to noise signal generated electronic dodges. At times the compartments are separated, at times they are superimposed to one another. This minimal approach has much in common with music being provided by early pioneers of electronic music of having experiments with such instrument as theremin. This is austere, rigid it is certainly an example of formalism rather than allowing an entrance to emotive music. One of them is operating in front of a clavichord, one of them is generating electronics, and one of them is playing soprano sax, viola, cello, and objects. It could be said, it is an intriguing blend of instruments. It is the course of this 3-notch outing being a bit in the discography of Greece-based Plus Timbre.