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2LP
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RAUM 001LP
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The inaugural release on cult eyewear label Kuboraum's new music platform, Salò is a mystifying fusion of noise, prog rock and psychedelic music that attempts to imagine a "dreamy and decadent" Roman renaissance. It's the brainchild of multidisciplinary artist Emiliano Maggi, who links with Mai Mai's Toni Cutrone, Wildmen's Giacomo Mancini, producer Cosimo Damiano and musician, writer and critic Stefano Di Trapani to distill a wellspring of poems, fairytales, anecdotes and mythologies -- drawing on mythological symbolism, medieval theater and rural iconography -- into an oozing celebration of art, ecstasy and extravagance. Salò developed as a way to challenge both theirself and their audience, performing with the ensemble exhaustively before they were ready to pen their debut full-length. The project is seen as a way to extend an artistic conversation across disciplines, unifying all their different interests; at any given performance, it's hard to know what to expect, and that's the point. One day be Salò might be a full band, the next it could be a painting, a string ensemble or a choir. This irreverence and mischievousness undergirds the album, offering its sprawling, ambitious compositions a level of carnivalesque eccentricity that's impossible to ignore. Considering the place of witches and brigands on the outskirts of society, Salò twist jangling European folk with autotuned murmurations and unsettling electronic rhythms on opener "La Ballata Delle Mosche," tipping into Mr. Bungle-stlye absurdity on "Capra lo Vedo, Capra lo Soni." The epic 14-minute prog-psych centerpiece "Denti Neri" meanwhile takes its cues from Black Sabbath's rock 'n roll excesses, and finale "Faccio L'amore In Groppa Ad Un Asino" is a ludicrous, giallo-esque ritual. It's work that taps into the pulse of commedia dell'arte, an early European theatrical form that mixed music and dance, using distinct costumes to represent each character. The Salò collective picks up where history left off, metamorphosing wild flights of fantasy and historical truths into audio-visual puzzles that defy contemporary logic, never failing to find humor in the darkest crevices.
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