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LP
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SPCTR 020LP
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In Ciro Vitiello's debut album, personal memories are recognized as bouncy, as unreliable and tricky, moving up and away when approached, dipping into the haze of the subconscious. Dreams are thus given shape by memory itself. The Island Of Bouncy Memories is, for Vitiello, a place populated as much by reveries and hypnagogic impressions as by the marks of childhood experiences. A threshold between the comfortable embrace of nostalgia and the acceptance of adulthood. The album first grew out of a library of recordings of toys initially collected by Vitiello as a backdrop for his wide-weave synthetic fabric. Developing those initial sketches into what was then to become his debut album, the Naples-born artist intended these 13 tracks as a continuous flux of undeciphered impressions, with repeating motifs phasing in and out of its cloudy ambience, punctuating the inevitable waves of melancholy with delicate melodic structures. The contributions by vocalist Zimmy, vocalist/guitarist CRÆBABE, and guitarist Attilio Novellino were crucial not only in expanding the sonic palette of the album, but also in cultivating its themes and poetic scenarios through an intense and sincere exchange of personal experiences, recurring dreams and childhood remembrances with Vitiello. CRÆBABE's lyrics in particular feel like an adult counterpoint to the more childlike elements of the album; a map of murmured relics and epiphanies as she sits in conversation with herself. The emotional depth of the music makes the waters surrounding the Island feel like an ocean of pure sensitivity, their tides marking the passing of time, causing a drift through images and realities. At times, the island can be populated by surreal appearances like the talking animals that recur in Vitiello's dreams. In other occurrences, it can manifest as tragic real-world counterparts like the Island of Nisida, off the coast of Naples, host to an infamous youth detention center. The Island Of Bouncy Memories feels like a puzzling journey, a meditative reconnection with the past as viewed through a newer, more surreal perspective. It's a rework of the pain of growing up into blossoming hope. It also marks the first ever co-prodction between Hundebiss and Haunter Records, assembling two of the main actors in the Italian electronic and experimental scene into an unprecedented joining of forces.
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