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viewing 1 To 3 of 3 items
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BAC 002LP
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This new chapter of Baccano intertwines the sonic roots of Southern Italy with contemporary musical languages, thanks to the collaboration between two artists who, despite coming from different backgrounds, share an intense exploration of traditional rhythms. Alfio Antico, the undisputed master of the tammorra and frame drum, has radically transformed the use of these instruments, enriching them with unprecedented timbres and a unique phrasing that amplifies their expressive power. Alongside him, Giulio Fonseca, alias Go Dugong, a producer born in Puglia and based in Milan, is known for his ability to reinterpret folk music through an aesthetic that blends electronics and psychedelia, presenting it from a new sonic perspective. The album takes shape from the studio encounter between the two artists, a musical dialogue built on improvisation and the desire to explore the rhythmic potential of their visions. Leading the technical process was Tommaso Colliva (Calibro 35), who skillfully enhanced the primordial resonance of the drum while balancing the interplay of electronic layers in the final mix and mastering. During the production, Giulio Fonseca found inspiration in an independent fanzine created by Ciro Fanelli and Nicola Fucili. The title, La Macchia (The Stain), encapsulates a powerful image, evoked by Fanelli's words: "There is the stain that is guilt, dishonor, and shame. Then there is the stain that soils a new dress. We are not interested in either. Here, we talk about the stain that is life, entanglement, earth, scent, death, and rebirth." This reflection is perfectly mirrored in the album's music. Alfio Antico's drum becomes the voice of the earth, of primordial rhythm, of memory. Go Dugong's electronic overdubs, far from being mere contamination, act as material layering: they neither cover nor distort but rather enhance and reveal new depths. It is a "sonic stain" that does not erase but imprints, amplifying the ancestral and ritualistic essence of the music. The result is not just a remix of tradition but a work where the archaic heartbeat of the drum merges with contemporary experimentation in a synthesis as powerful as it is visceral. La Macchia is the meeting point between past and future, an album that does not merely reinterpret folk music but expands and rewrites it, preserving its soul while pushing it toward uncharted territories.
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BAC 001LP
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Baccano is the new record label born within Luiss University Press, the publishing house of the renowned university institution, always dedicated to exploring new pathways in knowledge and culture. Conceived by Daniele Rosa, editorial director of the publishing house, and artistically curated by Toni Cutrone (aka Mai Mai Mai), one of Italy's most internationally acclaimed avant-garde musicians, Baccano supports Italian artists who work with sound as a space for exploration and renewal. Each year, the label aims to produce three collaborative projects, bringing together musicians from different backgrounds, locations, and generations who can meet on common ground, intertwining their artistic sensibilities to shape new sounds. The result of this process materializes in three albums released both in physical and digital formats. The label seeks to amplify and transform the Italian musical heritage, opening it up to new expressive trajectories. Baccano draws inspiration from both sonic avant-gardes and library music as well as the most archaic and popular forms of Italian music, with the goal of forging new connections between past and present. I Racconti di Aretusa is the result of the encounter between Lino Capra Vaccina, a legend of Italian minimalism, and Mai Mai Mai, the alias of Toni Cutrone, a key international figure in the avant-garde/drone scene. A work that weaves together experimentation and Mediterranean echoes, creating a sonic journey of rare intensity. The collaboration was born during an artistic residency for the Ortigia Sound System (Syracuse, Sicily), a festival dedicated to the dialogue between traditional sounds and electronic research. The project took shape in an evocative location: the Church of Gesù e Maria in Ortigia, a place of extraordinary beauty whose acoustics imparted an almost mystical depth to the creative process. For two weeks, the two artists composed and recorded the album within this sacred setting, allowing the environment itself to influence the sounds and amplify their spiritual dimension. The final result was then refined by the work of Rabih Beaini, who handled the mixing at Morphine Raum Studio, and Matt Bordin, responsible for the mastering at Outside Inside Studio. Lino Capra Vaccina, a pioneer of sound experimentation and co-founder of historic formations such as Aktuala and Telaio Magnetico, brought to the project a refined and meditative musical sensibility. His use of vibraphone and piano creates hypnotic and ethereal atmospheres, built on deep resonances and soundscapes suspended in time. I Racconti di Aretusa perfectly embodies Baccano's vision: to restore a dimension of research to sound, fostering dialogue between artists from different eras and languages in a work that is not merely an encounter between past and present, but a true act of sonic rewriting.
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BAC 003LP
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This album bridges past and present through the voice and instruments of Maria Violenza and Luciano Turella, with the Irtumbranda project (formerly performing as the duo BrandaMaria), offering an intimate and visceral reinterpretation of Sicilian musical tradition. On Side A, the island's ancient melodies come to life through an interpretation that enhances their raw and profoundly visceral character. Maria Violenza, who grew up listening to these songs in family gatherings and popular festivals in Palermo, revives them with an intensity that is both personal and collective -- private memory and shared heritage. Alongside her, Irtumbranda's viola, with its classical training, transforms these chants into evocative sonic narratives, amplifying their pathos and revealing unexpected nuances. The result is a work that does not merely reproduce tradition but rewrites it, weaving a dialogue between popular oral tradition and cultivated instrumental sensitivity. On Side B, the baton passes to Tropicantesimo, a collective known for its ability to manipulate sound as a fluid and transformative material. Here, Sicilian music is transported into an unprecedented dimension, where voice and melodic textures dissolve and reassemble in dreamlike electronic landscapes. Through delays, reverbs, and synthetic pulsations, the chants seem to emerge from a timeless elsewhere, like echoes of a past becoming the future. Maria Violenza, along with Irtumbranda and Tropicantesimo, presents a sonic portrait of Sicily, a land that has always known how to make its roots converse with the outside world, embracing contaminations and constantly reinventing itself. As Rosa Balistreri, the great singer of the island, once taught, Sicilian folk music is a cry of protest, a collective game, a denunciation of the oppressed, and an anthem to love -- sentiments that transcend eras and borders, remaining eternally alive. With this work, Baccano reaffirms its mission to restore folk music with a contemporary breath, stripping it of nostalgia and bringing it into the present as a pulsating and unstoppable force.
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