[reviews] afe082lcd
sidra: a swampadelic blessing of downtown sf - the official bootleg

While rumours are that Sigillum S are going to put out some new material, P. NG5361 Bandera (Sshe Retina Stimulants, Komplet) is out with a new project and with a new mate, guitarist Tiberio Longoni.

Sidra is really different from every previous project of Bandera, but nobody will be astonished by the fact the style is not that far from other melodic projects with a post-industrial background like those in which Eraldo Bernocchi was involved.

Do I mean that's Bernocchi influenced music? No way! I just signify there's a "trait d'union" that joins some melodical/musical solutions you you'll find here with some you could find in the releases of Teardo, Phyler Coleman and Bernocchi, but at last it's true that "nobody comes from nowhere".

Be it I love this kind of style or that "file rouge" I was talking about, I'm really into this release, I'm sure there's people who can whine about the fact it's not "trendy", but it's not even "old fashioned" in the strict sense of the word, I think Sidra's debut has its own identity.

Late night music, weird but yet suggestive loops on which the skeleton of the majority of the songs takes shape. Sometimes it sounds like a less melodical and instrumental version of Phyler minus the drum and bass influence, sometimes a melancholic guitar loop moves on a 4/4 hip hop rhythm.

Loop based electronic music with a big human feel, "old fashioned" but in a really interesting way, listen to "Heat Reversal Via Volume Exchange" and "Windows From Shattered Stairs (Nude)". Honestly that's one of my favourite releases of the new Afe lot.

[Andrea Ferraris]