[reviews] afe121cd
meerkat: kapnos

 
temporary fault []
blog, italy, august 2009

A collective project involving several of the principal Italian operators in the area of post-dark-ambient-cum-natural-elements, a bandwagon that in this particular country has meant shelter for practically anybody who wakes up one morning thinking "If Vidna Obmana, Lustmord, Köner, Roach... put your additional hundred names here... can become famous with something like this, why not me?".

The participants in "Kapnos" (Greek for "smoke") are Luca Bergero, Andrea Ferraris, Paolo Ippoliti, Laura Lovreglio, Andrea Marutti, Fabio Selvafiorita, Luca Sigurtà, Matteo Uggeri, Davide Valecchi and Adriano Zanni. I'll gladly do without the semi-cryptic monikers, also a commonplace of sorts in this macrocosm: perhaps there's a law preventing individuals from releasing droning material and signing it with their real name.

To end with the list of negatives, the field recordings - although generally well realized and expertly positioned in the mix - mostly belong to the worn-out sphere. Is there someone, somewhere, who has NOT taped a rainstorm or sheer gurgling water yet? (*) Is it still necessary to camouflage chatting people (among them, ironically, a Roman-accented fellow who talks of Glenn Branca: not bad for a potentially meditative piece) amidst cavernous rumbles and sublunary humming? It all smells so "Pink Floyd circa 1973", not making much sense today.

Having said that, at least three tracks in this disc are very good, helping to place it in the upper half of the regional average. And the winners are... "One", "Six" and "Seven" (with "Five" almost at the same level).

Honourable mention to Andrea Ferraris' guitar and electronics, the latter supposedly at the core of the profoundly beautiful resonance heard throughout "Seven". In a nutshell, this reviewer loves the quality of the drones significantly more than the environmental banality. And since I'm a nice guy, comments about MB's "explanatory" sleeve notes will be spared.

(*) STOP PRESS: In this last CD, the answer is a "half-yes". There's indeed water, but no rainstorms: I mistook the deep breathing of wind over fire for distant thunders (sorry, Fabio, and thanks to Matteo for the heads-up). I'll keep the rant for a next meteorological turbulence, which will surely come sooner than later...

[Massimo Ricci]

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