[releases] afe081lcd
two dead bodies: reflect

Track List:

1.  Part One  5:15

2.  Part Two  4:47

3.  Part Three  4:25

4.  Part Four  6:22

5.  Part Five  26:34

Description:

We're particularly glad to introduce an Afe / Bar La Muerte co-production. This release is the first collaborative effort between us and the famous italian independent label owned by Bruno Dorella (...of Ronin and OvO fame).

This disc is also very important to us because it is our very first non-electronic release. Yes, the music on "Reflect" was electronically assembled and processed, but its intimate consistence is of a Noise / Rock nature.

Two Dead Bodies is an extreme music project that involves Luca Mauri and Andrea Reali, both originating from the hinterland of Milan, Italy. They both are already active in the impro / jazzy / freeform band I/O and in the white funk wavers Kokoro Mayikibo. Andrea is also one of the founders of Ebria Records, among whose releases we'd like to mention OvO, I/O, IOIOI, Uncode Duello and Echran.

Two Dead Bodies were born in the hot summer of 2005 when Luca and Andrea recorded their first tracks during a sunny afternoon impro session. After recording, all audio material was re-processed, re-mixed and mastered by LooKe (Luca). Divided in five parts, it was given the title of "Reflect".

There is a strong sense of primordial instability in the music of Two Dead Bodies: "Part One" begins with a wild drums and guitar dialogue with a sort of desperate and unintelligible voice lost somewhere in the mix without any chance to survive the ordeal.

Tribal drums introduce "Part Two", accompanied by feedback noises and an almost unrecognizable bass guitar. Voice is even more submerged leaving only the impression of a distant shamanic ritual.

Everything disappears just before reaching "Part Three", where abused guitar and bass clash against each other as drums and cymbals live a secret life of their own. A little sax is used as a substitute of voice and is once again phagocyted with no residue hope as "Part Four" begins.

This is probably the only track on the album resembling something vaguely similar to a standard piece of music. At this point elements of "Part One" re-emerge to be almost instantly buried under tons of feedback and effects just for the sake of it.

The closing "Part Five" is built on a bass sample and primitive phonemes, and is slowly filled with treated charleston ambiences. Repetita juvant and it only takes a few minutes before the track turns into an healing mantra.

The mantra slowly fades leaving one of the voices alone standing still as a giant black monolith appears from nowhere floating in the air...

"Un disco che ci riconcilia con il rock."
Sound and Silence (1) [more]

"Un po' come se un gruppo "rock" della Skin Graft fosse stato remixato da un Mick Harris in giornata "soft". Batterie che scompaiono andando in riverse, feedback in loop, dissonanze da Teenage Jesus and the Jerks; manca solo Lydia Lunch, ma in compenso c'è lo spettro di Blixa e soci quando "facevano e si facevano"..."
Sodapop [more]

"Ritmiche quadrate, sprazzi punk-hardcore (quasi rock & roll deviato a tratti, come in "Part 1"), feedback modulati, voci più che distorte (ma mai invadenti), stasi magmatiche, dissonanze: questa la ricetta dei Two Dead Bodies, che sarà apprezzata sia dai fan di chi oggi impazzisce per Liars e Wolf Eyes, o da chi ricorda con nostalgia i God o il metal schizoide dei Naked City."
Sound and Silence (2) [more]

"The whole record is extremely enjoyable and coherent, despite mixing so many different inputs and influences, from free jazz to Liars or Eyehategod, and given the results I truly hope this won't remain a one-off project."
Chain D.L.K. [more]

"La musica dei due corpi morti è musica liberatoria, assassina, ectoplasmica, devastante, mantrica... Liars, Magik Markers e Hospital approvano pesantemente."
RockLab [more]

"Musica ancestrale e intensa, presuntamente rock per timbriche ma destrutturata, sviluppata in un continuum che fa sfociare, di tanto in tanto, riferimenti e influenze rivomitati dopo una fagocitazione incessante... Se questo è il tipo di incursioni in ambiti rock della Afe, di solito dedita a produzioni elettroniche, saremmo ben felici di accogliere nuovi sconfinamenti."
SentireAscoltare [more]

"La tattica sonora è post punk - math noise, tant'è che "Part 1" fa pensare ai Wire in versione low-fi catastrofista. La musica procede senza soluzione di continuità attraverso ritmiche ferroviario-tribali con loop di feedback (Part 2), percussioni impegnate in rullate circolari da dark jazz e la chitarra che tenta un approccio funk in un ambiente catramoso (Part 3). Il taglio netto d'atmosfera avviene in "Part 5", un mantra etnico singolarmente affine al canto sardo: un giro di basso insistente e il timbro vibrante dei vocalismi di Andrea Reali. Da questo punto in avanti i Two Dead Bodies possono proporci una loro versione dell'entropia rock muovendosi lungo quella pista che arriva fino ai Dome."
Blow Up [more]