[reviews] afe081lcd
two dead bodies: reflect

The Two Dead Bodies of this surprising release belong to Milanese musicians Luca Mauri and Andrea Reali, both active in two excellent bands named I/O (experimental improv/jazz/funk, with an eponymous CD on Ebria) and Kokoro Mayikibo (indie/white funksters, who have released their debut album in the meantime).

Mauri plays guitar in the former and drums in the latter, while Reali is a remarkable vocalist for both. TDB were born as an improvised session which took place in 2005; then, Mauri, also active as a solo electronic soundmaker (hey! Now that I think of it, the review of his DIY CD-R as 00 was one of my very first reviews for ChainDLK, then in its printed heydays... ages ago!), mixed and cut-up the recordings on his PC with a sort of Macero-like taste for layering and a great final result, matching the warmth of a live recording and the tricks of a skillful reconstruction.

"Reflect" is also the first non-electronic record in the Afe catalogue, but if you consider this has been co-released by Bruno Dorella (OvO, Ronin, etc.)'s Bar La Muerte you can start guessing what this sounds like.

Its roots are indeed in the noise-rock/no-wave cauldron: the first track, later reprised and brutalised in the fourth one, starts with a basic noise-punk blast delivered with garage intensity, but right from the second piece, based on hypnotic drum loops and sludgy guitar feedbacks, the great mixing job transfigures that initial violence in a much more subtle and oblique approach.

Track 3 indulges in jazzy guitar lines and sparse cymbals, and it's possibly the closest one to the sound of I/O and their forefathers Starfuckers/Sinistri. The music becomes less noisy and dense, but the two never let the tension go.

The most refined and arguably best piece is the last one, where Mauri's minimal guitar plucking and Reali's mantra-like vocals are matched with electronic drones and a train-like rhythm of looped charleston kicks.

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.

[Eugenio Maggi]