Italian act Mou, Lips! (essentially Andrea Gabriele, formerly of Tu m', with assistance from others such as Stephen Vitiello) serve as a more than apt guide for the labels first foray into this new land. However incongruous the elements or surreal their juxtaposition, they inhabit the same space in these tracks, and their playfully exposed and oddly off-center yet considered arrangements ensure they are well defined.
Many of these audio collages stand out for their ability to create a sensation that there is a very real acoustic space in which all of the sounds actually exist, even if they sound a trifle unreal. Most, if not all, of the essential elements seem present from the start: "Vit Virt" sees a trellis of sinuous woodwinds and glistening ribbons of light orchestration bind like glue over a bed of fire-cracker snaps and warm, soothing tones, making for a clash and commingle of mood-colors like a sort of macabre whimsy. As the album progresses, the ordering changes in deceptively simple but significant ways, emphasizing now an idyllic flutter of electronics like a slow dance of morning light, now a jazzy cascade of misty horns overtop ectoplasmic tendrils, and finally later a crepuscular, cobwebby sound, shot through with field recordings, lively and incoherent, and full-blooded, hectic keyboard and glockenspiel lines.
These works play very well on the proximity of ecstasy and eeriness. A strong dual relationship is forged between them, without either encroaching a great deal on the others territory. For this reason, the very lightness of touch that affords the tracks a sort of cutesiness also gives rise to a certain understatement and intelligence, a certain purpose and sense of possibility that results in fascinating patterns of overtones, which henceforth engage and otherwise tease the former in a rather festive manner. All of this makes Untree an invigorating and attractive set; a fine foundation from which to build. |
|
|
and 