Detailed Review [Deadburger Factory - 2013 - "La Fisica Delle Nuvole"]

Prolusion. The Italian band DEADBURGER has been around since the mid ‘90s, with five studio productions to their name starting with the self-titled one in 1997 and with the 3-CD box set "La Fisica Delle Nuvole", their most recent one. This latter album was released under the moniker Deadburger Factory, as it constitutes material from side projects of Deadburger, as well as from Deadburger itself. This 3-CD box set was released through the Italian label Snowdonia in the fall of 2013.

CD1: “Puro Nylon (100%)” (33:30)

TRACK LIST: 

1.  1940/Madre 5:52
2.  Variazioni so un Campione di Erik Satie-1 3:00
3.  Variazioni so un Campione di Erik Satie -2/3 3:10
4.  Oltre 4:42
5.  Obsoleto Blues 4:33
6.  Variazioni so un Campione di Erik Satie-4 2:15
7.  In Ogni Dove 6:51
8.  Ancora Pui’ Olte 3:07

LINEUP:

Vittorio Nistri – keyboards, sampling, vocoder; marimba
Alessandro Casini – guitars; loops
Tony Vivona – bass 
With:
Pino Gulli – drums 
Ivan Broccardo – kettle drums
Emanuelle Fiordellisi – percussion 
Giovanni Prosdocimi – violin 
Marie Lazzara – violin 
Giulia Nuti – viola 
Viola Mattoni – cello 
Enrico Gabrielli – clarinet 
Enco Scalzi – trumpet 
Nicola Cellai – cornet 
Simone Tilli – vocals 
Paolo Ciotti – vocals 
Irene Orrigo – vocals 
&:
Four more singers & two bassists

Analysis. I will have to admit that this Italian project was a complete unknown for me until this box set arrived in my post box many months ago. But even on a superficial level It gave a good impression, with a strong, sturdy box housing three CDs and a thick booklet with lots of information in Italian, pictures and liner notes aplenty. Those who know Italian can easily set aside an hour or two just to read this booklet, and it's easy to tell that this is a production many people have invested a lot of time, effort and money in. Normally, I don't go into the specifics about such issues, but in this case this is such an impressive part of the total experience that it does indeed merit a mention. As the first of three CDs included in this box plays out, it becomes clear that this is a production aimed at a niche audience. This isn't music that will be featured on normal, mainstream radio, and even the niche channels will wonder where to place this material. It's good stuff, highly impressive at times, but also challenging one that does indeed cross many borders and conventions, where the greater majority of the material resides somewhere deep within the avant-garde territories. Clarinets, trumpets, violins and viola are here paired off with bass and drums and electronic effects in a manner that kind of sounds like a meeting between chamber classical music and ambient/industrial/electronic music. Twisted guitar layers or drones are applied, spoken female and male voices have central roles, some of them electronically treated, and there's often room for some noise textures as well. The creations sound compelling though, despite odd noises and the use of instruments belonging to rather different traditions and phases in history, the end result is more often than not pleasant on the ear and the mind, despite the layers of sounds and the use of both minute details and dramatic effects that emphasize the contrasting elements used to construct the arrangements. While this first CD is fairly short, clocking in at just over half an hour, the compositions steadily develop and move forwards, so this isn't a production that will give you time to settle and enjoy whatever territory is explored for any great length of time. Yet these excursions are always coherent, and even when taking on expressions of a more chaotic nature there's always a strong feeling about a logical ongoing development. In the concluding phase of this initial CD the style shifts from a more indescribable avant-garde expression to one with a firmer relation to jazz, complete with cornet and trumpet soloing and distinctly jazz-tinged bass motifs. Still experimental, mind you, and with liberal use of electronics, but now closer to what I presume is what is commonly called nu-jazz and more distant from the more purebred avant-garde tendencies that dominate this first of the three CDs presented.

CD2: “Microonde / Vibroplettri” (28:28)

TRACK LIST: 

1.  La Mia Vita Dentro Il Forno a Microonde 3:29
2.  Strategia del Topo 7:24
3.  Magnetron 1:12
4.  Micronauta 3:54
5.  Il Dentista di Tangeri 3:42
6.  Cuore di Rana 2:48
7.  Dr. Quatermass I Presume 3:05
8.  Arando I Campo di Vetro 2:54
   
LINEUP:

Vittorio Nistri – keyboards, sampling   
Alessandro Casini – guitars; vibrator, sampling

Analysis. The second part of this three CD set is vastly different from the first one, and actually appears to consist of two EPs that have been assembled into one package. The first four tracks come courtesy of keyboardist Nistri (Microonde), and the following four are creations by guitarist Casini (Vibroplettri). Nistri opens his four tracks with three and a half minutes of noise textures, gradually rising inintensity with an unnerving light toned tortured sound central, with dramatic noice effects thrown in for good measure. An intriguing construction, despite the fact that I normally don't tend to enjoy what one might broadly describe as noise music. Next up is a longer construction with a compelling synth bass and synth drums foundation, that comes across as a more mainstream oriented, Kraftwerk or Tangerine Dream-inspired minimalistic creation at heart, but with noise effects and eerie sounds added to the mix, giving it a stronger experimental and avant-garde feel at the same time. A brilliant creation to my mind, highly engaging and compelling with plenty of ear-candy and challenging details, combined into a brilliant whole. This is followed by an eerie, unnerving futuristic noise construction, and then concludes with a hypnotizing electronic drones and rhythms creation fluctuating in mood and sound in a highly interesting manner. Guitarist Casini explores territories of a similar nature, using his guitar to supply tortured and twisted details, using samples to provide rhythms when needed, as well as providing supplemental electronic effects. He is skilled in combining recognizable guitar textures with drones and noises of a less easy-to-place source, and when he adds layers of sounds the end result becomes compelling, despite the fact that it more often than not resides deeper in the realms of noise than of harmony and melody as such. His part of this CD isn't quite as compelling though, but opening cut Il Dentista di Tangeri is a clear highlight, and that he apparently does use a vibrator as an instrument somewhere inside his exploration of sounds, drones and textures, obviously gives his part of this CD an additional novelty feature.

CD3: “La Fiscia delle Nuvole” (38:24)

TRACK LIST: 

1.  La Fisica delle Nuvole 4:42
2.  Amber 5:50
3.  Bruciando Il Piccolo Padre 3:08
4.  Cose che si Rompono 5:04
5.  Wormhole 3:44
6.  Il Mare E' Scomparso 5:22
7.  Deposito 423 6:51
8.  C'e' Ancora Vita su Marte 3:43

LINEUP:

Vittorio Nistri – el. piano, loops, noises, samples; vocals
Alessandor Casini – guitars 
Carlo Sciannameo – bass; vocals
Simone Tilli – vocals; trumpet; theremin
With:
Giulia Nuti - viola
Pino Gulli – drums 
Irene Orrigo – flute; vocals
Enrico Gabrielli - clarinets, saxophone, flute
Massimo Giannini - vibraphone, percussion
Vittorio Nistri – keyboards 
Marina Mulopulos – voice 
Paolo Benvegnu – vocals 
Giulia Sarno – vocals

Analysis. The third and final disc of this box set documents the qualities of the full Deadburger band rather than the creations of individual members with and without guests. In this case, this is the full band with many guests contributing though, and as such one might expect to hear some similarities with the first CD of this production, as the set up is fairly similar when it comes to many guest artists contributing to the material explored. And one might say that there are certain similarities, but that Deadburger as a full band comes across as a unit somewhat more inclined to create accessible music. Not that it's lacking in adventurous spirit, but the challenging aspects appear to be somewhat toned down on this CD as compared to the initial one in this set. The compositions here share many qualities, and one of the central traits of Deadburger as a band appears to be that they don't explore music that can be placed within a specific stylistic expression. Jazz-oriented rhythms and funky bass lines are recurring elements, as are wandering piano motifs with a distinct jazz-tinged orientation, but the band enjoys just as much to toss in exotic sounding violin or cello motifs with more of a world music orientation, or use violin and flute to add a more pastoral sheen to the proceedings. Dampened blues-tinged guitar details have their natural place within this context, when they aren't providing careful, psychedelic inspired resonating sounds that is. There's also a liberal use of of electronic sounds both to add a level of sophistication to the rhythms department, but also to add some cosmic vibes to these soundscapes, and returning to the strings and flute for intermissions with more of a chamber music expression, is just as natural as everything else mentioned so far. With occasional forays into Latin-inspired rhythms and a nice case of twisted slide guitar alongside both conventional and more unconventional lead and backing vocals added to this mix. I should be fairly secure in describing this production as an eclectic one. That many of the compositions tend to emphasize compelling and fairly easily accessible traits rather than overly challenging ones makes me opt for eclectic rather than avant-garde as the describing word in this case, but a case could be made for both of these words to be used when summarizing the contents of this disc. I will stress that this is compelling music, however. While the description given is a somewhat elaborate one that might give the impression of this being a highly challenging venture that demands a lot from the listener that isn't actually the case. There are challenging features indeed, but rarely or never overly so, and this is a production that will be a rewarding listen also without headphones and deep concentration at hand when listening to the contents. The funky bass that is a central feature throughout most of Deposito 423 can be mentioned as a specific example, and the manner in which the greater parts of this song revolves around a firm, dominating bass and drums based lead motif.

Conclusion. If you have a taste for high quality adventurous music in general, then this 3 CD box set by Deadburger, in this case using the name Deadburger Factory, is a production that merits an inspection. There's something for just about anyone at hand here, as long as adventurous music of some kind or other is within your field of interest, but those with a liberal and wide taste in music that includes electronic music, jazz, avant-garde and folk may arguably be the audience that will appreciate the total package best of all. If you read or understand Italian that will be a bonus, especially considering the contents of the 70 plus-page booklet that is a part of this package. Overall, highly recommended!

OMB=Olav M Bjornsen: December 20, 21 & 22, 2014
The Rating Room

Related Links:

Deadburger
Snowdonia Records