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BORGA, ASCANIO - Raw Science

Format: CD Label & Cat.Number: Sonic Boundaries sb002 Release Year: 2016 Note: ASCIANO BORGA from Rome has build a nice collection of works in the last 10 years, this new album "Raw Science" must be his most sophisticated so far: experimental / industrial ambient / 'archaic drone' compositions with many layers and sounds used, inspired by alchemical and medieval esoterism (HIERONYMOUS BOSCH on cover), very dense and heavily processed... absolutely to discover! 4 long tracks, 59+ min, 6 panel digipack 100 copies made Price (incl. 19% VAT): €10.00 More Info "The common ground beneath these pieces is an experimental approach to the music production process. In a classic situation, recording, mixing and mastering have a mere technical role as they are employed to capture instruments and sounds, add auxiliary effects, balance tracks, to exploit and correct sound problems. The main focus is usually on the first steps: in theory, with an ideal quality recording, subsequent phases (especially mastering) should be reduced to a minimum to preserve the original sounds with maximum fidelity. This implicitly makes the assumption that the creative part of the music (i.e. the one where lies the musical language) is oustide the whole process of music recording and production. The last assumption does not hold for concrete and other forms of experimental music, including this one. Here, effects and sound manipulation play a primary role, mixing and mastering are part of the composition, active creative phases in which crucial modifications and ideas can be inserted, driving the recording towards completely new and unexpected directions. Every phase of music production is not separate from the others, as the whole process can be repeated several times, in any order, following a non-linear pattern. Creative elements can live in any moment between the initial conception of music until the final master. The composer has an extended palette of tools, including those of the sound engineer, to take deeper control on the sound itself. [from the liner notes] credits released September 1, 2016 Recording, mixing & mastering: v2k alchemical laboratory, Rome, 2013-2016 (except some parts of track 1 which were recorded in Berlin) Ascanio Borga - electric guitar, synthesizers, samples, noises, treatments Artwork and layout by AB Cover painting: “Cutting The Stone” by Hieronymus Bosch Other images: a reproduction of the Alchemical Door (Rome) © sonic boundaries sb002 "Ascanio Borga is one discreet but continuously creative sound artist coming from Rome and whose objective is to cross various fields of electronic experimentation, from retro-ish cosmic synth excursion to vaporous space ambient and dark droning vibes. Over the years he mainly published self-releases as limited editions now available on his online Bandcamp store. One interesting fact, in 2008 he published one release on Afe Records (founded by pioneering dark ambient artist Andrea Marutti). As stated in the press release and compared to his early materials Raw Science deliberately embraces a more sonic and claustrophobic sound universe where crackling industrial noises are melted with tripped out and freezing black noise textures. The whole concept and the visual aesthetic brought to the fore are based on antique knowledge, alchemical then hidden sources of sciences, apparently taken from medieval esoterism and the mystical kabbalistic wisdom. The pieces gathered on this album sound quite hermetic, not easy to approach at first step but with required attention we can appreciate a tremendous gallery of fuzzed out and metallic drone rituals as in the rather industrial “Porta Alchemica” or as in the sonically grimy “Azoth.” Those kind of obsessional and textured noise ambient sequences admit comparison with the corrosive experimental assaults of Constrate or Sigillum S and the buzzing minimalism of Keith Fullerton Whitman. All in all Raw Science is a pleasant curiosity to discover in the noise / harsh psych drone territory." [Philippe Blache - igloomag] "With more than three years in the making, Raw Science is one of the most convoluted Borga's works. It contains four extended tracks crafted with careful stratifications, noise manipulations and other heavy sound treatment of various sources. With its unique mixture of dark electronics, guitar drones and concrete/noise elements, Raw Science occupies a musical niche similar to that of Bad Ground and Xenomorphic." [Sonic Boundaries] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zS3iuxyZndQ