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CONTE, MARIO - Overtunes

Format: CD-R Label & Cat.Number: Attenuation Circuit ACLE 1005 Release Year: 2014 Note: atmospheric 'drone-techno' (using a Roland TR-808) and synthetic experimental ambience with organic samples, excellent 4 track EP, the CD-R version has only 25 copies; "Sonorities and rhythms that sound, generally speaking, very natural in their relative amorphousness; hints of subterraneous melodies; a vague similitude with chosen episodes by the late, and ever great Muslimgauze.." [Touching Extreme] Price (incl. 19% VAT): €8.00 More Info The subtitle “Electronic Research in Natural Harmonics” sounds far more academic than the actual music. In fact, this short album does work with overtone drone layers, but it combines these harmonic fields with classic TR-808 beats. The result is experimental, yet partly danceable music, cleverly constructed yet very soulful. A masterpiece that will open up the pathway into experimental sound creation for listeners whose tastes are shaped by electronic dance music. Using various synthesizers, all meticulously specified on the sleeve, but also a wide array of sound sources such as “fake guitar” and “live vocal tape scratching over Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment cassette”, Mario Conte and his co-conspirators create multi-faceted dronescapes with a high degree of melodic potential. "Overtones" is co-released with the Berlin and Italy-based label Zoff82, which publishes the tape version of the album. File under: Drone, techno emerge.bandcamp.com/album/overtones Conte works with synthetic or otherwise scarcely identifiable emissions and a Roland TR-808 to generate a brand of unlawful techno-drone (with industrial hues in “Modern Country Side”) with several attention-getting attributes. I might be growing old and creaky-boned, but feel no shame in declaring that this short album was a considerable surprise in its utter respectability, not a given when I tackle genres where a proper instrumental training is not a requirement. Sometimes, though, all it takes is the right frame of mind and a personal predisposition to the enchantment provided by a particular constitution to relish a product; in the case of Overtones, that’s exactly what happened. Sonorities and rhythms that sound, generally speaking, very natural in their relative amorphousness; hints of subterraneous melodies; a vague similitude with chosen episodes by the late, and ever great Muslimgauze (especially in the two “Harmonic Field” slices). The electronics are fleshy yet not invasive to a fault. The profusion of amassed frequencies and misrepresented colors furnishes the record with an essential animation, in spite of the occasional appearance of spectral vocals (including unneeded spoken snippets in “Organic Wave 1 & 2”). Basically, the tissue of the propulsive structures would be thick enough alone, that’s what we mean. The press release boldly states what follows: “A masterpiece that will open up the pathway into experimental sound creation for listeners whose tastes are shaped by electronic dance music”. Hype, I concur. Still, this stuff eats Burial and the likes for breakfast. touchingextremes.wordpress.com/2014/07/09/mario-conte-overtones/