Simon Balestrazzi 'Atti Innaturali' CD
CD edition released by Silentes.
CD edition released by Silentes.
Simon Balestrazzi’s new effort make use of a rather sparse instrumentation. The prepared strings of a battered Ukrainian tsymbaly (a percussion-stringed instrument similar to the hammered dulcimer) are excited with an eBow and only occasionally struck. Also they are processed in real time through a ring modulator, a digital spectral delay and a looper, stretching the sonic possibilities in an unnatural way. This iridescent mass, sometimes rich in abrasive clatters, sometimes in profound resonating harmonics, is intertwined with the droning undulations of a vintage VCS3 synthesizer. Finally the rare tolls of UFIP Ogororo plates offer a sombre punctuation.
These few elements conjure a deep and subtle tangle of flickering forms that guide us through a meditative and almost trance-inducing process. Conceived as a three part suite, “Atti Innaturali” stretches the listener across time and space.
Simon Balestrazzi is an electronic/electroacoustic composer and sound engineer active since 1979. In 1981 he founded the long-lived Italian cult band T.A.C. (Tomografia Assiale Computerizzata). Moreover, as well as working as a solo artist, during the years he has created or has been a member of many bands and projects: Dream Weapon Ritual, DAIMON, A Sphere of Simple Green, Hidden Reverse, Candor Chasma, Kino Glaz, Sarang, Kirlian Camera, Deep Engine, MOEX.
He has so far performed live or recorded with countless musicians and groups; among them: Paolo Angeli, Gianluca Becuzzi, Maurizio Bianchi/MB, Bron Y Aur, Daniele Ciullini, Sylvie Courvoisier, Deison, Bruno Dorella & Stefania Pedretti, Max Eastley, Andrea 'Ics' Ferraris, Le Forbici di Manitù, Henning Frimann, Fuzz Orchestra, Gerstein, Hermetic Brotherhood of Lux-or, Tim Hodgkinson, Xabier Iriondo, Limbo, Maisie, Elio Martusciello, MS Miroslaw, Ikue Mori, Clara Murtas, Phill Niblock, Victor Nubla, Alessandro Olla, Massimo Olla, Francesco Paladino, Plasma Expander, Nicola Quiriconi, Maja Ratkje, Claudio Rocchetti, Jared Russell, Paolo Sanna, Mauro Sciaccaluga, Damo Suzuki, Teatro Satanico, Testing Vault, TH26, Thelema, Uncodified, VipCancro, Giorgio Vivaldi and Z'EV.