May 24, 2020

Sundaze 2021

Hello,


Today's Artist is Stefano Musso who began recording music under the pseudonym of Alio Die in 1989. "Alio Die" is Latin for "another day", used as a greeting in Roman times as a positive look towards a better tomorrow......N'Joy

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Stefano Musso studied art and electronics in his home town of Milan, Italy,  and began performing  ambient, electro-acoustic music under the name Alio Die in 1989. Characterized by evocative acoustic sounds manipulated and tendered electronically, Alio Die's work builds intimate soundscapes tied to the mystery and majesty of life and nature. His first CD "Under an Holy Ritual", released on his label Hic Sunt Leones in 1992 and re-released on Projekt in 1993, was received with international acclaim. Enthusiastically received in his home country, 'Holy Ritual' expanded Musso's international presence significantly in 1993 when it was licensed by the popular U.S. darkwave label Projekt. His music is a shadowy, cavernous, intensely detailed fusion of acoustical elements, step-and-repeat sample treatments, sparse, echoing percussion, and deep, atmospheric sound design, playing ambient's static tendencies off of shifting melodic and textural passages that suggest movement without sacrificing the music's vague, entropic formlessness.   He subsequently released more than 25 CDs, and collaborated  with many well-known artists such as Robert Rich, Vidna Obmana, Mathias Grassow, Nick Parkin, Yannick Dauby,  Amelia Cuni, Raffaele Serra, Ora, Antonio Testa.

"Natural and acoustic sounds and selected noises, electronically treated and reworked, are integrated in a meditative and spiritual context that often, in the feeling, becomes close to a prayer. Visible static, this music is rich of hidden sounds, layers of elements to discover at each listening. Alio Die's music, in the consciousness space that creates, it's a melting of technology and mysticism, like a new ritual with echoes of a medioeval time, deep and grounded in introspection."

and as this bio is rather limited here's an interview he did in 2008

2008 intervew by Tobias Fischer, he is editor-in-chief of tokafi, publisher of 15 Questions and a cultural editor for Germany's biggest Printmag on Recording, „Beat“.

Hi! How are you? Where are you?
I’m fine, moving at a good point.

What’s your view on the music scene at present? Is there a crisis?
If you mean the music business, yes it is in a kind of crisis... We know the reasons about that, downloads from the internet mainly. Less people buy original cds and more and more people copy. I’s happening to experimental and non commercial music, too, where listener were usually more motivated to buy the real cd. So we see that sales are strongly in decline and lots of shops and distributors have had to close down and cease their activities after many years.

On the other hand, the number of releases is still growing a lot, so the crisis it is not at all on the artistic activity side. With this in mind, I try to optimize the quality of the cd releases with digipack artworks and limited editions of 300 copies. The possibility of getting information quicker and exchange it is a good input to creativity, expecially for people which before lived in a kind of isolation from the rest of the world where they thought the things happened.

What, would you say, are the factors of your creativity? What “inspires” you?
My creativity derives from my special feeling about reality. Perhaps it is that what is forbidden and missing in our dayly life, which inspires me, it is a kind of ‘nostalgic’ feeling in a purified way, without the emotional aspect. I can find inspiration in nature or through observing life itself, or from other music and cultures as well. I’m intersted in disclosing the magic of the present moment in multilayered feelings of a simple complexity. The medicine must work on myself first, but the mixture must be usefull to everybody confronted with that listening experience, so I try to build up something not too personal, and perfectly tuned. I also aim at expressing the circularity of time, to find a point of view that is beyond time.


How would you describe your method of composing?
Taking inspiration from a kind of symbolic language through which I’ve found access to its code, I combine and decorate feelings by different sound elements, then add some random elements born from the present moment.

The process includes improvisation in the sessions with acoustic instruments and objects, but then the sounds are mixed in an accurate way and not so much things are left out.. I let Intuition guide random elements like synchronisation between layers and filters for example. I usually start experimenting with tunings derived from acoustic recordings and field recordings and then treat the sounds in my studio. I also like to sample in a creative way. By this I mean transforming the original source into something different...


How do you see the relationship between sound and composition?
In my music, the qualities of sound and composition are very closely aligned. Some melodical elements are also a part of it, but the more important thing is the right relation between all the ingredients of the music, tunes and vibes coming together to create a new creature ready to work with moods and states of consciousness of the listener.

How strictly do you separate improvising and composing?
Improvisations are usually directed to find a natural feeling that is not yet music, but sometimes it is a ‘controlled’ improvisation by special tunings already decided before. In any case, in the improvisational process I try to capture the feeling of the moment. This is already part of the composition, as it will help to give direction to the entire process of the recordings.


What does the term „new“ mean to you in connection with music?
Something new is something that brings together different elements for the first time, or old elements combined in a new way.

There is nothing new at all, I think usually we transform differents inputs and styles into a new language that come from our personal sensibility and creativity. Creativity must surely be fresh and new everytime, but personally, I like the ancient and the mysterious knowledge that comes from the past, as I don’t belive in any kind of ‘evolution’... In our era, to speak about devolution it actually more correct.


Do you personally enjoy multimedia as an enrichment or do you feel that it is leading away from the essence of what you want to achieve?
I personally enjoy a creative use of new technology. The point is not to agree or disagree with a new way of entertainment, but in the way we use it.


What constitutes a good live performance in your opinion? What’s your approach to performing on stage?
I don’t play live often. This is due to the fact that it is not possible replicating the works I create in the studio in a concert situation. So I tried to adapt some part of acoustical inserts and improvisations with real instruments with the looped electronic effects already embedded into basic sounds. I played live performances few times with Opium and with Zeit on the last two occasions.

I used also a support of a video with beautiful morphings of paintings by Yanusz Gilewicz,and kaleidoscopic mandalas images by Alessandro Vittorio(Ozis) and the results was wonderful.

Do you feel an artist has a certain duty towards anyone but himself? Or to put it differently: Should art have a political/social or any other aspect apart from a personal sensation?
Absolutely. I don’t take care of political/ social matter at all, but in any case I think the muse of art should guide one in some way, giving inspiration to new possibilities in cultural and human aspects. Apart  from entertainment, this is a basic meaning and primary reason for music that can build bridges towards different levels of consciousness. If the work of an artist, apart from his originality, is totally disconnected from this important duty, it is totally devoid of any meaning and it is only self-celebratory.


How, would you say, could non-mainstream forms of music reach wider audiences without sacrificing their soul?
In our times there is no risk of becoming too popular with this music or of become commercial- At least not for me... It does happen sometimes with other kinds of ”Ambient” music but still very rarely.


You are given the position of artistic director of a festival. What would be on your program?
Medieval-pagan music like Faun, Daemonia Nimphe, In Gowan Ring for the afternoon, Jack or Jive, Amelia Cuni and Terry Riley, evening and Robert Rich, all night long.


Many artists dream of a “magnum opus”. Do you have a vision of what yours would sound like?
Usually it is the last music released.. But in this case more than usually it is my last album AURA SEMINALIS. You must know that I considered Opus Magnum as the title to this one (I later rejected it for being too obvious..). By the way my Opus magnum will be researched again and looped again later, it is a work still in progress...


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Sola Translatio is a collaborative work between the italian ambient sound master Alio Die and younger Italian newcomer Opium(Matteo Zini). The music moves on abstract drones, minimal rhythms, and "found sounds," rather than being spooky or boring, spreads a calming layer of gentle sound over the listener. It has a nocturnal but serene quality, and feels like the soundtrack for long quiet hours in an elegant Oriental country retreat. It evokes a place one would like to return to, rather than a nightmare from which one struggles to wake. Its a tapestry of mesmerizing low-rumbling melodies/frequencies for a deep listening, where the sounds of nature are always present. obscure, intense and intimistic ambient in this magic meeting.



Sola Translatio - Ad Infinitum (flac 237mb)

01 The Entrance 15:33
02 Absorbed in the Desert of Loneliness 11:47
03 Path Through the Hope Mountains 12:57
04 The Gate 9:22
05 Alio Die - Sublime Eternal 12:31

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The master/novice relationship at the core of Sola Translatio spawns a 74-minute series of scenic organic/electronic permutations. Veteran ambienteer Alio Die collaborates with newcomer Opium to construct the sprawling droneworlds illuminated by Mother Sunrise and decorated with tastefully-applied field recordings. Trickling rivulets and warmly glowing tones seep from superior spells to simply simmer in a vast expanse of protoplasmic goo. Slow-moving cycles of warm air float on the rays of mother sunrise (13:59), hovering above avian chirps and fluid splashes. Clattering bamboo and thumping waterdrums (and maybe a little throat singing?) drift easily into this peaceful reverie. With nearly imperceptible waves and a backing of insect chirps, awaken spirits drones resolutely, gathering higher layers of wisp as it mutates. Low rumbles (percussive? mechanical? volcanic?) stir beneath the continual, shimmering organ breeze of lullaby for the desert moon (5:18). The hushed gurgling of an undercurrent in castevoli is entwined with synthesized streamers and occasional flutey twirls, closing this experience in their tranquil cascade.

Often still, but never stagnant, the musically-tinged atmospherics of Mother Sunrise evolve with eight tracks of organic listening at its most sublime. The veteran/rookie combo of Sola Translatio scores an 8.8 with their slow-motion environmental dronescapes."



Sola Translatio - Mother Sunrise (flac  332mb)

01 Superior Spells 8:58
02 Sadness and Armony 9:06
03 Mother Sunrise 13:59
04 Awaken Spirits 11:26
05 Lullaby for the Desert Moon 5:18
06 Entrance Through a Self-Portrait 11:41
07 Floating Energies 5:40
08 Undercurrent in Castevoli 7:42

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Enigma is the third collaborative CD by Opium (Matteo Zini) and Alio Die. Here the duo are wavering between the earth and the cosmos, mystifying a series of eight "imaginary landscapes" where beats are totally absent and musical structure is loose and meandering. The atmospheres are frequently disquieting, haunting and full of subtle perplexity. Acoustic and organic sounds are embedded deep within hazy drone textures, the artists employing drones and loops, zither, flutes bells and field recordings with Opium focusing on programming and wave editings. It must be said thought at the sounds produced by the items listed are not necessarily those you might expect, these guys are not into dainty melodies and sweet tunes.



 Sola Translatio - Enigma    (flac 231mb)

01 Turbulence of the Creation 7:51
02 Entrance of the Sublime Labyrinth 8:46
03 Green Talkin' Ants 6:50
04 Vipers on the Waters 4:17
05 Turba Philosophorum 4:43
06 Crying Doors 7:13
07 The Last Path 11:09
08 The Domus Rebuilt 9:49

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Subtly swampy environments are soon stippled with shifty rhythmic appearances, as Molecular Dance does its thing on percolating waves and looping percussion, faintly decorated with feminine chanting. The Secret of Shady gorges (Global Mix) (5:30) is revealed as persuasively pattering drums thump through hazy gleams and watery currents. Trancey basslines and buried mediaspeak give Dreaming (Flyer Mix) an edgier feel than the lighter touch of subsequent floater In Mean Time though the beats intensify into a seductive cycle of drum and drift. Shuar (Floating Mix) effectively buries the surreal AD presence beneath lively grooves of bass and e-beats, though tantalizing traces are heard streaming in the background. Alternate Realities (Psychonaut Mix) is even more-flailing in the drum department. The album closes on the thrumming fragmentation of Axis Mundi (Templehead Mix) (8:10) which is pummeled with intriguingly slower percussive effects and sinuous bass riffs, and slips into an episode of swirling haziness midway through. Talk about the best of both worlds, RED SECTOR A speeds up ALIO DIE presents 56 minutes of Stefano Musso's entrancingly ambient soundcolor shifts imbedded with the invigorating rhythms of Red Sector A's Andrea Belucci. Together as Son-Dha these two worlds merge into an inviting A listen.



 Son-Dha - Red Sector A speeds up Alio Die  (flac 334mb)

01 Molecular Dance (Molecular Mix) 7:00
02 Dreaming (Flyer Mix) 5:30
03 In Mean Time (New World Experience Mix) 7:33
04 Shuar (Floating Mix) 7:15
05 Alternate Realities (Psychonaut Mix) 7:19
06 Onyx (Afterlife Mix) 6:24
07 Mesmeric Revelation (Early Space Pioneers Mix) 6:40
08 Axis Mundi (Templehead Mix) 8:10

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