There’s a revival of techno in Italy and Lamanna, and like-minded musicians, are at the coal face. Psychological, at times bordering on serpentine, a deep and brooding sound has been sculpted out of ashen images and industrial clatter.
It can be hard to keep up with artists, some more so than others. At times it can be hyper-productivity; records coming thick and fast, avalanches of albums. For others it can be the opposite. One release every couple of years and they disappear into the ether. A third category comes when both a merged. Some musicians manage to evade the limelight, ducking out of it and crawling into the darkness of pseudonyms, obscure monikers and sister labels.
Luciano Lamanna is one of those artists. The Love Blast founder growls out a hoarse bellow of harsh electronics, dark atmospheres and punishing percussion. It’s a sound which has lead me further and further down the shadowy avenues of his musical mind, traversing the myriad of monikers employed. And to keep the matters complicated the Italian is releasing under his own name for a new label.
Moon Child sets the Scuderia ball in motion. The two tracker could almost be considered a split affair. The Love Blast founder serves up a broiled piece of techno discontent. Thudding 4/4 are the foundation from which bleak bass and scratching rinses flow. But amidst the grey, concrete and rain that this track conjures is that mesmeric quality that Lamanna has. Gears grind and sounds jar and you get pulled in, finding those little subtle adjustments and shifts that will keep you coming back. Unit Moebius Anonymous is an unlikely choice for remix, but a perfect one. Growling, grunting and disgruntled the dutch stalwart in all things grim and punk flicks ash in the face of the original. A distorted and gnarled take if there ever was one.
Lamanna’s collaboration work is yet another reason why it’s so hard to pin him down. With releases on the likes of Lux Rec, Minimal Rome and Blackwater with groups like Lunar Lodge, Der Noir and Assalti Industriali (who are just set to release on MRT) confusion is understandable. But don’t let that put you off. A new partnership of Balance, with Davide Ricci, has just been christened with the release of 3 on Subsound. Their sound sits somewhere in the bloodline of Moon Child; a pretty distant cousin mind. Groaning strings, warbling bass and reverb echo and bulge in this triumvirate of ambient undertones. Nothing is titled, juddering bars, tumultuous crashes and heavy ambience do the titling on this introduction to Balance.
There’s a revival of techno in Italy and Lamanna, and like-minded musicians, are at the coal face. Psychological, at times bordering on serpentine, a deep and brooding sound has been sculpted out of ashen images and industrial clatter.
3 is available on Subsound, Moon Child is available on Scuderia,
