An eloquent, complex and eclectic album where semi-electronic patterns are melted with timbral acoustic dynamics in a very groovy, stylish and sometimes otherworldly mood.
Claudio Ricciardi is a musical theorist, sound designer and pioneering artist in the early days of minimal ethnic drone music. He is firstly known from a larger audience thanks to the now classic work released by the acoustic vocal ensemble Prima Materia, back in the 70s. If La Monte Young, Tony Conrad, Angus MacLise and few other post-war American multi-disciplinary artists were among the first to explore conceptually / materially the spiritual and entrancing qualities of drone music, no doubt that Claudio Ricciardi and the Prima Materia vocal ensemble belongs to the same lineage. Rare recordings taken from this historical period have notably been reissued by Die Schachtel.
Loyal to his musical discourse and to his inventive attempts in “ethno-ritualistic” music and experimental ambient avant-gardism, Ricciardi proposes here an eloquent, complex and eclectic album where semi-electronic patterns are melted with timbral acoustic dynamics in a very groovy, stylish and sometimes otherworldly mood. This album is signed under the moniker of One Sound Duo which features the notable presence of the double bass player Orlando Lostumbo on various instruments and electronics.
“Kindred Spirits on the Sea” (featured below) starts the musical ceremony with a semi-improvised dialogue between percussive motifs and smoothly synthesized vibes, sustained by peacefully orientated field recordings. “Basho’s Hermitage” is an interesting and chanting spiritual hymn with a nice Eastern like flavor, built around moving bass frequencies and various percussive scintillations. A few tracks such as “The Cave” or “Lovers” are reminiscent of space ambient music with a sensitive inclination for new agey components.
The Way Becoming is brilliantly mastered by Giuseppe Verticchio (Nimh) and is recommended for fans of Alio Die, Klaus Wiese, Deuter (at their most ritualistic and suspenseful electronic moments), Jorge Reyes (for his sacred electronic weirdness and ethno-cultural inflected musical signature) and for passionate explorers in ethnomusicology.
The Way Becoming is available on Tide.
