U30 | Osvaldo Coluccino | Parallelo
Parallelo : excerpt
Parallelo 2 : excerpt
format : CD ltd to 200 hand numbered copies
all copies come with an additional art card on 300gr satin paper
release year :2015
length : 44’04
tracks :
1. Parallelo (2007)
2. Parallelo 2 (2009)
status : still available
>>> order via Paypal : chalkdc@unfathomless.net
(Belgium) : 14 € (inc.postage)
(Europe) : 15 € (inc.postage)
(World) : 16 € (inc.postage)
~
: info :
These abandoned ruins of the seventeenth century are located along a path that I often walk on, uphill, in silence, alone. Not exactly on the path but hidden, deeper into the woods, that place lies parallel to the path that leads to the top of a hill. Even if I do not go (necessarily, every time) inside, that place beyond attracts like a magnet, makes its presence felt, launching its resonance up to the place of my steps. That secondary place is not seen from the primary path, but it is there. And it pulsates with life, neither new nor old life.
Probably in a short time those ruins of an ancient monastery, located in Domodossola, North West Italy, will be demolished. However, that place will remain, even after its erasure.
Parallelo, a work composed between 2007 and 2009, is also an attempt to detect and make feel the coexistence of vital fields ; “places” that exist in parallel but which, thanks to non-ordinary ways, occasionally may touch each other.
(Osvaldo Coluccino, May 2014)
~
: reviews :
Osvaldo Coluccino rotola nei pertugi e attraverso le calche del panorama musicale italiano come una biglia bizzarra, elegante, plastica e malleabile all’interno di una foresta morta e pietrificata, composta da fossili ormai inamovibili e immodificabili.
In questi due dischi, usciti a breve distanza l’uno dall’altro, prosegue con qualche indice di variazione quell’indagine nel mondo dei suoni che avevamo già avuto modo di apprezzare nei suoi due CD pubblicati su Another Timbre (“Atto” del 2012 e “Oltreorme” del 2013). L’aspetto cronologico deve essere comunque inteso solo rispetto alla data di pubblicazione perché “Dimensioni” raccoglie 9 brani d’archivio la cui composizione e registrazione va dal 1977 al 2007 (ed è quindi anteriore a quella dei due dischi sopra citati).
Il punto di contatto fra i quattro lavori sta nell’utilizzo, quale fonte sonora, di oggettistica comunemente destinata a scopi di diversa natura (e anche quando vengono utilizzati strumenti musicali tradizionalmente intesi come tali, quali il pianoforte in Differenza , le percussioni in Nell’attimo e il violino in Dimensioni, oppure quando si fa uso della voce umana, ancora in Dimensioni, viene fatto in modo non tradizionale e riconducibile quindi all’impianto generale dei due lavori).
Gli indici di variazione, invece, riguardano soprattutto le elaborazioni elettroniche e di studio alle quali vengono sottoposte le registrazioni utilizzate in questi due dischi, laddove nei due CD su Another Timbre i suoni erano di tipo esclusivamente acustico.
Se l’incisione e la strutturazione dei brani inclusi in “Dimensioni”, pur diversi per genesi e natura, rispondono al classico modello di composizione elettroacustica, “Parallelo” è invece un esempio simbolo di registrazione ambientata (per la precisione fra le rovine di un monastero del 17° secolo ubicato a Domodossola).[*]
Quello che più colpisce nella musica di Coluccino è la cura riservata al dettaglio, in un gioco di precisione e di incastri dove non esiste una pagliuzza che sia fuori posto; oppure, se preferite, un’opera pittorica astratta dove non c’è neppure una pur piccola pennellata tirata a caso.
Sostanzialmente entrambi i dischi possono sembrare prossimi al dark anbient di quei musicisti che furono soprannominati isolazionisti. Questa musica, rispetto a buona parte del dark ambient, è però molto meno atea (o, se preferite, meno terrigna). È come se fluttuasse in un perenne stadio di sospensione. Non so se Coluccino segue in particolare qualche disciplina religiosa, certo è che dalla sua musica trasuda un forte senso di spiritualità.
Un altro aspetto rilevante sta nella contraddizione, che ritengo positiva e creativa, fra l’azione tesa a fermare l’attimo, e questo mi fa pensare sia alla frase pronunciata dal protagonista di uno dei più bei libri di Heinrich Böll («Sono un clown e faccio raccolta di attimi») sia all’improvvisazione più pura, e il risultato di quell’azione che assume caratteristiche atemporali o che rientrano in una dimensione onirica. Gli attimi irripetibili, che solo le tecniche di registrazione riescono a cogliere nella loro essenzialità (s)fuggente, in Coluccino finiscono con l’assumere una loro caratteristica che trascende da quegli elementi solitamente indicativi delle caratteristiche appropriate a definire una composizione musicale – fonti sonore utilizzate, luogo e data delle registrazioni … – per trasferirsi in un loro spazio tanto tangibile quanto inimmaginabile.
Devo dire che “Parallelo“, visti gli oltre 20 minuti di durata dei due brani che contiene, ha più respiro e riesce così a imporsi all’ascoltatore in maniera più incisiva rispetto alle pur pregevoli composizioni incluse in “Dimensioni” (la cui estensione massima supera di poco i 14 minuti).
Devo anche dire che “Parallelo” è stato pubblicato nel contesto di una fortunata collana che ha già ospitato numerosi artisti internazionali piuttosto noti.
Questo mi sembra essere un elemento di rilievo perché può portare acqua al mulino di un musicista che al momento, questa è l’unica cosa certa e inoppugnabile, ha raccolto molto meno di quello che dovrebbe in virtù dei suoi meriti.
[*] In uno dei primi articoli pubblicati su sands-zine, tanto per intendersi, veniva fatta la distinzione fra registrazioni d’ambiente (quelle che gli inglesi chiamano field recordings), registrazioni per ambienti (la cosiddetta musica ambient) e registrazioni ambientate (cioè registrazioni effettuate all’interno di un ambiente specifico).
[translation of a fragment of the review by Osvaldo Coluccino]
Osvaldo Coluccino rolls in holes and through the throng of the Italian music scene as a singular, elegant, plastic and malleable glass marble in a dead and petrified forest, made up of now immovable and unchangeable fossils.
In these two discs, released at a short distance of each other, the investigation into the world of sounds that we already appreciated in his two released CDs on Another Timbre (“Atto” of 2012 and “Oltreorme” of 2013) continues with some variation. […] The point of contact between the four works is the use, as the sound source, of objects commonly destined to purposes of a different nature (and also when he uses traditional musical instruments such as the piano in “Differenza”, the percussions in “Nell’attimo” and the violin in “Dimensioni”, or when he uses the human voice, even in “Dimensioni”, he makes this in a non-traditional way, therefore attributable to the general plan of the two works). The variation, however, concerns especially electronic processing, and in the recording studio, to which the recordings of these two discs are submitted, whereas in the two CDs on Another Timbre sounds were purely acoustic.
If the recording and the structuring of the pieces included in “Dimensioni”, although different from each other as origin and nature, correspond to the classic model of electroacoustic composition, “Parallelo” is instead an example symbol of recording in an environment (precisely in the ruins of a monastery of the 17th century located in Domodossola).
What is most striking in the Coluccino’s music is the care given to detail, in a game of precision and joints where there is not a speck that is out of place; or, if you prefer, it is an abstract painting where there is not a single brushstroke drawn randomly.
[…] It is as if [his music] floats in a perpetual suspension stage. I do not know if Coluccino follows some religious discipline in particular, it is certain that from his music exudes a strong sense of spirituality.
Another important aspect is the contradiction, which I consider positive and creative, between the action that is intended to stop the moment – and this makes me think both to the phrase uttered by the protagonist of one among the most beautiful books by Heinrich Böll («I am a clown and I make collection of moments») and the purest improvisation – and the result of that action that takes timeless characteristics or which are part of a dreamlike dimension. The unique moments that only the recording techniques are able to grasp in their elusive essence, with Coluccino assume their own characteristic that transcends from those usually indicative elements of the characteristics which are suitable to define a musical composition -– sound sources, place and date of the recordings… – to move to their own as tangible as unthinkable space.
I must say that “Parallelo”, given the more than 20-minute duration each of the two pieces it contains, has more breath and so it is able to impose itself to the listener more vigorously than the even fine compositions included in “Dimensioni” (whose maximum extension is just over 14 minutes each). I must also say that “Parallelo” was released in the context of a successful series that has already hosted numerous well-known international artists.
This seems an important element because it can bring grist to the mill of a composer who at this time, this is the only certain and incontestable thing, has received much less than what he would have to receive by virtue of his merits.
Etero Genio
Sands-zine
~
By analyzing Osvaldo Coluccino’s artistic path and recorded output, two important things must be noted. The first is the variety of the acoustic spectrum, ranging from the rigour of modern classicism to the relative impermanence of soundscapes based on actions performed with unidentified objects in equally mysterious environments. The second is his unique talent in fusing instances of musique concrete in ambits where the juxtaposition and processing of diverse studio-generated sonorities give birth to bottomless psychological milieus. Parallelo should ideally be placed in such a context, despite the music’s reluctance to accept a true classification.
The record consists of two tracks of identical length and title, but diverging in terms of succession of events and actual distribution of the sonic substances. “Parallelo” is describable as a continuum comprising the multitudes of blurred facets pertaining to an individual awareness emerging during the daily existence, whereas “Parallelo 2” manifests its meanings via a sequence of flashes with interspersed short silences, presenting the same type of sonority from a fascinating “now-you-see-it-now-you-don’t” perspective, a slightly different equalization delineating the reverberation of human activity a little more vividly.
The initial half throws in an obscure semi-oneiric dimension, utilizing frequencies that suggest a whispered hugeness in correspondence with relatively recognizable echoes, some of them of urban derivation. It’s the sort of soundscape that fills a room with cavernous aural mementos even at a modest volume: faraway vehicles, luminescent trajectories and unwelcome reminiscences call your attention through a thick haze. A disfigured realism, if you will, with several moments of unadulterated humming from an unspeakable underground.
The alternate version kneads the receptive systems with cyclical frames of action, then quietness. In a way, it’s as if Coluccino wished to let the audience guess the occurrences which will define each subsequent snapshot. “Ordinary” turns into majestic vibration; “massive” is reduced to nothing in a few instants. This constant change does not imply contradictions, as we configure our being according to the (un)familiarity of what is heard. If anything, a separation may emerge between the passiveness of a mere listener and the willing participant submitting a piece of his/her soul to become a part of those unreachable manifestations.
All we learned from the composer is that the inspiration for this imposing opus came from an abandoned monastery destined to be demolished. I fantasize him hypothesizing a symbolism for the ruins of mankind, for Coluccino is well conscious that a decaying building can still offer a rich resonance while most people are completely deprived of internal chambers. And strings, for that matter.
Massimo Ricci
Touching Extremes
~
Italian composer Osvaldo Coluccino’s past releases have appeared on NEOS, Another Timbre, Col Legno, and Die Schachtel, suggesting that he can operate in the same vein as a composer like Wolfgang Rihm or cut closer to an electronic outsider like Catherine Christer Hennix. On his Unfathomless debut he leans strongly in the electronic direction, though he plays with composed harmonic textures too. Parallelo consists of two 22-minute compositions recorded in and around a ruined 17th century monastery in Domodossola, Italy, at the foot of the Alps. It’s hard to tell exactly how Osvaldo achieved the final product, but the music consists of uncanny tones, disembodied noises, and field recordings blended so as to confuse the senses. There are tectonic wall-shaking drones, mechanical vibrations, sourceless resonances, and snippets of more recognizable fare too: car traffic, running water, busy thoroughfares. It’s all surprisingly spectral and melodic.
Everything is represented within a larger environment, however, and at times it can be difficult to assess whether the sounds were played into and simultaneously recorded within the space of the monastery (Alvin Lucier style) or if they were generated from it. Some of the tiny harmonic fluctuations and twisted effects must have required a computer or at least a few electronic gadgets to achieve, but the skill with which Coluccino merges them into the environment makes them far more unusual than they might otherwise be, sequestered inside a studio or concert hall. It’s a layered and sometimes ominous recording that finds unusual correspondences between structures and environments both man-made and natural.
Lucas Schleicher
Dusted Magazine
~
Si l’on n’a pas lu les brèves informations inscrites sur la pochette du disque, on ne saurait dire vraiment dans quelle contrée – quelles cavités, quels tunnels, quelles profondeurs – Osvaldo Coluccino a pu aller ramasser ces preuves de vérité : échos, souffles épais, grincements, rafales…
Ni zone industrielle à l’abandon, ni hangar désaffecté, mais un monastère italien du XVIIe siècle, évidemment en ruines. Promesses de beaux fantômes à faire chanter – c’est le propos des phonographies publiées par le label Unfathomless : jouer avec les souvenirs, l’aura, les résonances d’un endroit – et de débris à remuer que Coluccino transforme en deux paysages fantastiques : deux parallèles sonores de vingt-deux minutes et deux secondes chacun, immanquables.
Guillaume Belhomme
Le Son Du Grisli