Occupying a remarkable middle ground between the operatic, the abstractions of experimentalism, and seductive qualities of popular music, Italian berlin-based composer, performer and publisher Claudio Rocchetti has created an entirely singular from of electroacoustic practice, as though Phillip Glass' Operas were tossed into a blender run by
Alvin Lucier. Thrilling, deeply engaging, and bordering on the visionary, this transportive wonder taps the melancholic and ecstatic alike.
The latest work, after six years of silence, from Claudio Rocchetti, Labirinto verticale takes its origin from the four years long collaboration of Rocchetti with the Parma-based Fondazione Lenz, a contemporary theatre research collective/organization.
Immersed in their very fertile milieu, inspired by the writings of Hölderlin and Calderon de la Barca, and orbiting around the concepts of Memory, Sedimentation, Presence/Absence, Rocchetti produced several hours of music, a selection of which is collected in this album, that marks the n.5 in the internationally acclaimed Die Schachtel's series "Decay Music", perfectly fitting its mission, which is to explore the more "intangible", "decomposing" (in a re-generative sense of the term) borders between experimental sound and "proper" music with a special focus on the more interesting experiences of the contemporary Italian scene.
For sure the series of delicate, eerie pieces that composes Rocchetti's Labirinto verticale are of an intangible, almost "phantasmic" quality (in Rocchetti's words), a sort of alchemic "opera al nero" characterized by a ghostly use of fragments of the human voice, that surfaces in a subtle maelstrom of otherworldly sounds, created, manipulated and decomposed with the use of cassette tapes, re-recording sessions reminiscent of Alvin Lucier's I am Sitting in a Room masterpiece of sonic refractions, feedbacks, sounds either found or collected during the rehearsals or the theatrical workshops and shows, and—as a finishing touch—Rocchetti's own voice used to imitate artificial sounds or instruments and further re-mixed in a game of sonic mirrors that transports the listener in a completely new concept of melancholia, hauntology and at times on the verge of discomfort, managing anyway to remain in the space of a gratifying and accessible listening experience.
Limited edition of 300 copies.
Claudio Rocchetti (born 1976 in Bolzano, lives and works in Berlin) is one of the most active european avant musicians. Apart from his main solo project he is also part of 3/4HadBeenEliminated with
Valerio Tricoli and Stefano Pilia, half the duo Olyvetty with visual artist
Riccardo Benassi an he melts togheter with noise-funk duo G.I.Joe and Stefano Pilia into In Zaire power quartet. He also played in projects with Jooklo Duo (as Hypnoflash), double bassist Klaus Janek and with
Mattin, Bowindo, Fabio Orsi and MB among others. His work is mainly focused around concrete pastiches as the result of hardware live manipulation, turntable feedbacks and various recorded sources and objects. He released records on Hundebiss, Hapna,
Die Schachtel, Presto?!, Soleilmoon and Holidays Records. He is also the founder (with Kam Hassah) of Musica Moderna, a label focussed on field recordings, sound poetry and sound art.
