Elli Records – 21st May 2021
Christopher Nosnibor
Mathematic graduate turned musician (Conservatory of music and jazz studies) Daniele Sciolla has, it would seem, found a suitable home on Elli Records: just look at those precise, diagrammatic, geometrically-precise cover designs.
There was a time I’d have likely dismissed all of this as one massive nerdgasm, and have been largely unimpressed by the tale of his ‘trips all around Europe searching for rare synthesisers’, but through exposure I’ve come to appreciate the minutiae that are the obsessional objectives of works like this, which really probe deep into the tiniest nuances of sound which can be achieved through the working of these machines.
This EP goes deep into the relationship between sounds, tones, and individual notes, and as the notes explain, ‘On each track, synthesisers are either presented as a timbrical mass, or left alone by themselves, in which case even the smallest details of a single synth become audible.’
Once acclimatised and accustomed to the granular, detailed explorations, it’s not difficult to grasp why there is such a fascination with analogue equipment: the extraordinary versatility they offer when all of the variables are tweaked, even infinitesimally, is a thing of wonder.
Sciolla’s five comparatively short pieces – only one extends beyond four minutes, and the whole EP is under fifteen – retain a sense of musicality that’s often absent from many experiments in analogue, and while there are many wows and flutters, and rapid-bouncing stammers that sound like ping-pong being played at a million miles an hour, there are structural elements that give the pieces shape. There are even brief moments that fleetingly call to mind Hot Butter’s ‘Popcorn’, although to be clear, there’s nothing quite so buoyant or cheesy on offer here. But there is a sense of fun, a certain playfulness – or perhaps it’s the sound of sheer joy.
AA
Aural Aggravation 