Enrico Coniglio is a thirtysomething post-Fennesz producer/musician based in Venice. He deals in a warm, soothing blend of guitar drones, field recordings and digital post-production. dyanMU is his fifth album, and this time around he’s joined by Elisa Marzorati on piano. Coniglio works as an urban planner by day, and it is perhaps no coincidence that his music evinces a strong sense of place and landscape.
Opening track ‘Brushwork’ features contemplative piano chords and runs layered over heavily syncopated programmed drums (from guest Rena Jones) and chilled synth atmospheres, with indecipherable spoken word samples floating in and out of the mix. However, this opening track is deceptive, as the rest of the CD dispenses with drums altogether. Coniglio says that he was freely inspired by Debussy’s piano preludes in the making of this record, and ‘Foliage’ is a solo piano instrumental which seems to hang in the air like a latter day ‘Clair de Lune’. ‘Birds Delight’ is an Eno-esque melange of swooping bass drones and haunted electronics. ‘Timepiece’ samples Robert Fripp in a cinematic soundscape of richly reverbed piano, drifting synth strings and Alva Noto-style bass glitches.
This album is a must for all fans of intelligent, richly-textured ambient music.
For MP3 previews click here.
Ewan Burke
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