mp3: GIARDINI DI MIRO othello
sometimes bad things happen to good people. take italy’s giardini di miro for example. they head off to leipzig to custom-make 12″ sleeves for their new e.p. release. every individual sleeve is hand-made and double-sided; most are two colour. 1,500 hand-made covers later, the crew take the goods elevator to the ground floor – and somewhere in-between, the elevator shudders to an abrupt halt, the covers shift off the pallatte and promptly fall down the side of the shaft. all 1,500 are destroyed in the process. not to be too outdone, another full set are drawn upa few weeks later – however this time around, 110 finished copies ‘get lost’ in transit from here to there. it is no wonder that their signature sound is a heady swirl of dark, contemplative post-rock.
based in reggio emilia, the quintet formed eight years ago and over that time have dropped many e.p.s, full lengths and remix treatments. the resume of collaborators includes isan, dntel, hood, styrofoam and australia’s pimmon. often likened to both godspeed you black emperor and mogwai, their latest release ‘north atlantic treaty part 2’ offers a clear deviation from that seemingly pre-ordained path.
the above mp3 ‘othello’ starts with a light electro 4/4 – and in that first few seconds, the curse of post-rock is instantly broken. to further fan the flames of dissent, guitarist jukka reverberi steps up to the plate to take on vocal duties. the result is a bold departure; certainly much of the space that had previously been reserved for contemplation has been lost, and the blueprint does seem over-familiar. that said, it is an oddly successful endeavour, and one that is accessible enough to allow giardini di miro some long overdue international plaudits.
rounding out this release is two mixes from apparat and alias – as my vinyl order is now somewhere between london and sydney, i can’t yet tell how good those mixes are; although you just know they’re going to be superb, as both producers rarely disappoint. the cd version also collects part one of ‘north atlantic treaty’, featuring two original tracks and remixes from hood and the boats.
www.2ndrec.com
www.myspace.com/giardinidimiro
buy online at
www.sonicane.com