Italian artist Giuseppe Ielasi’s debut album Gesine was a nice little disc that mixed filtered guitar with quiet percussion to create something that mostly worked quite well. His second, untitled release finds him moving into much darker realms, though, an almost night and day switch with his debut as he explores dark, long passages that unfold even more slowly than his debut. Basically, this is an album for nighttime.
Again, all the tracks on the album are untitled, and in some ways the lack of any names is refreshing, as it leaves you to sort of paint your own mind pictures about what the songs represent. The first song on the album runs over ten minutes in lengths and builds at a sluggish pace, starting with what sounds like bowed violin before heaving, deep percussion, sparkling guitar melodies, and repeated horn motifs all swirl into the mix and simply trudge along, turning the track into an extended, hypnotic fever dream.
The second track is more odd, lurching along with a ramshackle dub beat as deep bong hits refract off echoing crackled percussive hits and only about halfway through the track (which runs over nine minutes) does any sort of melody enter. Even then it’s sort of a hazy, filtered drone, and the long piece never really comes together. The third track is even more sparse, stretching out field recordings, warbling tape loop drones and some shuffling percussion into a piece that feels improvised in nature, but unfortunately not very engaging.
In same ways, the more claustrophobic feel of the album resembles the work of label-mates and fellow Italians 3/4HadBeenEliminated (on their hit-or-miss A Year Of The Aural Gauge Operation). Ielasi creates tracks that have mood to burn when they’re a bit more focused. The shorter, fourth track is a perfect example, mingling another low-end heavy dubby rhythm with murky electric piano melodies, echoing handclaps, and some filtered guitar that creeps through the molasses. A slow burn disc that loses its way in places, it’s music that prepares you for moving around with the creatures of the night.
