[ Recensioni / Reviews ]
NIMH: Krungthep Archives (CD 2011 – Silentes)
Nonostante l'ampio utilizzo di strumenti etnici “Krungthep Archives” appare l'opera più coraggiosa di Giuseppe Verticchio o almeno quella maggiormente proiettata verso l'ignoto. Il futuro viene osservato attraverso la decadenza post moderna di Bangkok tra disegni elettronici, field recordings e drone che regalano all'ascoltatore suggestive atmosfere nelle quali la sperimentazione è protagonista indiscussa. La parte più consistente del materiale risale a quattro anni fa ma l'autore ha attinto anche da vecchie cassette e, rispetto a “Travel Diary” e “The Unkept Secrets”, si percepisce una visione globale di quello che sarà Nimh nelle prossime uscite. Il rumore del traffico, gli abusi urbanistici e il senso di solitudine trasmessa dai cartelloni pubblicitari che irrompono nell'ambiente accompagnano la stesura di cinque movimenti di rara bellezza. Lasciatevi travolgere da un incedere ieratico e meccanico ma non ponetevi mai domande sulla vostra locazione spazio-temporale perché la musica in questione ha il potere di trasportarvi lontano non garantendo il ritorno alla ferale quotidianità.
- Lorenzo Becciani “Divine” - Dagheisha
In this last effort, Giuseppe Verticchio (frontman and multi instrumentalist behind Nimh) liberates the musical possibilities of noises taken from various public places and subtly interact this study with densely sonic instrumental textures (made of various ethno-cultural instruments from traditional Asia). The musical signature and general aesthetic direction are in the direct vein of the two previous releases Travel Diary and Missing Tapes: moving, symbiotic and spatial relationships between the acousmatic theater, fragmented acoustic tones and relevant organic interferencies. The opening theme rises from the distance with an exquisite, almost liturgical music procession made of hypno- minimal patterns, long sustained acoustic drones and crowdy noises that progressively come into the mix. Track 02 starts with an intense burgeoning medley of sounds, abrasive noises, timbral and polymorphic textures which combined all together create a kind of vertiginous cyclical mind trip through altered memories. Track 03 probably represents the highlight with its meticulous and well balanced dialogue between static minimalism, luminous melodies lines, sustained sonorities and an avalanche of noisy, crashing sounds. Track 04 is an hypnagogic repetitive mantra for ethno instruments and sonorous, slowly evolving drone frequencies, punctuated by cinematic noises and physical atmospheres. Track 05 closes this energetically mobile and sonic voyage with a vast collection of concrete materials and deliciously introspective acoustic chords. Krungthep Archives reveal tremendous ecological soudscapes and introduces the listener into an original trans-cultural sound monography. These archives spontaneously communicate the pleasure to re-discover in a sensitive way the micro-polyphony of everyday life. Well recommended for curious, sound ethnographers and post-industrial (neuro-electronic) listeners.
- Philippe Blache - Progarchives
Giuseppe Verticchio continua a raccontare la Thailandia attraverso i suoni dei suoi archivi. In "Krungthep Archives" Nimh mette in ordine quanto riversato nel 2007 negli studi Sukhumvit di Bangkok. E poi ancora field recordings presi tra il 1994 e il 2009. Fotografie estremamente suggestive che mescolano sacro e profano, antico e moderno, il suono di un solitario strumento a corda con il fragore assordante di un incrocio stradale. Strumenti appartenenti alla tradizione popolare che Verticchio trasforma in oscuri mantra provenienti dal futuro. L'anima psichedelica di Nimh esplode su "Krungthep Archives" in maniera ancor più rumorosa rispetto ai precedenti dischi. Sebbene ogni aspetto della sua musica viva sempre nel suo opposto, come dimostrano le melodie nascoste tra gli uragani in "K.A. 02" e "K.A. 03".
- Roberto Mandolini – Onda Rock
Sin dai primi vibrati di “Krungthep Archives” si respira aria di visione mistica, un infuso di profumi esotici e rumori d’ambiente che evocano ipotesi di culture eurasiatiche intercomunicanti. Nimh scopre il fascino dell’Oriente per calarlo nella dimensione ad egli più congeniale della scrittura screziata che veste sonorità a vario spettro, con l’impiego di strumenti etnici tradizionali, samples e pattern elettronici d’ogni sorta. Non credo sia fuori luogo parlare di meditation music, tenendo conto che questi archivi sonanti pare derivino in maggior parte dai soggiorni thailandesi dell’autore, dai sapori di una Bangkok lacerata, nel bene e nel male, fra antiche memorie e voglia di futuro, e (forse) dal richiamo alle radici comuni.
- Aldo Chimenti - Rockerilla
With shameful guilt, it took me a while to review this new release by Nimh, but for what it's worth this' one of those record that I listened repeatedly before the review and not for a matter of indecision, but for it's so easy to be listened. In my opinion Giuseppe Verticchio reaches his personal best when dealing with quasi ethnic music, sure it's not pure tribal music and not even anything like Peter Gabriel's Real World, it has a lot of the personal taste of this musician. If you take this "Krungthep Archives" cd in some way its the ideal following to his "The Missing Tapes" release, but at the same time its quite different from the afore mentioned work. Beside his usual amount of field recordings, Nimh has played a lot of traditional instruments and worked on a sort of quasi-ethnic ambient music that mixed with field-sounds, indirectly it may give the idea of an aural documentary. Everything has been meticulously shaped by Verticchio during the mixing process that means even the most lo-fi sounds and the instrumental insertions have been married harmoniously. Verticchio's freaky taste may bring the listen into a sort of hypnotic dimension and when this musician works on this kind of releases displays a certain amount of security. One of my favourite Nimh releases so far.
- Andrea Ferraris – Chain DLK
Che cosa significa essere dis-orientati? Che significa stare male, perdere il senso della direzione, non riuscire a legare i pensieri in maniera coerente? Cosa c’è di più terrorizzante dello smarrimento in una società nella quale molte vite sono irreggimentate in percorsi predefiniti e semplificati? Sarà un’impressione soggettiva, ma Nimh solleva anzitutto questo problema, dimostrandosi quindi legato all’industrial delle origini, cioè quel genere che era in grado di farci ridiscutere le nostre categorie di pensiero, le certezze stupide, quello che ci faceva camminare su terreni scivolosi senza poter trovare la lucidità di tornare indietro verso appigli sicuri. Krungthep Archives è la “solita” (in senso buono) contaminazione tra ambient, noise, industrial, etnica e field recordings “orientali” sulla quale Giuseppe Verticchio lavora da anni con certosina dedizione. Tutte queste voci incomprensibili, tutti questi strumenti ipnotici, questa confusione sonora che fa da sostrato come se fossimo nel traffico di una metropoli straniera, incapaci di trovare il nostro Hotel Standardizzato, quello con le stanze uguali e gli impiegati uguali sia che ci si trovi a Copenaghen sia che si stia andando a Shangai. Negli anni ho avuto modo di seguire Nimh, Hall Of Mirrors e tutta una serie di progetti collegati a questi e a Silentes: questa volta, per non ri-descrivere sempre tutto alla stessa maniera, ho voluto lasciare che la metafora deragli, chissà che non serva a convincere qualcuno di nuovo. Da comprare.
- Fabrizio Garau - Audiodrome
Nimh is the brainchild of Giuseppe Verticchio, a Roman whose heart beats passionately for Thailand. His most recent release is the fourth of his unique insights and experiences of the country and its people issued by Silentes Minimal Editions in as many years. His most recent, slowly pieced together from sessions in Thai and Italian studios, is “Krungthep Archives”, which opens with a stringed instrument being plucked delicately before a window is opened up and the roar of the city streams in, but never overwhelms the player. "K.A. 02" skirts the precincts of noise as a cyclic theme commingles with radio chatter, static, whole Bangkok neighbourhoods trying to push their way through the door. Verticchio handles the assault with aplomb; instead of being overwhelmed, the city simply washes over the listener, leaving him sweaty, gritty, but unscathed and invigorated. The next section opens with more radio chatter and static either being manipulated or having its DNA spliced into a feedbacking guitar. But again, Nimh plies apart the din with rhythm and out emerges an almost triumphant tune. From the gentle drone of "K.A. 04" rises an intense, spirited dance. The finale is a deep, necessary gulp of fresh country air.
Altogether, a unique and precious archive of rare vision and taste.
- Stephen Fruitman - Sonomu
It is a strange and wonderful thing to hear a myriad of the instruments of the East played in an ethereal and electronic context. "K.A. 4" is an excellent example of this unique fusion and how well Verticchio pulled it off: an Indian drone that sounds distinctly electronic opens, and a furiously played sitar is the centrepiece. The track ends with a swell of strange sounds and the return of the drone. The whole album takes various Asian sounds and then makes them feel out of this world. Words can't completely convey just how otherworldly and yet so right this comes out as. It is like an industrial ambient band going backpacking through India, Southeast Asia, and then on through China and Japan, along the way cutting tracks with traditional musicians, and then assembling the project into an excellent whole. Or you can think of it as an artifact dropped by extraterrestrials who decided to do a take on some Earth music. And this is all the work of one man! Verticchio is remarkably talented, and the proof is this masterful album.
-Lear's Fool - Progarchives
Giuseppe Verticchio's, a.k.a. Nimh, 2011 "Krungthep Archives ", travels through the obscure, white noise, strident electronics, as it is also poignantly focused on playing ethnical kind of tunes with their respective instrumentation, mostly Asian or Indian, alongside, live recordings of nature's sounds and some village's peasant life of what seems to be somewhere around those same places.
In this project's progressive mutation, back and forth between its musical directions and mixtures of musical languages and influences, what is constant is Giuseppe Verticchio's detailed and creative music songwriting. Even the unmusical white, harsh noise or its indistinct voices and chatters , are kept in size, unless the composition requires the opposite, without surrendering the spirit of "pure electronic experimentation", very much in the tenor of his own country (very) early electronic musicians. (Italy circa 1930.)
In fact that is exactly what makes this work "cinematic like" (without any kind of ST cliches, of course), the wide space given to each musical or noise direction.
Unobtrussive to each other but linearly focused, as also imprinting each song with its own personality, yet parts of the whole project.
Rich in melodies and moods, yet abundant in its uncompromising sonic electronic textures!
- Alan “Admireart” - Progarchives