stella veloce is an avante garde composer and cellist from sardinia. her new album is called '
for a flat'. i have to admit that while i listen to a ton of music i am fairly ignorant about classical music, but i believe this album to be on the distant fringe of the classical realm. real distant. the songs feel improvised and they are named after days (friday, saturday and sunday), which implies to me the spontaneous nature of their recording process, though i would not be surprised if there was more to it that escapes my perception. perhaps making the listener imagine there is more to it is the trick that music like this plays
on these songs, the cello grinds with a slow anxiety that builds at times to a crisis of sound. some kind of incidental percussion instruments click and clack. a saxaphone plays incidentally and sporadically. there are snatches of casual conversation. bird songs and field recordings. bent electric guitar noodling. prepared guitar? did i hear some tape manipulation at the end of '
saturday'? in a lot of ways i interpret this as experiencing the weekend with the artist. it's a satisfyingly weird experience.
download it for free
here.
