Luca Formentini - Tacet
XCD-060 | CD | 2007 | Release Information
Whatever happened to silence? This is a question that Luca Formentini provides his own answer to on his debut album for Extreme, “Tacet”; an album of exquisite grace and enveloping textures.
Aiding him on this exploration is a stellar cast of musicians including Markus Stockhausen, Steve Jansen (Japan, Nine Horses), Steve Lawson, Deborah Walker and Frank Moreno. Each of these musicians bring their unique talents to an album that is unified by a shared understanding that silence is a space that is much sort after in today’s hectic existence.
Formentini is a revered musician in his own right, playing the guitar in a distinctive style that combines resonance, processing and improvisation to produce a raw and intuitive music that speaks to the senses. His guitar of choice is fretless electric and this allows him to explore the spaces in between, much like his music does on “Tacet”.
Formentini has the wonderful position as a musician who can create comfortably in the styles of contemporary composition, ambient and improvising ensemble player. This diversity of talent reflects his origins as a rock and electronic musician who has always maintained his unique voice as an artist and only ever performed original compositions.
“Tacet” has arrived at a time when we are much in need of silence. As society continues to speed up, “Tacet” creates a silence that allows us to stop and breathe and be refreshed by its organic beauty.
(The word ‘tacet’ is Latin for "it is silent". It is also a musical term to indicate that an instrument does not play for a long period of time, typically an entire movement.
xcd-060 | CD | 2007 | Audio Samples
Audio samples are available as lofi (64kbps) streaming mp3s.
xcd-060 | CD | 2007 | Reviews
Live-Electronics
By Alessandro Cartolari
mercoledì, 22 agosto 2007
Luca Formentini è un chitarrista bresciano attivo da diversi anni e questo è il suo primo cd pubblicato dalla nota etichetta australiana Extreme. Tacet è stato registrato dallo stesso chitarrista tra il 2005 e il 2006 con l'aiuto di diversi ospiti: Markus Stockhausen (tromba), Steve Jansen (batteria elettronica), Deborah Walker (violoncello), Steve Lawson (basso elettrico) e Frank Moreno (batteria).
L'autore, sul suo sito, scrive: "Riempire gli spazi con suono e musica può ridare la sensazione del nulla... Tornare quindi ad ascoltare quella ricchezza di sensazioni che è nell'anima del silenzio". L'intento è chiaro: pochi suoni curati nei particolari, la creazione di ambienti sonori in lento movimento per chitarra elettrica e chitarra fretless, melodie statiche ma allo stesso tempo suggestive, processamento elettronico ben equilibrato tra loop e risonanze.
Assolutamente da sottolineare l'ottima resa sonora del cd; la gestione "minimale" degli interventi dei guest che in rare occasioni sono più di uno per pezzo e spesso con un ruolo coloristico; la centralità del fraseggio di Formentini. L'unico intervento che risulta deludente è quello di Steve Jansen in Frame, che oppone ad un un fraseggio di "Frippiana" memoria, una ritmica statica e di maniera, che ben poco aggiunge al brano se non una certa banalità. Ben diverse Sensing the mirror e Tacet con Markus Stockhausen, che aggiunge un lato acustico/timbrico all'interessante tappeto del leader, dando vita a due delle improvvisazioni ambient più riuscite, a mio parere, del cd.
Emergono echi pop (The fragile second, Skin for the angel, Layer) e momenti più spregiudicati (Thou, Misha) che hanno un buon incontro/scontro nel brano Coastlight grazie anche all'apporto di Frank Moreno alla batteria.
Un cd di genere, che sceglie luoghi di incontri e di separazioni, di attese e di tensioni soffuse e rallentate, a volte forse didascalico, ma comunque interessante..
xcd-060 | CD | 2007 | Liner Notes
Thou - LF: electric and fretless guitars, microsounds, harmonica, Deborah Walker cello - Mixed and edited by Luca Formentini and Paolo Costola
Layer ( first) - LF: electric guitar - Mixed and edited by Luca Formentini and Paolo Costola
Deep Test - LF: electric and fretless guitars, micronoises, voice - Mixed and edited by Luca Formentini.
Frame - LF: electric and fretless guitars, Steve Jansen: electronic drums - Mixed and edited by Luca Formentini and Paolo Costola
Sensing the mirror - LF: electric guitar and micronoises, Markus Stockhausen: trumpet, Giovanna Gabusi: voice - Mixed and edited by Luca Formentini and Paolo Costola
The fragile second - LF: electric guitar, Steve Lawson: electric bass ( recorded live) - Mixed and edited by Luca Formentini
Misha - LF electric guitar - Mixed and edited by Luca Formentini and Paolo Costola
July - LF electric guitar - Mixed and edited by Luca Formentini and Paolo Costola
Skin for the angel - LF: electric and fretless guitars, micronoises - Mixed and edited by Luca Formentini and Paolo Costola
Tacet - LF: electric guitar, Markus Stockhausen: trumpet ( recorded live) - Mixed and edited by Luca Formentini and Paolo Costola
Coastlight - LF: electric and fretless guitars, Deborah Walker cello, Frank Moreno drums - Mixed and edited by Luca Formentini and Cristian Piccinelli
Jealous - LF acoustic guitar and drum machine - Mixed and edited by Luca Formentini and Paolo Costola
Layer ( resonance) - LF: electric guitar - Mixed and edited by Luca Formentini and Paolo Costola
All tracks recorded by Luca Formentini at Selva Capuzza – San Martino della Battaglia – Italy in 2005 and 2006
All songs written by Luca Formentini except for:
Tacet and Sensing the mirror by Luca Formentini & Markus Stockhausen
The fragile second by Luca Formentini & Steve Lawson
Mastering by Dario Caglioni
Artwork by Giovanna Gabusi
Special thanks to: Deborah Walker, Frank Moreno, Giuseppe Verticchio, Alex Camanini, Jeff Larson at Zonemobius.com, Cristian Piccinelli, Paul Lentzen at Spl and Joe Mendelson at Gramercypost.com.
Produced by Luca Formentini
©Publishing by Multiforce – Sony Music
Luca Formentini official website: www.unguitar.com
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