Nefelodhis is the inaugural installment of Between the Elements, a tetralogy exploring “the space between the elements.” This is a long-term project dreamed up by Maurizio Bianchi (MB) and Matteo Uggeri (Hue, Sparkle in Grey,) centered around a series of records employing experimental sound design, each portraying in sound a different landscape (think of it as the experimental equivalent to Thrice’s Alchemy Index.) Nefelodhis means cloudiness in Greek, and the second installment, Erimos (which means desert) is already out on the American label Digitalis Industries.
The theme of cloudiness is one well suited for exploration by Sparkle in Grey, an Italian quartet which has grown out of Hue’s solo work. The band combines bass, guitar, and violin with electronics provided by Uggeri, often heavily relying on field recordings and found sound. The result is a melancholic and melodious swirling of rhythms and noises, surprisingly coherent and pleasant despite its mashed-up quality.
Maurizio Bianchi is one of the pioneering Italian noise artists, and his style is quite old-school as a result. Born in 1955, Bianchi came to prominence in the ‘80s, but withdrew from making music after becoming devoutly religious in 1984; apparently he became a Jehovah’s Witness, though I’m not sure exactly in what way this may have affected his art. After a long hiatus, he began creating music again in 1998, at a pace so prolific that he rivals Machinefabriek. Most of his early work was released under the simple name of MB, and was made by employing combinations of analog processes, not unlike artists such as Bob Ostertag or Negativland. Not unlike his peers creating punk rock, he viewed the modern world as being destructive, nihilistic, and detached, and his work was thus a reflection of the world as he saw it; mostly atonal, free-form noise sculpture, akin to Dadaist soundscapes, with massive crescendos of noise and sound. In contrast to this, much of post-hiatus work tends to be more ambient, though he occasional creates the same sorts of violence, always again employing analog techniques.
The record itself is even more out there than past SiG releases, and clearly Bianchi’s influence is at work. MB created a realm of pensive soundscapes, over which the four members of Sparkle in Grey added their own improvisations. Bianchi again dismissed the usual equipment used by similar artists (the laptop, synthesizers, samplers, drum machines,) and instead uses only analog sounds, coming from “treated guitars, DVD players, tapes, and other unknown instruments,” according to the press release. Matteo Uggeri then mixed the resulting session into its distinct forms, which were then mastered by past collaborator (and TSB favorite) Giuseppe Ielasi. This essentially follows the same style of production first pioneered by Miles Davis and Teo Macero on Bitches Brew. The resulting product is grey, often filled with anguish but without falling into despair. The listener is often unsure of what exactly it is that she is hearing. The prominent beats and melodies of SiG’s solo material are largely absent. The melody is instead buried, and short bleeps and blips occasionally appear to guide the drifts.
“The Sky Gets Grey” opens the album with a wave of white noise and varying loops of delayed guitar. The motif enters after over three minutes of being blown around a desolate soundscape, and builds and is deconstructed over another six. “Rainy Clouds Under The Sun” is broken down into three parts, named after three different types of clouds: Cirrum, Nubilus, and Cumulum. Each segment predictably evokes a mood in line with its title. Cirrus clouds are thin and wispy, often indistinguishable from surrounding clouds, and this track begins to conjure a sparse beat, with a blend of noise with a melody gradually rising above it all. The second refers to the type of cloud which is completely indistinguishable and grey. This track has a prominent and relatively fast paced rhythm set by constantly blipping and banging. When listening on headphones, or in any manner which preserves clear stereo separation, one comes to appreciate the production work as the blipping subtly shifts back and forth, beginning to disorient the listener and draw her into a realistic landscape. The Cumulum are tall and puffy in appearance, and the track again relays this, with a more ambient direction then the first two sections.
From here, things begin to climax throughout “The Unpredictable Weather” - Stratus and Cumulum Nembum. Stratus clouds are long and featureless, often obscuring the sun though not bringing much precipitation. At 8 minutes and 22 seconds, it is the second longest track on the album, and revolves around a low piano phrase, surrounded by minimal noise, making it the sparsest track on the record. The second part refers to the clouds associated with thunderstorms and intense weather, yet continues with the sparseness of its predecessor, further developing the melody and melancholic atmosphere. The violin here sounds almost like a zither…in fact, I’m not positive if it actually is a violin. The song quietly fades away into silence, a silence which continues into the penultimate track, “The Last Cloud.” Like a wind blowing, a cross faded whooshing noise begins to loop, and in comes the sound of feedback, slowly moving from left to right and back again. The zither-violin returns, and the track gradually picks up speed. It still remains somber, and at five minutes is relatively short, so the group has not gone for the obvious, cacophonous climax, but rather a climax of a different sort.
Clouds reflect much of the light that hits them, causing them to appear grey from below. From above, however, clouds appear as a spectacularly bright white. This duality clearly is central to the theme of the album, and I think to Sparkle in Grey in general. The last song, “The Beauty of Clouds Seen From Above,” is the shortest, only 1:39. We don’t often view clouds from above, but this beauty is always there.
-Joseph Sannicandro