Hit the jump and we'll talk about RED, from Sonoio.
here's Alessandro, and the rest of his band
Monday Morning Commute Album #3: Red - Sonoio
here be the cover for Sonoio's SONOIO Red
Album: Red
Artist: Sonoio
Release Date: June 21, 2011
Recorded: early 2011
Producer: Alessandro Cortini
Performer: Alessandro Cortini, Jonathan Bates
Peak Chart Position: n/a
Label: n/a
Listening Device: iPhone 4, iPhone ear buds
Track Listing:
1. No Fun
2. Can You Hear Me?
3. Enough*
4. Minutes
5. Livid
6. As Long As You Make A Sound
7. Unpredictable
8. Scientist*
9. See Yourself
*singles
Alessandro Cortini is an Italian multi-instrumentalist who, through the last few years, has been slowly developing a very solid catalogue of music to his name. Often noted for his contributions to the Nine Inch Nails live line up from 2004-2008, Cortini has toured or recorded with numerous bands in addition, such as Beck, Muse, and Puscifer. No slouch creatively however, he is a founding member of three other bands, Modwheelmood (with Pelle Hillstrom) and his two solo acts: blindoldfreak and Sonoio.
Obviously, today we're here to talk about Sonoio.
I happened on Mr. Cortini, almost by accident, via the Nine Inch Nails. Some time later, after Trent had done a Wave Goodbye and packed up his bags, I began investigating Modwheelmood, and then blindoldfreak. Quickly thereafter Sonoio sort of, emerged, and though I missed Blue, I caught the 4 song sampler that was released to promote Red, and was almost instantly hooked. "Enough" is amazing, but we'll get to that later.
Still stinging from missing blindoldreak the year before, I jumped at the chance to go see Sonoio live at the Phoenix here in Toronto. He's only one guy, I wondered... How's he going to play all those... things?
Well, October 5th came, and Ladytron rolled into town, carting along little Sonoio with them. Astute readers will realize that Oct. 5 2011 is the same day Steve Jobs died. Alessandro noted this at the beginning of his set. Taking the stage in front of, maybe 30 people, he spoke quietly into the mic about how Steve Jobs had assisted the electronic music revolution, and how the set was dedicated to him. Then he started playing. No fan fare, or anything really. The lights dimmed, he grabbed his little rope-light microphone and started spinning around in circles on his knees, twisting knobs and playing synths around him.
ha. you thought i was joking.
Forty-five minutes later, at the end of his set, I went and bought both Red and Blue. They were released independently on iTunes and Amazon, and only available as physical copies through the website or on tour, so it was a nice snag. And I like buying merch at concerts. It feels better. That said, I'm not 100% sure it helped Alessandro feel better, because as we left the show a little early, my partner and I believe we may have seen him alone in a Domino's, waiting for a slice. A little sad, but this can be expected from a man Trent Reznor calls "one of the most miserable people." Heh.
Red is the second release from Sonoio, a follow up to Blue which was released in September of 2010. It is much expected that the next Sonoio album will adhere to the same naming practices and be titled "Orange". The naming convention from Sonoio albums is inspired by the design and colour of Buchla Instruments 218 and 221 synths, according to a reddit AMA with Cortini.
Wherein Blue was created solely using Buchla Modular Synths and Native Instruments plugins and synths, Red uses those same elements, but expands upon them. Introduced this time around are a Teenage Instruments OP-1, and a couple of drum machines (elektron monomachine and a machinedrum) as well as virtual instruments from Sound Toys and Audio Damage. While this does draw some attention away from the vintage "bleepbloop" modular analog sound you get from the Buchlas, it does create a more layered, dense sound that can lead to multiple, in depth listens.
While a little bit short with only 9 songs and a length of just over 32 minutes, Red is jammed full of electro experimentation and headbobbing fun. Tracks like "Enough" (that of the great video and wicked choice for a lead single) and "Can You Hear Me" are aggressive and hard-nosed, yet somewhat representative of typical pop structures (Cortini has extensively taught and studied music theory), which is fairly representative of the album. The pronounced accessibility and palatability of the above-mentioned tracks don't dominate the album as a whole though, and there are a lot of great departures from this tone, be they droning (as in the closer "See Yourself") or lush and layered (like vocoder heavy "Livid").
On this record, Cortini deftly illustrates his proficiency with Modular and Analog synthesizers. From the frantic triangle-wave opening to "Enough" to the dreamy, ambient tones of "Unpredictable" each track carries a very palpable mood that leads to something a little less monotonous than your traditional electro offering.
"No Fun" stands as a very solid opening volley, with delicious saw-waves layered on a easy rhythm and vocoded harmonies. Lots of fun, the song crescendoes slowly and takes off into "Enough" It's a great opener, and really manages to illustrate the simultaneous noisiness and minimalism this album exhibits. In addition, it's a great introduction to Cortini's vocals and melodies for those new the fold, and these certainly propel Red forward in wonderful ways. "See Yourself"is a great closer and bookends the album incredibly nicely, featuring a little bit of fugue and sample action as it features portions of the last album's closer "Just Me"
Stand-Out Tracks:
-"Enough"
This was my (and most people's probably) first encounter with the album. The second track from the album, but first from the four song promo released the month before, this track got the proper single treatment, fancy video, advanced release, special 7" vinyl, the whole 9. The intro/main synth riff is golden - so is the bass. Departing from Blue quickly, "Enough" is the first track to use the OP-1, and it gets some nasty analog distortion throughout that really adds some nice character. These facets, lined up with a nice poppy groove and some thick vocoded harmonies really make this one a doosie.
-"Scientist"
"Scientist" starts off a lot smaller, with a basic arpeggiated bass-line and a pretty straightforward drum pattern. Instrumentation is sparse in the first verse, and the harmony is clear but small. That said, every verse starts with the line "these are not the droids you're looking for / this is not my room behind your door." Star Wars reference for the win. This was a track I hadn't heard until our live encounter, and was instantly hooked. The pad flourish into the chorus and the minimal/lush contrast is fantastic. This track is so damn groovy it inspired its own vinyl remix single. And I have it (well my partner does.) and it's autographed.
-"Unpredictable"
This song seems to kind of materialize out of nowhere. A thick wobble and some hushed drum loops slowly bubble up with some sweet little melodies behind them. This cleans up from time to time in what I suppose one would call the chorus, allowing the vocals to have a little more breathing room and focus. It's eery and it's beautiful. It's soft and it's crunchy. It's Unpredictable.
Trivia:
- Sonoio is italian, like Alessandro. It means "It's me." Y'know, like Mario.
think his ? tattoo is more relevant now?
- with the release of both Blue and Red Alessandro designed tiny, analog synthesizers called "SuonoIO" ("I make sound" in Italian) These were available with deluxe purchases of the physical album for an additional fee, and also came with t-shirts. The one that accompanied Red was also stock designed to emulate some of the songs from Red.
look at all those knobs for weedlies. i'ma jealous.
-As mentioned above, "Scientist" later became a single of its own, spawning a special edition 7 inch (sexy red) vinyl featuring remixes of the song by several notable groups/musicians, which later begat a full remix album of all of Red, called (NON)Red. Here's a little pic of that fancy "Scientist" vinyl.
image courtesy: @rasiqra_revulva, courtesy of me. look at that neat little autographed and numbered mother.
So, to reiterate, this album is pretty darned awesome. LP or not. I'd suggest it to darned near anyone.
(y'know, that has any idea what a synthesizer is. probably ol' nana wrrrtika. she prefers neil.)
With that, I think we'll conclude this week's Monday Morning Commute Album.
Hope you enjoyed, I know I did.
Make sure to check back next week for some other random album!
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