Prehistoric Silence is a recently-born label releasing both physical and digital stuff, based on the Italian region called Veneto which is cultivating growing interest in experimental and venturous electronics, thanks to a discrete amount of artists, outcomes and venues such as Chevel, Von Tesla, Enklav, ElectronicGirls, Quarto Mondo, CSO Django, Spazio Aereo and much more. It’s our pleasure to share with you the full album stream of the second PHS release ever, namely a split tape between Holy Similaun, the solo project of its co-founder Alberto Bertelli, and Weightausend aka Cage Suburbia‘s Matthias Girardi. The C10 cassette is coming out April the 14th and you can preorder it here, straight out of Prehistoric Silence’s website, also featuring artwork & layout by Alberto Bertelli, mixing by Matthias Girardi and mastering by Antonio Gallucci. The player is available at the end of the article. Enjoy!
TRACKLIST
A1. Holy Similaun – APT-GET
A2. weightausend – AMY DUB (Holy similaun rework)
B1. weightausend – AMY DUB
B2. Holy Similaun – APT-GET (weightausend care mix)
As shown, the tape features a track plus a rework for each one of the two artists. The A-side hosts Holy Similaun’s Linux-shell-inspired APT-GET tune, whose remixed counterpart appears in the B side; the same stands for weightausend’s AMY DUB and its rework, occurring on different sides, somehow staging a dialogue between the two creative minds via a fine juxtaposition of sounds and rhythms. The record is a stunning, even if quite short on time (we need more!!), selection of throbbing basses, sudden breaks and broken patterns, both inspired by industrial techno and the aforementioned, thriving Italian experimental electronic scene.
To put it in PHS very own words, the split is a combination of electronic cutting sounds and the warmer vibes of old-school synths. Matthias Girardi aka weightausend, also half of the infamous cracked-techno Cage Suburbia duo, is indeed a super-skilled electronic music producer and sound-manipulation expert, and his ability fully emerges in the memorable AMY DUB B1 track which efficiently combines static dub reverberations with croacking synths, snaky snares, and sub-bass shots. The APT-GET CARE MIX too plays on the same sound tricks, yet kind of muffled and gloomier, as if we were listening to the original Holy Similaun version coming from a distant hi-fi system placed in the other room [Note: amy dub is the street name for Amitriptyline, a very strong dissociative sedative currently used to treat major depressive and anxiety disorder, together with attention deficit, hyperactivity disorder, and bipolar disorder].
Coming back to the opening track by Holy Similaun, which pays an intriguing hommage to the Linux shell’s command APT-GET (geek alert!), it’s clear how the underlying bunch of musical influences is shared among the two artists. Alberto Bertelli’s tunes also dwell within the same construction/deconstruction/pause schemes, yet they rely even more on heavy silence breaks, noisy sound expedients and isolated, echoing beats, efficiently orchestrated alongside the whole 4-minutes-long episode to produce an off-the-charts, gripping piece. The AMY DUB REWORK expands on the topic giving to weightausend’s track kind of an underwater appeal, adding layers of messy outcries and odd, astonishing breaks to it.
Holy Similaun and weightausend are coming again soon on record on Nether0001, the follow-up to the Nether CD 3” series started by Matthias Girardi August 2016. Stay tuned! Once again, the PHS002 tape is coming out April the 14th and you can preorder it here.
Follow Prehistoric Silence on Facebook and Bandcamp. To see our videoreport for the first PHS showcase at CSO Django, Treviso late October 2016, click here. Featuring Holy Similaun, Xennan, qqqøqqq and Xen Stream.
Don’t miss the chance to see Cage Suburbia breaking the brakes this Saturday at Macao, Milan.
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PAYNOMINDTOUS is a non-profit organization registered in December 2018, operating since late 2015 as a webzine and media website. In early 2017, we started our own event series in Turin, IT focused on arts, experimental, and dancefloor-oriented music. We reject every clumsy invocation to “the Future” meant as the signifier for capitalistic “progress” and “innovation”, fully embracing the Present instead; we renounce any reckless and ultimately arbitrary division between “high” and “low”, respectable and not respectable, “mind” and “body”; we support and invite musicians, artists, and performers having diverse backgrounds and expressing themselves via variegated artistic practices.