The Radiata 5tet – Aurelia Aurita

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Life and music are full of projects and experiments, there are always new things to try and explore, and always new things to come. I’ve been lucky to know Claudio Milano, a talented singer/musician from Italy who is involved with different projects such as Nichelodeon, Milano & Franssens, and The Radiata 5tet, which is the one I am reviewing right now. This one is formed by Stefano Ferrian in sax, Cecilia Quinteros in cello, Claudio Milano on vocals, Luca Pissavini with double bass, and Vito Emanuele Galante on trumpet; they together recorded and released last year (2011) an album entitled “Aurelia Aurita” which saw the light via dEN records.

Here we will find avant-garde music that will open your mind’s eyes and let your imagination fly. The first track is “Bile dal Po”, which lasts almost ten minutes, being the longest track of the album. It starts with winds playing at unison, a minute later vocals enter and create that inherent theatrical tune, which is wonderfully accompanied by strings. The music is flowing, creating a tense and sometimes chaotic atmosphere that touches our heartstrings.

“Eumetazoa” begins with a bass note and then other noises are being implemented little by little. I am not sure if these songs were previously composed, or are actually improvisations, sometimes I think about the latter, but I repeat, I am not sure about it. “Planula Larvae” take us to the jazzy side of this avant-garde project; later after three minutes vocals enter reminding me of Demetrio Stratos for some moments. A constant cello sound is implemented while other noises can be heard as complementary figures. “Diploblastic” begins very chaotic, with an intense first minute, and later the music and mood slows down a bit, giving the winds the lead role while cello works as background. The last minutes are pretty cool actually, the music could fit in a movie scene.

“Single Germ Layer “G”” is the shortest track of the album. The first moments share an instrumental language, and later vocals join and together create new nuances and colors. “Echinoderms” contains that powerful vocal game (with high notes included) that Milano use to share in his different projects, here the vocals are guilty of the mood and emotions caused, though it is worth mentioning that we can also appreciate some distant strings and winds, that delicately complement the song. “Spiralia” gives a stronger role to the instruments rather than the vocals, here the mood is tense once again, nervous and uncertainty are shared. These three minutes are a highlight in this album, one of my favorite passages of Aurelia Aurita, without a doubt.

“Radially Symmetrical Cnidarians” is another great track full of textures and nuances that let our imagination fly. It is great how the music offers a vast quantity of images that one decides either to use or not, in order to create our own story. The complementation of the string with the wind instruments is fabulous, the 5tet is really talented. “Vectensis” is another short track, a bit dark and slow, but that’s its charm.

The album finishes with “(c)tenophores” which is one of the longest tracks, and also one of the best here. The bass sound is addictive, repetitive but hypnotic, it produces once again a tense and dark sound which is later fulfilled by vocals and winds. Before reaching the third minute there is a short pause, and then a new structure is being build up and new elements are added, inciting us to create figures and mental images once again. The music flows, putting different passages and absorbing our senses, so finally we are within the musical world, we are part of it.

What a good album from The Radiata 5tet, highly recommendable for those who like avant-garde music with some jazz touches.

Enjoy it!

Tracklist:

1. Bile dal Po
2. Eumetazoa
3. Planula Larvae
4. Diploblastic
5. Single Germ Layer “G”
6. Echinoderms
7. Spiralia
8. Radially Symmetrical Cnidarians
9. Vectensis
10. (c)tenophones

Line-up:

* Stefano Ferrian / tenor saxophone
* Cecilia Quinteros / cello
* Claudo Milano / vocals
* Luca Pissavini / double bass
* Vito Emanuele Galante / trumpet

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