Luca Sigurtà & Sergio Sorrentino
Naked Brunch (Flag Day Recordings; CD/DL)
Released tomorrow Naked Brunch brings together the Italian duo of guitarist Sergio Sorrentino and electronic artist Luca Sigurtà. The two have added tapes and loops to their mix and this half dozen tracks are a unique blend of breathy atmosphere and sizzling surprise. You get all that even in the opening thirty seconds of Wallaby. The classical guitar sounds like droopy piano keys over a thin microstatic and drone overlay. They combine sweet strings with what otherwise could be a meat patty on a grill at close range – it’s an odd and interesting combo. But this is just a warm-up as the dawning of a warped light harmony emerges like the bobbing of a big bald Sun in late Summer. The loops invert the strings which have a wholesome, almost bluegrass feel.
Gone Tomorrow is a bit darker and mysterious. With great patience the strum offers something of a patina with just the right amount of electronic fuzz. The frontline playing had a shadow that repeats each string, out of tune and sync in spot, and shapes itself over the course of this six minute work. I’m reminded of the effortless handling of the instrument of the legendary Joe Pass. The moody Sill to Nowhere follows with a quasi Middle Eastern vibe. It’s slow, thoughtful, with the guise of surveillance blending well into the following piece, Bishop. Here they find an even blend of rhythm n’ ambient. It’s got a falling feel dipped in a stretched-to-the-limits drone which sort of sparkles. It’s pace is practically slow motion, but it suffers no fool, it’s a serious emotive short piece. Eve has a dissonance from the outset, as if the sound is slowly separating from a previously mounted core. The wobble of reverberation carries the track, with subtly shifting chords and shoveling effects, however this all sounds a bit hesitant like transitional, incidental music. In the end a Wulitzer-like flutter with frayed crackle paint a picture on Dull Boy. The work and play has certainly paid off here as the ending testifies in tone and tenacity. It slowly deteriorates with a department store ding-dong and gurgling static that in the closing moments comes off like a tiny post-war anthem.
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