La Otracina - Hallucinations from the Big Apple

Sinister noises

by Giuseppe Celano

Live at Sinister Noise, which once again amazes me for its dry, crisp acoustics, I run into a tall, lanky, bespectacled guy who almost bowls me over: it's none other than Adam Kriney, the band's drummer. I stop for a moment to chat, asking him for some time for an interview, which he grants me after the show. At the end of the blistering set, I approach Adam Kriney, who, as promised, gives me a brief but intense interview

I've noticed some elements in your music that recall the sound of Blue Cheer, but also references to King Crimson and Amon Duul. Would you agree?

Blue Cheer are naturally an influence, being the best-known West Coast hard rock/psych band of the '60s/'70s, along with the great Grateful Dead, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Jefferson Airplane, etc. Even if our sound isn't quite the same as theirs, we've actually listened to them a lot and still draw inspiration from them today. I love King Crimson, though I prefer the period of the "Beat", "Discipline", "Three Of A Perfect Pair" trilogy. I think my way of writing is pretty similar to Fripp's technique, mixing intense and difficult phrasing with improvised sections and good old rock 'n' roll. As for Amon Duul, we've been heavily influenced by the '60s/'70s German experimental rock scene—in fact, I think the best music of that era was made in Germany. We have huge respect for other bands in that vein, like Epitaph, Jane, Lucifer's Friend, Kraftwerk, Tangerine Dream. I think German rock is really important for what we're doing now.

I think there's more than one thing you have in common with Earthless and Mammatus.

Of course, they're our brothers making heavy/cosmic music, just like us. We share the same influences.

There seems to be a big resurgence of psychedelic jams/suites, a new curiosity and a new way of approaching prog music. What do you think about that?

I really hope so, otherwise there'd be no future for bands like ours... ha ha! Sometimes the audience is thrown off by what we do, especially considering we don't have vocals (except when we have fun improvising live), but for me long suites aren't the only way to write music. I love epic music a lot.

Name a few new bands you listen to, and some from the past.

Among the new blood, I listen to: Assemble Head In Sunburst Sound, Astra, Rahdunes, Acid Mothers Temple, Dead Meadow, Circle, Kurse, Go Back. From the past, I'd add to what I said before Swedish hard rock/psychedelic music. It's all so "fucking great"!

Do you have any other projects going on right now?

Yes, I'll mention a few: Owl Xounds, which is my free-jazz group, with whom I've made many albums. Dragonfrynd, a new guitar/keyboards duo in which I play keyboards, in the vein of Heldon, Tangerine Dream, Cluster. A CD is about to come out on the Cut Hands label. "Vorg Vessel" is my recent solo keyboard album. I've got plenty of other projects and upcoming releases. To find out more, just visit my website: www.vorg.net.

Thanks for the interview.

(11/11/2007)

***

An Italian in New York

by Francesco Nunziata

Having made their name with the mammoth double album "Love Love Love", New York's La Otracina, after signing to Holy Mountain, are back these very days with their first "official" record, "Tonal Ellipse Of The One". But there's more: the trio's permanent lineup now includes "our own" Ninni Morgia, who has been based in New York for some time, where he's collaborated with some of the "Big Apple"'s most prominent names. We had a chat with him online, trying to get to know both him and his new band a little better, while we wait to publish, on these very pages, the review of the new record.

How did the La Otracina project come about?

The La Otracina project was born in 2003, the brainchild of Adam Kriney, who, after moving from Boston to New York and getting involved in Brooklyn's free-jazz scene, launched the band first as an open collective and then, in 2005, with a more or less stable line-up, which today includes Adam on drums, Ninni Morgia (Quivers, ex-White Tornado) on guitar and Jordon Schranz on bass.

Why this moniker?

The name, which is invented, is a Spanish adaptation of "the other scene".

How did you end up in La Otracina? Do you have other musical experiences behind you?

I was already playing with Adam in Quivers, a band more devoted to free-jazz and experimentation. Later on, Adam invited me to play a few shows alongside Marc Orleans of Sunburned Hand of the Man. Basically, it was a kind of audition to choose the next guitarist for La Otracina. In the end, I accepted his invitation to join the band permanently. Besides Quivers and La Otracina, I'm part of Right Moves (who released a CD on Tygerasylum Rec) with Kevin Shea (ex-Storm and Stress) and Peter Evans. I also play in a free-jazz trio called Wizard Trio, together with Daniel Carter (Sun Ra, Cecil Taylor) and Jade Larson; and finally, the Italian label Setola di Maiale recently released a solo CD of mine and one as a duo with Jordon Schranz. On that one I collaborated with tons of musicians: Blake Fleming (ex-Laddio Bolocko), Tim Garrigan (ex-You Fantastic!), Ed Chang and Bonnie Kane. In short, there's a lot going on in New York... (Oh, before moving to NY I used to play in White Tornado and Conjura...).

How would you define your music?

A mix of a lot of things we love; first and foremost, 70s kraut-rock, a certain heavy psychedelia, free-jazz, prog, and definitely a healthy dose of noise-rock.

Do you feel you belong to any particular scene?

There are a lot of bands out there playing this kind of stuff (like Acid Mothers Temple, Comets On Fire, etc.), but I don't think there's a real scene as such. That usually happens when everyone's from the same city, and New York is too big to host just one scene. There are a thousand little scenes here producing all kinds of music. Of course, we love playing around with bands we feel close to: just these past few days we recorded some new material with Chicago's Plastic Crimewave.

Any "obscure" and "unknown" bands you'd like to point us to?

Miracle of Birth: a really interesting one-man band from Brooklyn who just released an EP on a small label called Lovepump.

On "Love Love Love" the ongoing expansiveness frees the music from any structural tension, giving off a sense of freedom that reminds me a lot of Sixties acid-jams. How should we now understand the move away from improvisation in favor of a more thought-out and "structured" modus operandi?

Compared to "Love..." the new album is more structured and the songs are shorter. That said, we haven't lost our taste for improvisation, even if it comes out mostly in the live setting, where the music often spills over into full-blown jams that sometimes get close to something as radical as AMM. We have a blast playing live, but even in the studio we never rule out the chance to improvise and do some editing.

What can you tell me about the albums before "Love Love Love"?

La Otracina's records before “Love Love Love” are really great. I wasn't part of the band yet, but I appreciate their strong experimental streak and the way they draw on different aesthetics.

The 10 albums that influenced you the most?

All of Miles Davis's albums from the 69-75 electric period

Ash Ra Tempel – “Schwingungen”

Popol Vuh – “Seligpreisung”

Chrome – “Alien Soundtracks”

Faust – “IV”

Guru Guru – “Hinton”

Flower Travellin Band – “Satori”

Neu! – "Neu!"

Amon Duul II – "Phallus Dei"

Birth Control – “Birth Control”

King Crimson – "Red"

and of course a couple thousand more…

Five albums from 2006 you'd recommend to our readers…

– Psychic Paramount (ex Laddio Bolocko) – "Gamelan Into The Mink Supernatural": a solid record of prog rock and experimentation.

– Coptic Light – "s/t" (ex Bitch Magnet): it's like listening to circus music laid over a devastating percussive carpet.

– Battles – "Ep C B Ep": this CD collects the band's first three EPs, and it reminds me so much of dear old Steve Reich transplanted into a rave party.

– Pere Ubu – "Why I Hate Women": we all owe this band far too much!

– Derek Bailey – "To Play: The Blemish Session": a genius whose absence will be felt in the future.

Today the musical underground is in constant upheaval. Countless self-productions, cassettes, CD-Rs, vinyl records, often in extremely limited editions. The punk-derived spirit of Do It Yourself seems to have been reborn. What do you think of this phenomenon?

The phenomenon you're talking about is very interesting. The music produced within this microcosm makes me think of a return to a kind of craftsmanship that's been lost in these ultra-modern times. Musicians oversee the entire creative process of their records: artwork, recording, production, and so on. The risk, though, is being literally swamped by a flood of ultra-limited releases that are genuinely hard to keep up with. Still, I think the punk spirit of DIY back then was quite different from today's phenomenon: it was more geared toward building a community of musicians with shared goals and intentions; today, by contrast, it seems to me there's a much more pronounced individualism.

What should we expect from your next record?

On "Tonal Ellipse Of The One" you'll hear a bit more of my own hand, along with some influences that are by now part of my DNA: Jesus Lizard, Sonny Sharrock, in addition to the ones already mentioned.

Will you ever come play in Italy?

We'll definitely be coming to Italy next autumn, and I hope a lot of people will turn out for our shows.

What do you know about the Italian music scene?

I know a lot of Italian bands, but one of my favorites is Sinistri/Starfuckers, who I had the pleasure of playing live with during a tour of Italy last year. Bachi Da Pietra are another great love of mine: I've listened to their first CD thousands of times and I think it's a masterpiece.

What do you think of the iPod phenomenon?

We don't own any, we prefer to listen to music at home, preferably on vinyl, with that dear old crackle of the needle…

…and MySpace?

MySpace is definitely useful for getting yourself known everywhere, even if you run the risk of creating a parallel world that's purely virtual. 

What's your relationship with file-sharing?

In America it's not as widespread a phenomenon as it is in Italy. Here much more attention is paid to record sales, so that musicians have the income they need to survive. And we agree with that view. 

Frank Zappa said that "music critics are people who can't write, interviewing people who can't talk, for an audience that can't read". Do you agree?

Maybe that was true in the past, but today it seems to me that both critics and readers are very passionate about and aware of what's going on. One criticism I'd level at the specialized press is the constant hunt for a new genre to define. There are too many subcategories, which in my opinion are pointless when it comes to talking about good old rock, which by now seems to have made a huge comeback. 

What do you think of the web-zine phenomenon, almost always run in complete freedom by people who don't get a single cent for their "work"?

Web-zines are definitely useful for spreading music that more official magazines leave out for lack of space. As for the lack of income, I can assure you musicians aren't much better off, especially in New York! 

So you don't make a living from music?

No, we have other part-time jobs that let us pay the rent, which here in New York is sky-high. 

Which guitarists have most influenced your style?

Duane Denison, Sonny Sharrock, Pete Cosey, Keiji Haino and Robert Fripp. 

I took a look at your MySpace and realized we have a hero in common: Albert Ayler.

Albert Ayler is my hero! Yes, exactly! I love his music, the freedom he expressed, the sweetness of his sound (which was, at the same time, also devastating), his refusal to compromise, his journeying into the future. Even today, he's a classic example of pure, uncompromising genius. The Revenant box set ("Holy Ghost", ed.) is a landmark work that everyone should own. I've learned more from him than from any guitarist. 

As an "emigrant", how do you look at Italy today?

I'm nostalgic for Italy. Here, despite everything, I still feel like a foreigner. I hope that in my country, now ravaged by television idiocy, there will soon be more room for art and music – not just Sanremo's.

Okay, thanks Ninni… see you soon!

Thank you! Bye!

(05/06/2007)

Ride the wave of great music

Add OndaRock to your favorite sources on Google Discover. Don't miss our reviews, milestones and latest news straight in your feed.

Follow on Google