No Lebol

There's a real need for festivals like No Lebol – now in its second edition – attentive to Italian musical scenes playing noise, post-punk, no-wave, experimental and oblique pop.

In short, attention should be paid to those bands often dismissed as too difficult, who in most cases are instead synonymous with quality, research, and even the foundation for future evolutions of Italian music.

The first edition took place across several Roman venues at the start of 2012 (6-7 January), a fine success that pushed the promoters – the Rome-based band Gronge and Taranto's Hysm? – to think even bigger, "occupying" the Forte Prenestino for two full nights (6-7 July) that stretched on until deep into the night.

Inside the historic squatted social centre, no fewer than four stages were set up, hosting forty acts from all over the country, islands included, giving rise to a genuinely important artistic and social gathering. Alongside the usual food stands, there was also a wide array of tables from various record labels, from self-releases to small imprints — a further space for connection that allowed bands to meet each other and their fans.

The devoted chronicler does not have the gift of ubiquity, and so, regrettably, was unable to catch every set, since some overlapped, but still managed to gorge on a good deal of music. Here is the report.

The first day kicks off around 9pm with Collettivo Ferguson Marchin Band, an open ensemble devoted to improvisational music. The sizeable troupe of musicians makes its way to Stage 1-Piazza D'Armi Sinistra starting from the Forte's entrance, like a festive band celebrating a great event.

This is the perfect prologue to what follows: the hypnotic, funereal set by Treviso's Father Murphy, who once again confirm the quality of their minimal post-punk blues. A sound that strikes even those who were previously unfamiliar with them.

Shortly after, music also starts up in the Sala Renzo Forte, the only indoor venue of the event. Here a trio interacts: Roberto Fega on laptop, Adriano Lanzi on electric guitar and effects, and Ersilia Prosperi on trumpet, who score in real time Moebius's "Arzak Rhapsody", a sonic tribute to the genius (sadly recently deceased) of world art comics. The interplay between the musicians, and between notes and images, can be judged a success.

Wandering among the various areas of the Forte, guide booklet in hand, one stumbles upon the tail end of Maybe I'm, from Campania, who, as a duo, assault the audience with a savage approach and a take on rock'n'roll that reveals its rawest, most acidic side.

A technical, vibrant and noisy sound arrived shortly after from the Sala Tunnel too, courtesy of Lecce's Luz, who delivered a compelling set well worth listening to with full attention.

Meanwhile the crowd keeps growing as the minutes pass, and out of curiosity people head toward Stage 4-Piazza D'Armi Destra, unaware that they're about to be utterly floored by a band until then unknown (to this writer). From Macerata, ladies and gentlemen: Nevroshockingiochi. With one album already out in 2009, the group plays brand new tracks ready to be recorded, which, in their own words, are completely different from what's on that first release. The quintet has a post-punk sound, distorted and dark, which also opens up into lightning-fast odd time signatures before returning to a hammering pulse. The vocals attempt to be melodic but instead come off as deliberately hysterical. They recall a little the US bands on Gsl, first and foremost the excellent Vss.

After this pleasant surprise comes a welcome confirmation from Rome's Dispositivo Per Il Lancio Obliquo Di Una Sferetta, a quartet that's been quite active for years and boasts an ever-growing following, even on this No Lebol night. The band plays a strange mix of no-wave, near-metal outbursts and psychedelic convolutions, throwing in irony and playfulness too, especially in the interludes between songs. Skilled musicians who, thankfully, don't have the smugness of those who "know how it's done."

Next up is Lili Refrain, who immerses the crowd in a leaden atmosphere where the vocal explorations of Diamanda Galas meet those of Alos?, all while building sonic architectures with guitar and pedals, delivering a mystical effect halfway between sacred and profane.

Playfulness, with echoes of childhood, and expressive wit come together in the entertaining performance of Rome's Cobol Pongide, starring basic Casio-Bontempi-Chicco keyboards, Commodore 64-Gameboy consoles, with the little robot Emiglino Cicala in the role of singer. Applause!

It's gotten late by now, but the last bits of energy are mustered to catch the live set from the highly-rated Butcher Mind Collapse, from Jesi. Their schooling lies in Foetus, Birthday Party, Cop Shoot Cop, all filtered through a Marche flavor. Which translates into an approach as spontaneous as it is creative toward this noise, post-punk, blues formula - especially when nice interactions arise between drums, guitar and sax, or even when the six strings double up. The vocals, then, lightly effected, add further pathos and drive, thanks to Jonathan Iencinella's stage presence.

The next day, it's a pleasure to return to Forte Prenestino, precisely because just a few hours earlier the air was full of enthusiasm, curiosity and creative flow, which in times like these are as necessary as lifeblood.

The first act we encounter are Light The Bob, a duo from Ostia who combine the lessons of Zu and NoMeansNo with a punk, unpretentious approach. Fun stuff.

Another duo on another stage: Hysm? stun with interweaving guitar, drums and effects for a noise sound in which math-rock tries to carve out its space.

This evening also features a performance by the other No Lebol organizers, namely Gronge, who show how the outfit led by Marco Bedini and co. has been among the best of the past few years. Their recent album "Dolci Ricordi" is a fine piece in the band's long career, one that keeps its output ever-current with a new line-up and open-ended music, alongside their already well-tested no-wave post-punk, plus forays into jazz and em>improv. And then there's always Bedini, as histrionic as ever on stage and incisive in his lyrics.

Little can be heard of Pesaro's Camillas, partly due to some technical hitches with the amplification, so the duo comes down among the crowd to sing one of their little pop tunes, which draws people in, smiling and dancing around them.

The amplification works just fine, though, for Maximillian I, led by Demented Burrocacao, a Rome-based cultural agitator with numerous projects spanning from harsh noise to the most extreme electronics, and for Milan's Fuzz Orchestra, who fuse powerful, distorted, saturated guitar riffs with hard-hitting yet skillful drumming. On top of that, synth, sampler and turntable effects.

Fuzz Orchestra blend music with excerpts from 1970s cinema well before Calibro 35, also adding voices lifted from documentaries and western films. Pure power.

The same degree of fury is also found in Taranto's Bogong In Action, absolutely devastating in their restless interplay of guitar-bass-drums and screamed vocals. Here it's pure wild state, the essence of the most brutal post-punk noise, one that shows no mercy to anyone.

A more intimate atmosphere instead reigns when the Venetians - more precisely, from Chioggia - ManzOni take the stage, a precious gem of Italian post-rock and poetry. Theirs is an evocative set that combines the most dramatic and intense musical side of Massimo Volume and Mogwai with the spoken-word delivery of Gigi Tenca, an artist whose vocal timbre recalls a rather tipsy Vasco Rossi. Moving too in the closing lullaby dedicated to the little nephew, the newborn whose dad sits behind the drums.

After this indoor set, it's back outside for some air, generated not just by the Ponentino breeze, but also by the amplifiers churning out the visceral no wave - descended from the first New York downtown school of the late Seventies - of Hiroshima Rocks Around, exponents of Rome East's ever-fertile scene, the artier one known under the banner "Borgata Boredom".

Deep into the night, there's still room for the esoteric noise-ambient ritual of the excellent Sardinians, from Macomer, Hermetic Brotherhood Of Lux-Or, who conjure psycho-isolationist drones unfolding through pitch-black, noise-laden passages of industrial pedigree (see Throbbing Gristle), leaving everyone thoroughly hooked.

So much energy and top-level substance among the acts on the bill, and even though it wasn't possible to catch every live show, it only reinforces the certainty that Italy boasts a huge number of strikingly inventive acts with nothing to envy in productions from other countries operating in the most underground circuits. The crowd was large and attentive: the hope is that it keeps growing, and that, thanks to valuable initiatives like No Lebol, the prejudice that Italian music has nothing truly interesting to offer will finally dissolve.

Praise, then, to everyone who worked on this important project, still very much a work in progress.

Ride the wave of great music

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