OndaDrops Vol. 7

It's true, absolutely true: a tribute is one of the least artistically interesting things imaginable. In Italy – musically and otherwise – where having a “patron” seems (note the quotation marks) a necessary requirement to give one's work any authority, asking Italian artists, mostly young ones, to celebrate one of their own reference points feels like shooting yourself in the foot. And yet Mark Kozelek is more than just a big name to drop on a résumé: he's a spiritual father, perhaps simply a father, for everyone who took part in this seventh volume of OndaDrops. That much is proven by the commitment and the ease with which all the contributors managed to interpret, each in their own way, the songs from one of the hardest albums to reproduce, a genuine liturgy of melancholy, a cathartic ritual: “Down Colorful Hill“.

It's been twenty years since Red House Painters took the path up that “colorful hill”: we – the site and these artists – simply wanted to bear witness and give something back, as best we could, for a sublime gift, one of the few to possess the integrity and purity of great art. Thanks again to Mark Kozelek, also for the trust he placed in us.

Oldness Comes With A Smile

Cd: download

Mimes Of Wine

Rapidly turning from a moniker into a real band, Mimes Of Wine revolve around Laura Loriga, a classically trained pianist and singer-songwriter. One of the most “international” projects on the Italian underground scene – Laura has spent the last few years in California, where she has active collaborations – Mimes Of Wine released their second album this year, “Memories Of The Unseen”, a work that evolves from the Monk-esque coordinates of Laura's expressiveness toward a more cohesive, theatrical sound.

In her “24”, Laura builds a nocturnal set design, a spectral “slow dance” to move to, over a handful of guitar and piano notes, alongside Kozelek, in an ambiguous embrace of love and death.

New Adventures In Lo-Fi

The project of Turin-based Enrico Viarengo, New Adventures In Lo-Fi starts from influences more tied to the 90s to arrive at an electroacoustic singer-songwriter style built on shyness, but also on an existential unease that lies at the foundation of its music. Having debuted last year with the EP "Sleeveless Days Of June", Enrico is about to release a second work.

He stays true to himself in his interpretation of "Medicine Bottle", "domestic" and visceral, defenceless and subtly vibrant. Acoustic strumming, fleeting electric guitar and melodica accompaniments, a second female voice: another "new adventure in lo-fi".

A band of real substance – as their latest "A Safe Place" confirmed – the Turin-based Farmer Sea are among the finest craftsmen of Italian alternative pop-rock. Devoted to the sound of the 90s and active on the scene on every front (both purely musical and on the label side), the band was quick to put themselves forward for a tribute to "Down Colourful Hill".

Their title track – produced by Luca Vicini of Subsonica – is built on a circular, driving pattern of banjo and guitars (it feels like a math-rock promise waiting to be fulfilled), with almost Sigur Rós-like cinematic string openings in its panicked finale, which suddenly… dissolves.

The Coldest Winter Chill

The Coldest Winter Chill is a project made up of three different artists from the Verona-based label Cabezon Records, specialising in nostalgic singer-songwriter fare and melancholy folk: John Mario of Dead Man Watching, El Matador Alegre, and Alessandro Longo.

The trio makes its debut with this very volume of OndaDrops, offering a cadenced, psychedelic version of "Japanese To English", crowded with synth-pop layering far removed from the minimalism dear to Mark Kozelek in the early 90s.

Tequila Funk Experience

A quintet of eager young musicians from Imola, champions of DIY and free downloads, as well as of a respectful yet lively 70s revivalism (albeit firmly tied to the new American psychedelic folk-rock movement), Tequila Funk Experience are one of the revelations of 2012. Having just released their debut LP, the five musicians from Emilia have delivered a raw, heartfelt version of "Lord Kill The Pain", set against a bucolic backdrop populated by guitar flourishes and a cleansing, torrential interlude.

Delawater

A young project from Abruzzo, Delawater are Paolo Marini (vocals, guitar), Stefano Di Gregorio (drums), Andrea Marramà (bass), Pierluigi Filipponi (guitar), and Serafino Bucciarelli (keyboards). Also fond of sounds that carry 70s psychedelia into slowcore territory, their version of "Michael" unfolds with a great sense of space, with Paolo's usual emotive, picturesque delivery lighting up the scene. But don't be too quick to think the track is over…

Lullabier

Under the moniker Lullabier, Andrea Vascellari has tried to fuse Italian singer-songwriter tradition with 90s slowcore, drawing in equal measure on the psychedelic mantras of Low, the stripped-down folk of Rivulets, and the ethereal melodies of Jessica Bailiff. He has just released the concept album "Fitoterapia", enriched with ambient touches, and Low chose him as the opening act for their only Italian show of 2013.

Pays tribute to Kozelek with a minimalist version of "24".

Blessed Child Opera

One of the few "veterans" of the compilation, former Ulan Bator member Paolo Messere is one of the artists best suited, in Italy, to covering Kozelek's material, to whom he is at least as close as to the reference most frequently associated with him, Glen Johnson of Piano Magic.

Wave echoes, however, run through his whole body of work, even if they've often taken folk or country turns, and so his "Medicine Bottle" seems to cut through the flat sea of some mysterious unease, an unreal landscape made of an almost atonal bass and distant synthetic breezes.

F For Fake

F For Fake are an indie-rock quartet from Padua. Formed in the late 90s and influenced by independent bands such as Blonde Redhead, Unwound, The Lapse, Bedhead and Fugazi, they've arrived at a sound similar to that of early R.E.M.. The current lineup consists of Andrea, Davide, Giorgio and Paolo (guitar, drums, bass, and keyboards and vocals respectively).

Their "Down Colorful Hill", built on sharp guitars and driving rhythms, is the most upbeat moment on this volume of OndaDrops.

Mircanto

Mircanto, a trio from Bergamo made up of Daniele Nava, Thomas Foiadelli and Nicola Agazzi, deal in bleak, rarefied folk. Their poetic, decadent songwriting, which reached its peak in 2011 with the album "Esercizi Di Statica", has led them to share the stage with Diaframma, Perturbazione, and Hugo Race.

They take part in OndaDrops with a melancholic "Japanese To English" built around the guitar-piano pairing.

Warm Morning

Their latest record, "Too Far From The Stars", is one of the most tasteful works in the Italian pop landscape of recent years. With an EP released by Shelflife already under their belt, Warm Morning are two brothers from Piacenza, Simone and Andrea Modicamore, authors of a highly refined pop sound that draws on the 70s work of Brian Wilson and Burt Bacharach. Even so, they threw themselves enthusiastically into covering a classic far removed from their usual atmospheres. And they still managed to recreate it, with this wonderfully original "lazy soul" cover of "Lord Kill The Pain", complete with a Bacharach-esque trumpet accompaniment.

Abiku

Riding high as the Italian interpreters of the Captured Tracks sound, Abiku are four young musicians from Grosseto: Giacomo Amaddii Barbagli (vocals, guitar), Virna Angelini (bass), Edoardo Lenzi (keyboards), Stefano Campagna (drums). After the release, at the end of 2011, of their debut "Technicolor", a record of excellent songs and fine, honest post-adolescent songwriting, Abiku have gradually won over a loyal and passionate fanbase.

Their "Michael" features the effects-laden, almost shoegaze sound that sets them apart; a muffled sound, yet triumphantly cathartic. It could be the song of a youth coming to an end, dedicated to one's best friend.

A heartfelt thanks to Alessandra Reale and Alessandro Liccardo for their collaboration.

Silvia Marchesin conceived and created the delightful cover art for this volume of OndaDrops.

All the tracks featured on OndaDrops were made available by the artists for free download. OndaRock makes no claim of ownership over the tracks, which remain the exclusive property of their respective copyright holders, artists, record labels and publishing companies. The compilation is released with the explicit consent of Mark Kozelek, whom we thank once again.

We would also like to thank the artists, the labels and everyone whose support made this collection possible. 

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