OndaFritta 1

OndaFritta is a new format created in partnership with Fritto FM to combine music journalism with my work as a DJ. Every first Thursday of the month at 6 pm, a set played live and streamed on Fritto FM radio: an hour to explore a genre, a movement or a theme from the contemporary music landscape. For the first episode, the choice fell on the first wave of post-rock, predating the epic variations of Explosions in the Sky and the more cinematic ones of God Is an Astronaut. We're talking about Bark Psychosis, June of 44 and a series of names that defined that era.

To open yesterday's episode aired on Fritto FM, I chose Labradford, with a track taken from one of their works considered minor, "E Luxo So" (1999), yet capable of holding delicate moments suspended between ambient and chamber music. Next up are the lesser-known Ganger, a Glasgow band responsible for the sole full-length "Hammock Style" (1998), devoted to instrumental sessions that wink at kraut-rock, modern psychedelia and math rock.

Fridge are instead a trio that crosses this grammar with the practice of jam sessions, in a delightfully amateurish result, prone to diffuse psychedelia and dub-jazz reverbs; the chosen track comes from "Ceefax" (1997), a largely forgotten debut album. Next come Tortoise and their self-titled 1994 album. Fathers of the so-called Chicago school, where this guitar-driven strand shamelessly wedded kraut, jazz, dub and electronics, the band delivers an overbearing bass and frayed rhythms.

We return to the obscure with Larmousse and their self-titled 2000 effort, whose evident slowcore sensibilities shift the axis toward autumnal, ethereal landscapes. Next, June of 44 and the epoch-making mathcore manifesto of "Four Great Points" (1998), whose influences even brush up against emo territory. The intensity drops with Scenic and their heterogeneous and fascinating "Acquatica" (1996). The chosen track is the closing track, an ethereal, rhythmless reworking of a guitar theme already present on the record. With "Live From A Shark Cage" (1999) by Papa M we arrive at a work steeped in American folklore.

It's impossible not to mention Bark Psychosis in a selection of this kind, with the magnetic "Codename: Dustsucker" (2004), made of acid downtempo, noir psychedelia and hushed vocals. Second-to-last spot goes to the Light project; the substance of "Turning" (1996) is made of shoegaze and wall of sound grafted onto formulas of the genre, in a release as overlooked as it is interesting. Closing out the lineup is the avant-rock of Roy Montgomery, with the monumental mystery of "And Now the Rain Sounds Like Life Is Falling Down Through It" (1998), a hypnotic mantra for guitars and reverb.

Tracklist curated by Alessandro Giustiniano, Federico Romagnoli and Claudio Lancia

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