♫♪  Alessandro Cortini - “Resta”

Wow. Say what you will about the limitless capabilities of software synthesizers, but Alessandro Cortini is about to throw down a knob-gripping gauntlet on behalf of the analog realm. Forse 1, his upcoming double LP for Important Records, showcases a series of his compositions for the Buchla Music Easel that tonally chew up and spit out the synth competition.

Check out our first taste, “Resta,” below. Revel in the thick, juicy oscillations of its central chord progression; peep those gentle little upper-register chirps; try to hold back your smile as the cutoff opens up and the piece escalates into beautiful distortion (I’ve just been sitting here playing it over and over for a while). In the composer’s own words: “The real change happens at a spectral/dynamic level, as opposed to the harmonic/chordal one. I believe that the former are just as effective as the latter, in the sense that the sonic presentation (distortion , filtering, wave shaping, etc) are just as expressive as a chord change.” I agree, man. Damn.

The Italian-born sonic guru has put in years of synth work, live performance, and production for the likes of Nine Inch Nails, M83, and Ladytron. A member of Chicago-based synth collective Trash Audio, his Easel played a crucial role in Trash Audio founder Surachai’s Embraced LP earlier this year. Forse 1 (due July 8th) represents some of the first solo work released under his own name — and, according to Imprec, the album represents only one-third (!!!) of his music they’re releasing this year. May all six of these LPs someday reach my turntable safely and come to wholly consume my home with their insane tones.

• Important Records: http://www.importantrecords.com

Chocolate Grinder

CHOCOLATE GRINDER is our audio/visual section, with an emphasis on the lesser heard and lesser known. We aim to dig deep, but we’ll post any song or video we find interesting, big or small.

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