Alio Die
Allegorical Traces I

THE REVIEW

The name Alio Die is certainly not unknown to ambient music enthusiasts. Stefano Musso doesn't seem to have run out of inspiration and, over the years, has stubbornly continued with his music without paying attention to current trends. In reality, a die-hard fan base for ambient music—also in Italy—has existed since the '90s. Surely a name that has done a lot in our country for the dissemination of the genre has been Gianluigi Gasparetti with the legendary magazine Deep Listenings born precisely in that period. It was a refined and well-made magazine, and many, among industry insiders and foreign musicians, considered it the best in the international publishing scene. Gianluigi Gasparetti then carried on his passion through the ambient music project Oöphoi with which he released numerous albums, the first of which was produced precisely by Stefano Musso. Unfortunately, after suffering from a long illness, Gianluigi Gasparetti died in 2013. Now, a new CD by Alio Die entitled Allegorical Traces I is released. It is the first volume of a trilogy of "lost and found" tracks. Curiously, some time ago, Stefano Musso told me that he had discovered in his archives an old music track recorded with Oöphoi. For me, it was a joy to see how in Allegorical Traces I that very lost piece is present—"An Underground Passage Found"—which he had spoken to me about and, at this point, takes on the value of a sort of spiritual testament of Oöphoi. Despite having two different styles, Oöphoi's music is characterized by long tracks and hypnotic drones, while Alio Die's is more atmospheric and based on sampling—the synthesis found in this track is subliminal and manages to let the listener's mind travel towards a state of calm and inner peace. Another highlight of this collection is "Tempus Fugit Sources," a collaboration with Maninkari, a French duo of Persian origin, authors of albums of unreal beauty in which ethnic instruments are used. It is music with an exotic and ancient charm generated by the meeting of these two artists. The album is completed with two collaborations with Xabec and Martina Galvagni and a track featuring Stefano Musso alone. Available on Bandcamp: https://aliodie.bandcamp.com/album/allegorical-traces-i.