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Rating: Psshh….kids…..
Kids… I'm talking to you…..
Don't be afraid, I just want to tell you a story….
…it doesn't start with the classic “once upon a time,” but with a “there are today, and there will be for a long time”….
The story is about two musicians.
Not very well known, perhaps, but certainly young, talented, and intelligent.
She is a bassist, noticed in a music school by His Majesty Adrian Belew and recruited along with her brother into the Adrian Belew Power Trio, with whom she toured the world (and later joined the Crimson ProjeKct).
Not satisfied with this, during breaks she recorded countless records, solo ones, collaborations, appearances, and more; she embarked on what she calls her secret world tour traveling to meet old and new friends from around the world, writing and recording songs with them.
He, too, is a bassist, a very refined writer with many significant collaborations and two solo albums that shine in their own light; a capacity to write pop, rock, prog songs, or whatever you like that even 50 years of experience couldn't match.
A musician who absorbs many inputs and returns them in compositions that are very delicate yet extremely energetic and captivating.
She and He meet near NY, get to know each other, realize they are cut from the same cloth: they adore loops, are effect maniacs, are talented, are very social (in the network sense).
From this meeting, closed in His Roman bunker, arises “Fourth Dementia,” 8 songs played mainly by two basses (one “ordinary” by Him and a Lakland bass VI by Her) and synths, with some drum inserts courtesy of Pat Mastelotto and Erik Slick.
No voices, because sometimes singing isn't necessary, except for a hint in “Ci Provo,” filtered, whispered, just to outline a melodic line.
Recorded at home, mixed in the USA, our She+He are ready for a crowdfunding campaign that calls all people with a minimum of good taste or at least those who know well what our protagonists are capable of.
This story might stop the moment you have a physical copy of Fourth Dementia, with its pop-ups and ironic little drawings; in fact, the story continues because, I'm sure, that play button will be pressed again, once you've reached the end….even after “1986” has bid us farewell with a furious round of basses, and after enchanting us with charming lullabies.
(I mentioned irony, and it's not a small thing. Not taking oneself too seriously is a fundamental aspect of this project; just look at their Facebook page or the album artwork).
Melodies, loops, more melodies, syncopated rhythms, and yet more melody are the main mood of this work, which was composed largely thanks to long jam sessions, recording their own loops and improvising over them; now relaxing, now bittersweet, now more aggressive, the alternating atmospheres touch the farthest points of our emotions, as if the Crimsons themselves fused with background lounge music, yet creating a melancholic base that, unlike melancholy, can have positive effects on the ability to reflect, to experience emotions, and not be afraid of them.
It is an album that needs to be experienced with a certain mental status, certainly not superficially; it's a story that needs to be listened to, understood, digested, and subsequently told to others.
Because beautiful things should be passed on.
Tracklist
1. Green (4:19)
2. Esteem (3:05)
3. Ci provo (2:22)
4. Feck you op (5:11)
5. Infinity x1 (5:54)
6. Overcome (6:52)
7. Krush (2:46)
8. 1986 (6:51)
Sampler on Soundcloud
https://soundcloud.com/marcomachera/j-m-fourth-dementia-sampler
Julie Slick
Lakland bass VI and Bob Glaub Precision
drum programming, effects by
eventide, pigtronix, and roland
Marco Machera
bass, prepared bass
fretless bass, vocals on 3
Eric Slick
drums on 1, 4, 5, 7
Pat Mastelotto
drums on 2
Sarah Flossy Anderson
synth on 6, violin and viola on 7
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