Niagara
Otto

Whether it's a reference to the film with Marylin Monroe or the famous waterfalls isn't what matters; the important aspect is the music. So it's worth mentioning that the Turin-based Niagara is a duo (Davide Tomat and Gabriele Ottino) who move in territories close to modern electronics (think of the usual Animal Collective), a peculiarity in sound that has been a hallmark for many bands coming from the city of the Mole, without shying away from experiments bordering on psychedelia and folk inserts (see "Eight").

In Otto, there is also space for the song form in "Seal", with a tango of a chorus (the vocal alternation "And summer is gone/with all the love around") and a ukulele filtered through unknown electronic gadgets. In "Etacarinae," they combine atmospheres akin to the less skewed Olivia Tremor Control and synth, drone, and other digressions. Otto's closure is entrusted to the eighth track "Love Me Love Me," where the voice becomes a mere musical instrument repeating the incessant chant supported by a hypnotic sound carpet.

The internationality of the proposal (not coincidentally released by the English label Monotreme Records) and the experimentation that is never an end in itself are the two main strengths of the record in question. Definitely, one of the most interesting surprises of the first two months of 2013.