Trivo
Emoterapia

The Internet is a devil's tool, perfect for pedophiles and financial fraudsters.
However, the Internet is also a means to uncover hidden music. Sometimes very beautiful.
The little treasures are those right before us, and we don't even notice them. Indeed.
You all know Myspace, right?!
I had this band among my Myspace friends for a year and never considered them as they deserved.
A few days ago, I took a tour on their page and discovered a new album had been released after 6 years of silence.
I listened to a few new tracks and liked them. These guys are really good.
Then I read more and realized that these guys, in reality, are just one person, and for only 3 euros, he sends his CD home to me, so I said: let's give it a try!
I received his CD, listened to it, became his friend, and decided to write you this article.
Yes... the internet is indeed a devil's tool!

The artist in question is an extremely shy and reserved individual.
Talking about him is quite a challenge, but I'll try.
Trivo, born in 1977, is a shy and introverted character who grew up in an anonymous provincial town in northern Puglia.
And what does a child do when he doesn't want to become a street kid?!
He spends time painting, playing on the Commodore 64, watching movies, Japanese cartoons, and (especially) writing songs.
Despite never having studied music, he practically experiments with all instruments, and thanks to the technique of overdubbing, he accumulates over time more than 200 songs that he gives away for free to his friends.
His new self-produced album entirely recorded at home is called Emoterapia, and the reason can be learned directly from his blog:

One day, I accompanied my father to a cycle of chemotherapy... I was in the waiting room looking at the faces of all those sick people, including my father, who hoped to get better.
I actually thought that treatment was entirely useless for their physical health, but probably it would help them feel better morally.
So... in my head, chemotherapy turned into emo-therapy, that is... therapy to feel better in the soul... the way to heal the soul.
I knew that the prefix "emo-" referred to something blood-related, and when I came back home, I researched "emotherapy" and found the following:

"Emotherapy is in medicine, the introduction parenterally of human blood (or parts of it) for therapeutic purposes, either to replenish an anemic or bled-out organism (transfusion), to carry out passive immunization, or to supplement a deficiency of plasma components (proteins, corpuscular elements, coagulation factors)."

This definition struck me so much, so I decided if I managed to more or less come out of my black period, I would name my first work that way.

Emoterapia is a very intense, poetic, poignant album that exudes emotions in every track.
It's a concept album; the themes are downfall, darkness, and light.
17 tracks for just 38 minutes of duration.
The lyrics, all in Italian, are very hermetic, and Trivo does not disdain subjective interpretation.

The album starts with "Track 1 - Unknown Artist": an intro made of noises and feedback where a chorus of voices obsessively repeats "no one wants to be sick, yet we all need our ailments, if you decide to follow my ideas your health will surely improve?"
The real first track is the instrumental "The Discipline of Fermentations": a rock intro that slowly flows into an authorial electro-pop in Air/Lali Puna style. The melody and arrangement are really remarkable.
"Ratio Me Fugit" is a hard-hitting hard rock piece based on a buzzing riff supported by a counter-rhythmic bass and drum carpet. Intercom voice, shouted chorus, and a long neurotic guitar solo à la Sonic Youth for this song dedicated to madness. Trivo himself defined it as "stoner tarantella"... and that's saying something.
"I Have a Cat In My Brain" (title taken from a horror film by Lucio Fulci) is a little lo-fi acoustic gem that suddenly flows into a surprising classical suite.
"The Darkest Side Of The Dark" is a brief horror-claustrophobic interlude while "I Need Something I Don't Need" is a perfect lo-fi pop song that Lou Barlow featuring Beck could have written: that damned chorus will stick in your head like candy wrappers and won't leave for a long time.
"Black" is another simple and delicate song but of disarming beauty. Disturbed and cut-up voice, dolphins and whales crying in the background, and that little guitar that seems out of tune (perhaps it really was out of tune, right Trivo?) for this sad ballad about psyche and eating disorders.
"Because Malice is Huge", "Talking To Van Vera", and "Phantazomai" hint at shades of Pink Floyd, Depeche Mode, and Tricky.
"You're Not Normal" is a piano/drum instrumental acid-jazz-pop schizoid piece in the style of John Zorn.
"My Woman is an Opulent Clown" and "Small Loss Of Substance Fingertip" are two of the most energetic episodes of the album: industrial, punk, and power-pop blend into a deadly mix.
"Kissastarsky" closes the album with a sweet track that seems to have emerged from a jam session between Massive Attack, Sigur Ros, and Sparklehorse.
It is truly incredible the quality and quantity of sounds, nuances, and sensations that this self-taught guy manages to bring out thanks to all these noises, little guitars, keyboards, drum machines, and various contraptions.
Two words for the beautiful CD artwork: it's all homemade with photos and graphics by Trivo himself.
Finally some fresh air for Italian music.
Record labels, where are you?! Don't let this imaginative DIY music sprite slip away!

P.S. for a taste of his music http://www.myspace.com/elephantsuicide