Jacopo Costa is a lecturer in musicology at the University of Strasbourg whose music is classified as electro acoustic, art rock and progressive with vibraphone. The music is quite unlike anything I have previously heard, like a series of short stories in music or observations on life, with intriguing lyrics and snatches of music; I thought of some of the more experimental music from the eighties, but it is difficult to make direct comparisons. Highly inventive and imaginative, the snatches of vibraphone and drums on tracks like ‘The Old Man’s Place’ are most engaging.
A variety of instruments are played, interacting with computers (I presume) and various ‘sounds’ with sudden shifts in tempo as on ‘Demons’ with its stylophone type synth sound and shimmering vibes; the omnipresent vibes helping to define a very unique approach. It would be nice to have the lyrics to fully decipher the likes of ‘Page 46’ with its phased vocals and backwards effects. Sometimes the vocals adapt a kind of Peter Hammill holler. Sometimes the textures are cavernous and booming as on the rather lachrymose ballad, ‘December’. The echoed electric piano on ‘Clear Coloured Boulders’ is juxtaposed in a highly impressionistic way with harsh percussive sounds, typical of the explorative nature of the music. Experimental music lovers and those who enjoy unconventional sonic landscapes will want to check Jacopo’s music out.
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