Bologna, Italy based experimental post rock quartet EARTHSET caught our attention with their interesting live project, the “L’Uomo Meccanico” ciné-concert, last year’s special touring & live soundtrack experience for an Italian-French movie from 1921, restored by the Cineteca di Bologna, partner of the tour. Released on January 31st via Dischi Bervisti & Koe Records, and restrained to digital offering because of the pandemic, the project remains super interesting, revealing a band that is self-aware, straight up adventurous, being able to unveil traits that immediately separate their twisted and eerie style from what other post rock bands accustomed us to.
Earthset are an alt-rock/psychedelic band from Bologna, Italy. The project started in 2012, with Luigi (bass) Costantino (guitar) Emanuele (drums) and Ezio (vocals and guitar). After releasing their debut album “In a State of Altered Unconsciousness” in late October of 2015, and the EP “POPISM” in March 2017, the band was assigned to accompany the mute film “L’Uomo Meccanico”(Italy-France 1921) for the Soundtracks 2018 project, sponsored by Corrado Nuccini (Giardini di Mirò) and Stefano Boni (Museo del cinema di Torino).
“L’Uomo Meccanico” is the first sci-fi movie produced in Italy, but the author and main actor of the film is André Deed, one of the first great comedians of French cinema.
““L’Uomo Meccanico” is the first Italian sci-fi movie, one of the very first mute films in the world to have a robot as a villain and probably the first one to show a fight between a good and an evil mechanical man. The film had been lost for decades until a last copy was found in the Cinemateca Brasileira in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The reel was partially restored by the Cineteca di Bologna, with only 43 minutes left of the hour and a half of the original length. After that experience, in which we had the chance to work alongside musicians such as Nicola Manzan (Bologna Violenta/Ronin) and Tiziano Bianchi, “L’Uomo Meccanico – Live Soundtrack tour 2019” started, with the Cineteca di Bologna’s partnership.”
The live soundtrack appears to be a mix of the band’s more experimental attitude with the melodic research that has always characterised their writing.
Earthset translate into music a continuous state of alteration, evolution and dynamism through a non-linear structural composition, sharp and acid sounds, transitions between heavy distortions and limpid, clean sounds, generally cold psychedelic atmospheres disturbed by noise inserts.
These elements have been emphasized and mixed with melodic solutions taken from the early ‘900 contemporary music, such as whole tone scales and dodecaphony.
Continues the band: “The album is quite different from our previouses releases. We always insert instrumental tracks in our albums or “intrumental moments” in our songs, but this is a 43 min instrumental music piece, written as a long suite, with no pause.”
“This project gave us the occasion to develop something we had in our music, to explore our more experimental attitude (aggressive noise, dissonant and disturbing sounds) and mix it with a new melodic research. In particular we introduced some harmonic elements taken from contemporary classical music, such as esatonal scales and dodecaphony. This kind of reaserch was really important for us as a band.”
“We all have different inspirations and influences, it’s never easy to make a coherent list.
But keeping the focus on “L’Uomo Meccanico”, for this project we took inspiration from many classical composers, mostly Debussy and Alban Berg, but also from the italian composer Giacinto Scelsi, who inspired in particular our “Cap. I – Preludio”.”
EARTHSET are trying to reschedule some gigs and hope to announce new shows in the next months. In the meantime, they’re working on their new album.
