Patrick Belaga - Blutt
Format: LP / DL
Cat.No. PAN 117
Release Date: 2 April 2021
Purchase: pan.lnk.to/Blutt
Watch video: bit.ly/3rkeoDV

Conceived at the heel of Italy’s boot-shaped peninsula in Apulia, Patrick Belaga’s Blutt makes music for the unruly imagination. The title is an old German word for ‘naked’, ‘bare’, but it can also mean ‘blood’ when spelt blut. Take away another letter and it makes ‘butt’. None of these definitions and adaptations were what prompted the classically-trained composer and cellist to name his second album with a word simulating the sound of a punctured artery. That came later.

Blutt’s nine woozy compositions are inspired by a contemplative road trip with a friend, and the mysterious muffled music heard from an unidentified source. It was a combination of jazz and classical music that haunted Belaga’s wanderings through the Byzantine town Gallipoli, and soon infected his dreams of long-gone civilizations. This record is its outcome, where organic instrumentals and electronic production merge into a sound that’s both contemporary and ancient. Samples of mewing incantations and tape hiss sway atop the waltzing thud of piano chords on “Sigh”. Composite layers of Belaga’s cello play in downcast harmony on “Rust”. There’s a wistful sense for the romantic, in the eerie rhythm of a piece like “Momentum”. The quarter tones of an Eastern European and Middle Eastern folk scale probe a profound melancholy via Kai Knight’s violin. Its notes are haunted by a field recording of running water on “Unsoft”, echoes of panpipes and a Jew’s harp on opener “Lilt”.

As a consummate composer and performer known for his work with artists Wu Tsang, boychild, Josh Johnson and Asma Maroof, Belaga’s Blutt is itself marked by flawless collaborations. Vocalist and instrumentalist Jazmin Romero sings and composes the surreal melodies of “Grey Eye”. Multidisciplinary dance artist and producer Riley Watts contributes to the muted, motorik movement of “The Tunnel is a Tower”. Together, the record plays as a stunning soundtrack to the strangeness of sleeping, and the heartbreaking transience of time. Like an intense dream half-remembered, the emotions persist after waking but for the sharp machinations just outside of the mind’s reach.
credits

The album is mastered by Rashad Becker, featuring artwork by Giovanni Forlino and design by Bill Kouligas & NMR.

@patrickbelaga

Blutt

Patrick Belaga - Burned (PAN 117)

EGREGORE - FEVER HELL

ρҽɾɾҽσ ҽɳ ᥙɳα 𝓬αʋҽɾɳα ടᥙß𝜏ҽɾɾάɳҽα

THE FAST (1975 LP)
PRODUCED BY BOBBY 'O' ORLANDO

Motorcycle Mania (THE FAST)

Cute Cello

Ni Una Sola Palabra... (Club Remix)

Atb - long way home

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Mandy Zone & Ozone Live At Max's Kansas City: “Shotgun,” included as a studio bonus track, is a glorious, menacing slice of dark power pop. Producer BOBBY ORLANDO utilizes the octave sequencing that would make him a dance legend as Bobby O in the 80s (producing classics for Divine, The Flirts and Pet Shop Boys) and Blondie’s Gary Valentine handles guitar with the precision and restraint expected from a converted bass player. 
SHOTGUN: Produced by BOBBY ORLANDO 1979 
Performed by:
Mandy Zone - vocals, keyboards 
Bobby Orlando - sequences, keyboards  
Gary Valentine – guitar  
Tommie Moonie - bass guitar  
Tedd Dolhon – drums

https://mandyzoneozone.bandcamp.com/album/live-at-maxs-kansas-city-1981?fbclid=IwAR0pO7rVccZSEIdVnmEdQMFTNVrjag62eq8qjFJNh0G_LTHGUo4PQXZvxYU

Mandy Zone & Ozone "SHOTGUN"

The Fast were a footnote to New York’s already-peripheral 1970s proto-punk scene, so Ozone, their offshoot act, were a footnote to a footnote. But unlike tax codes and textbooks, in rock n roll the most fascinating stuff is in the margins. The musical underground has always been the tiny-font subscript giving meaning to the mainstream, and Ozone were absolutely magnifying glass-worthy marginalia. Raised in Brooklyn by a doting matriarch, the three brothers who would become Miki, Paul, and Armand Zone defied borough boy expectations and became absurdist, flamboyant, glam rockers, led by the 1960s Who-obsessed Miki’s Technicolor power pop vision. Baby brother Paul was an eager social butterfly tagging along with his siblings’ band (fronted by middle child Armand, Mandy to his friends, singing guitarist Miki’s lyrics), and his photos documented the Fast’s rise from talent show rejects to fixtures at Max’s Kansas City. But in a blow to Armand’s ego, the ambitious Miki decided the younger Paul should join as lead vocalist, bumping their brother to keyboard and back ups. Though he favored pirate/noire/proto-Goth fashion that suggested darkness, Armand Zone was no recluse, and loved being the center of attention. “He had such an exaggerated personality,” Paul recalls. “Mandy had a kind of regal air about him, like he was the king of the room, rising above everyone. But he was a sweet, generous king.” Being a frontman fit this personality, but submitting to Miki’s direction did not, and being demoted to backup was certainly a problem. The band thrived with Paul in front, eventually drawing the attention of Ric Ocasek who helped record remarkable demos, gaining major label interest (scuttled by greedy management). But to some old fans missed the Fast’s original, more unconventional vocalist. Frustrated by his demotion, and lack of input, Mandy left the band, and created a suite of his own songs that demonstrated a precise, controlled sense of craftsmanship. Ozone played their first show November 5, 1979, also recording their first song before the decade’s demise. “Shotgun,” included as a bonus track, is a glorious, menacing slice of dark power pop. Producer Bobby Orlando utilizes the octave sequencing that would make him a dance legend as Bobby O in the 80s (producing classics for Divine, The Flirts and Pet Shop Boys) and Blondie’s Gary Valentine handles guitar with the precision and restraint expected from a converted bass player. As demonstrated on this collection, bass player Tommie Moonie (who’d been in the Fast, leaving because live performance demands were too much) and drummer Tedd Dolhon made up a manic rhythm section, providing ridiculous energy. Guitarist Jon Pilkington channels Johnny Thunders’ spirit, with sprinkles of Ramones (and on “Lay Away Plan” even a little Misfits), but best yet, he often brings to mind a bar band Priest/Maiden cover act. Though they mostly shared musical tastes, Mandy was the only Zone with an affinity for the New Wave of British Heavy Metal. Ozone played Max’s, CBGB, Zappa’s in Brooklyn, Coventry in Queens, and other clubs, paired with like-minded weirdos like Von Lmo, Jayne County, Alan Vega, and The Fast. Ozone earned a couple hundred followers, and developed into a solid live act. Mandy had not been the last musician to quit the Fast, and after Spinal Tap-worthy attrition whittled the band to a duo they made a tongue-in-cheek transition to electronic dance music and, as Man 2 Man, bizarrely became pop sensations in Mexico, the UK and through out Europe (where “Male Stripper” became a legit hit single). Paul became, by default and his own nature, the archivist of the family’s musical escapades. Despite Armand’s Freddie Mercury-esque love of the spotlight, Ozone rocked in the margins. But these joyful noises, finally reaching new ears, should help secure Mandy’s throne, where sits the regal ruler of his own weird, wonderful footnote.
-Jake Austen

Cute Cello

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