Here is IL CORPO NEL SOGNO, the new work from OTEME, Observatory of Emerged Lands, almost a divertissement halfway between chamber music, singer-songwriter songs, Rock-In-Opposition, electroacoustic music. What Stravinsky, Messiaen and Feldman would have happily written if they had loved drum'n'bass. What Dylan could still hypothesise if he were interested in the avant-garde of the 1900s. The recurring dream of Bach who predicted the arrival of Battisti and Panella.

After the critical success of the two previous CDs (IL GIARDINO DISINCANTATO – Edd Strapontins 2013 and L'AGGUATO, L'ABBANDONO, IL MUTAMENTO – Ma.Ra.Cash Records 2015), OTEME is back with a complex work, built patiently over two years, between (many) rehearsals and (few) live concerts. The group, solid as usual, involves more than 8 musicians wrestling flutes, voices, percussion, keyboards, guitars, along with an exceptional guest, Antonio Caggiano on the vibraphone, a founding member of the percussion group Ars Ludi.

As in the two previous works, the artistic and musical contexts cross and combine freely, beyond the logic of easy markets, but the sound acquires more personal characteristics, becoming what is now a trademark of the OTEME. The lyrics tell of daily life in an amusing and surreal manner, ranging from hermetic poetry to stealing from social media (as in the case of the piece RUBIDOR #1, written from reflections on Facebook by the artist and playwright Rubidori Manshaft). The music starts from the song form and crumbles into a thousand influences of genres and disciplines, in a homogenous whole that belongs neither here nor there.

The musicians of the ensemble come from different areas, from jazz to classical music, from folk/band to singer-songwriters, from cultured avant-garde to experimental theatre.

Stefano Giannotti is the composer of the pieces of this CD. In recent years, in addition to his work with OTEME, he has worked intensely in order to write and produce radio operas for Germany’s main state radio stations (Deutschlandradio Kultur, SWR, WDR). He has also developed numerous solo performances, halfway between musical theatre, video art and sound art. He teaches guitar and composition at the Scuola di Musica Sinfonia in Lucca, where he also directs the Orchestra SMS, which developed from a laboratory for students of all ages.

About OTEME:

I should have known that L’Agguato, L’Abbandono, Il Mutamento (The Ambush, The Abandonment, The Change) would turn out to be a much needed breath of fresh air, and to put it simply one of the best albums of 2015. Roger Trenwith THE PROGRESSIVE ASPECT 2016

The strength of the second work by the OTEME group is that it does not belong to a precise musical world. Their world embraces music that is contemporary, progressive, singer-songwriter, electronic, chamber… and is expressed in multiple ways, with meticulous writing of the orchestrations or with the complete improvisation and interaction among instruments… all this while managing to create a recognisable musical form, with a precise style, a result that is neither simple nor predictable. Edmondo Romano in MAT 2020 (2015)

(…) pieces punctuated by sapid vocal harmonies and by the intriguing palette of dozens of different timbres Enrico Ramunni ROCKERILLA 2014

Here, there is space for everyone, in a composition that is extremely happy, as amused as it is brilliant, in crossing and spinning everything Claudio Milano ESTATICA 2014

(…) a sonorous and poetic summa that Giannotti and his travel companions have distilled with artisan wisdom and a taste for contamination that is truly admirable, and increasingly rare. ALTRE MUSE 2013

Line-up

Valeria Marzocchi: flauto, voce
Lorenzo Del Pecchia: clarinetto, clarinetto basso
Maicol Pucci: tromba, flicorno
Marco Fagioli: basso tuba, trombone, sifone
Stefano Giannotti: voce, chitarra elettrica, organo Farfisa, elettronica, percussioni, armonica
Emanuela Lari: piano, tastiere, voce
Valentina Cinquini: arpa, voce
Riccardo Ienna: percussioni

Voci addizionali: Gabriele Stefani, Edgar Gomez
Ospite d'onore Antonio Caggiano: vibrafono su ORFEO E MOIRA e BLU MARRONE