Review: WK569 - Omaggio a Marino Zuccheri

By way of an introduction, a brief history lesson. In 1955 The Milan Electronic Music Studio or ‘RAI Studio of Phonology’ was opened, primarily for the purpose of creating experimental electronic music but also to create effects and soundtracks for film and TV (it was the inspiration for the 2012 film 'Berberian Sound Studio'). Between the years 1955 and 1983 it played host and help shape the music of many of the greats of experimental music including John Cage, Luciano Berio, Luigi Nono and the electroacoustic genius Bruno Maderna (check out the video below!). The sound technician/engineer for many of the groundbreaking recording was one Marino Zuccheri. The importance of Zuccheri's role cannot, and hasn't been, under estimated; David Toop, writing in 'The Wire' in 2008 had this to say: "Two of the first electronic works in my record collection – Berio’s Visage from 1961, and John Cage’s Fontana Mix from 1958 – were created there with Zuccheri (Designer and technician at the RAI Studio) . Even today, both of these pieces sound impressively vivid and dynamic, and what we should now recognise is that such qualities should be attributed to the technician as much as to the composer." It has been acknowledged that his role in the growth and evolution of electronic music is akin to that of Delia Derbyshire and her work with the BBC Radiophonic Workshop....a bold claim!



The point of all that is to provide some context for this amazing release on the ever boundary pushing Boring Machines label. WK569 are Federico Troncatti, Ezio Martinazzi and Pier Enrico Villa - three composers/technicians who have a collective respect for Zuccheri. 'Omaggio a Marino Zuccheri' is their way of paying homage to the great man....."The project is a synthesis of musical language that results from the interaction of man and machine articulated on different levels of perception, both “electronic self-generating” (elettromatic) and “theme improvisation” through development of sound architectures managed in real time" (Boring Machines). In essence what we have is a tract of sublime musique concret that reflects the work of the early pioneers of the electroacoustic movement and also the mathematical and algorithmic techniques used. Musically it is a seemingly random series of bleeps and loops but, with a more discerning listen, these random noises coalesce into something beautiful. It has a structure of its own that does indeed nod a head to Derbyshire et al. It all makes for a challenging but ultimately rewarding 17 minute listen. One hopes that in some way this helps bring the work and legacy The Milan Electronic Music Studio and Zuccheri greater exposure for the pioneers that they were.

'Omaggio a Marino Zuccheri' is available to pre-order from the Boring Machines' Bandcamp page here and comes as a single sided 12". A pretty damn essential purchase for anyone with an interest in the history of electronic music.