Trasponsonic - Dolmen; 20 Year Anniversary. Overview and Interview

Anyone who knows me or has read this blog previously will know of my abiding love for the Italian music scene, especially that 'genre' that has come to be called Italian Occult Psychedelia....I hesitate calling it a genre as that word would imply some semblance of similarity in the musical output of the IOP artists where in reality there is an incredible breadth of sounds and approaches. The term 'Italian Occult Psychedelia' was coined by journalist Antonio Ciarletta in an article published by Italian music magazine Blow Up back in January 2012. In effect it is a manifestation of the shared collective memory of Italy; a form of hauntology if you will. The music draws upon Italian culture (spaghetti westerns, Giallo horror movies, kitschy library music), religious imagery (namely Catholicism) and the many and varied folklore tales. From a personal point of view IOP has produced some of my favourite bands; Heroin In Tahiti, Father Murphy and Hermetic Brotherhood of Lux-Or (more about them later) and some of my favourite labels (Boring Machines, No=Fi & Trasponsonic to name just 3).

The Trasponsonic label is without doubt a magical (and magickal) beast, drawing upon a rich Sardinian heritage and an even richer pool of talent (all the artists: MSMiroslaw, Ersilio Campostorto, Andrej Porcu, Samantha Soames, Ethan Varrs, Egon K, Der List, Gabriel LB, SolideaSurya & Laura Dem all hail from a 10km radius of Macomer). Formed in 1999, last December saw the 20th anniversary of the label and to celebrate they have released a USB with the entire label discography and a link through to a film...that's a massive 49 albums! As much as I would like to, I am not going to review 49 albums but in order for you, dear reader, to get a proper flavour of the joys contained on said USB I will try to give an overview of some of the artists.

Hermetic Brotherhood of Lux-Or

HBoL have appeared in these pages before (here and here) and currently have a new(ish) album, 'Sex and Dead Cities', out now on Boring Machines. More of a collective than a band, all of the label artists have appeared on HBoL recordings in the past but of late it has revolved around MSMiroslaw and Laura Dem. They are very much a band rooted in improvisation and an inherent need to both reflect and absorb the traditions and rituals of Sardinia. That word 'ritual' is apposite in trying to describe the sound of HBoL....the music is tribal and shamanistic, it is full of foreboding drones and disquieting vocals, normally in the shape of wails and chants. They have released a series of albums in a series named 'Ethnographies' (see link to review above) which are all contained on the USB and that title is telling; an ethnography is an indepth, anthropological study of people and culture from one who has immersed themselves into that particular culture and that is exactly what HBoL do very, very well...they take inspiration from their collective cultural memories and transmute these into stunning pieces of music that disturb and exhilarate in equal measure. MSMiroslaw expounds on this in the interview below. 'Dolmen' contains pretty much the entire HBol discography and, as a body of work, to delve into fully has a profound effect. They really are the most occult of the Italian Occult Psychedelic bands and they were doing it a dozen or so years before the term was coined.



MSMiroslaw

MSMiroslaw is the de facto head honcho of Trasponsonic and HBoL (although I get the impression the label is very much an egalitarian philosophy) and has recorded 3 albums under his name. These albums take the basic premise of HBoL and magnifies it a hundredfold. 2013's 'Rebirth Invocations (Ritual chants for the Vulture Goddess)' takes many different arcane compass points; Isis, Jumis (a Baltic pagan God) and Imbertighe (the location of a ancient megalith near Macomer) and skillfully merges them into an album of dark drones and plaintive wails. It also noteworthy for two other reasons; Simon Balestrazzi makes a guest appearance and the album was recorded in Nasprias Cave on Sardinia, it is a location that crops up many times during the grand tour of the discography. It is mesmerising and deeply immersive. The other albums; 'Libido' and 'Organes de la Voix' are different again...'Organes...' is based around the physical act of vocalising and sounds almost demonic at times as MSMiroslaw experiments with polyphonic voices whilst cavernous drones provide a dread laden background.



Ersilio Campostorto

Campostorto is an artist shrouded in mystery, there is very little about him on the internet (besides on the Trasponsonic website). What I do know is that the seven albums in the discography are stunning and contain such a variety of 'types' of music. Albums like 'Helagabale Noir' are very much based in drone and experimental electronica while 'Black Barley' from the 'Huskull Syleechocellar' is quite simply THE most beautiful song I have heard...ever! Gossamer fine electronica sits underneath a traditional sounding folk song with such haunting female vocals..it is stunning and I still cannot find who the vocalist is. 'Last Song Herbarium' sees a veer in approach as the guitar in various forms takes centre stage of this album. Songs such as 'Opposites' see the guitar used to create a wall of almost harsh noise while 'Xoanan' is based on some rather lovely acoustic fingerwork and 'Wry' is Heavy with a capital H..huge riffs and throbbing basslines. To my mind though, the most intriguing of the Campostorto albums in this huge collection is 'Campostorto Vs Antonov Rehersal Faestry'. Described as an "exiled jam session" it is a glorious mix of musique concrete and a free flowing musical stream of consciousness...utilising a variety of instrumentation, some old and some new, and field recordings Campostorto creates sonic tapestries that meander between the soft and lilting and the harsh and uncompromising. Unfortunately I cannot find any media to insert here such is the mystery surrounding Campostorto so you'll just have to take it from me that the man is a genius.

HameloH

HameloH is another vehicle for Campostorto ... "Hameloh is a project born in the fall 2007 from the stomach of E. Campostorto.....plays handcrafted weirdblackambientfreefolkrock music". There are 3 albums in the discography and, this will come as no surprise, they are all wonderful. As one would (now) expect from Campostorto there is no one 'genre' to get a handle on, the music is free and unrestrained by boxes or pigeonholes, it just goes where the muse takes him. This results in a beautiful track full of traditional flute and lilting melodies immediately followed by a huge post-rock tune. Taken as whole, the HameloH albums are surprising and unpredictable (in a good way) but taken on a track by track basis they are superb. One of the many things that I took away from these albums is a sense of tradition, despite some tracks being electric guitar led, the overall feeling is of an artist in touch with his environment and his heritage. If I pushed to pick a favourite track it would have to be 'Ens Venini' from the 'From exile To Oblivion' album...dark but airy drones, the rattling of bone-like percussion, sampled voices and flashes of some lush acoustic guitar...it is sparse but absolutely mesmering.

Andrea/Andrej Porcu

The very first release on the Trasponsonic album was Andrea Porcu's 'Disfunzioni Tecniche Aforismi e Pensieri' album (which Google reliably informs me means "Technical Dysfunctions Aphorisms and Thoughts")..it is a series of 17 musique concrete vignettes that squeak, clang and whirr; sometimes discordant, sometimes with a recognisable structure of somekind. It is not an easy listen by any means but it has a charm about it. 'Disturbi concreti nel disordine dei sogni' ("Concrete disturbances in the disorder of dreams") is a far more listenable album - the clatter of percussion and some hazy drones make it a rather beautiful bucolic dream. 'Sfaceli Umanistici-Disfunzioni Tecnologiche' (" Humanistic Disruptions-Technological Dysfunctions") is another dissonant experiment in concretism while 'Vol III' sits happily between the discordant and the pastoral..probably my favourite Porcu album in this collection.

Maqom The Maqom project neatly sums up the Trasponsonic experience - comprised of MSMiroslaw and Campostorto with a revolving cast of other label artists, they recorded a series of albums at Nasprias Cave in Sardinia. The albums are amongst my favourites in the collection. They run the musical spectrum from ritual drone based, post-industrial tracks to soft, acoustic tracks of such filigree beauty its takes one's breath away. The Nasprias Cave location has a deep and meaningful connection to the artists and this somehow comes out in the recordings; there is a respect for the location within the music and it seems to be both inspiration and an instrument in itself. These albums truly are a bitesize snapshot of the ethos behind the label....stunning stuff!

There are many, many more delights to be found in this collection..some artists who appear only once such as Samantha Soames whose 'Ononimo' is a frenetic free jazz / experimental work out that is an absolute joy:



1997EV ia another artist who has appeared in these pages previously (here) and 'Microwhen' is another delightful slice of psychedelic hauntology. India Von Halkein's 'Mnetha' is a deeply immersive, drone filled album full of ethnic percussion while EtnoPsychicTrip Project's 'Echoes of the remote land' is exactly that; an album that takes it inspiration from ethnic cultures and societies and creates something that is deeply trippy in places but always satisfying.

I have spent a lot of time with 'Dolmen' over the past few weeks; I have listened to every album, most several times, and it has proved to be a veritable treasure trove. The albums that I have written about are but a drop in the ocean, there is so much to discover and enjoy in the label's discography and, if I had the time, I would dearly love to write about them all. What becomes evident, apart from the fact that there are some obviously highly talented artists on Sardinia,is that the Trasponsonic collective have deep and abiding love and respect for their Sardinian surroundings; it permeates everything they do and the inspiration shines through. There is a ritualistic feel about much of the music that stems from the Sardinian folklore and culture....despite having never been there I feel I know Sardinia. Musically, 'Dolmen' just keeps giving, after several listens there is always something more to learn, little nuances to pick up on. I really cannot recommend it enough. It can be obtained via the label's Facebook page here or by emailing them at trasponsonic@hotmail.com

La Rivolta di Iside: A psychic movie

Also included on the USB is a link through to 'La Rivolta di Iside, A psychic movie' - a 30 minute video "Filmed, produced and played by members of Trasponsonic mutant music collective in Sardinia between 2002 and 2015. Freely inspired by Antonin Artaud's theories." It is a somewhat disquieting watch; all flicker and sepia tones and surreal images, but it draws one in and holds the attention. It has the same atmosphere as those early films such as 'The Cabinet of Dr Caligari'. The soundtrack originates from Trasponsonic improvised sessions 2003, with screenplay and editing by MsMiroslaw. The cast is made of Trasponsonic artists: "Giordano Secci, Andrea Porcu, Rosanna Murgia, Mirko Santoru, Laura Demurtas, Walter Gosamo, Tiziana Masala, Luca Muroni, Davide Firinu, Tonj Santoru"

Full Discography

1 - DiAndreaPorcu - Disfunzioni Tecniche Aforismi e Pensieri 1999
2 - Afrodisiacifattincasa - Benvenuti nel nuovo Medioevo 1999
3 - Samantha Soames - Omonimo 1999
4 - Ersilio Campostorto - Struttura Anomala 1999
5 - K17 - Danza Disarmonica 1999
6 - Okymisaka Mutacion - Berbekes 1999
7 - Pinolo - Organico 1999
8 - 1997EV - Microwhen 1999
9 - afrodisiacifattiincasa - 2350 Trionfo dello Spazio (2000)
10 - Andrea Porcu - Sfaceli Umanistici Disfunzioni Tecnologiche 2000
11 - Agrot Zorks - Unexpressable Slowsoaked Frames 2000
12 - Antonov vs SS - Mierda Omnes 2000
13 - Ersilio Campostorto - Last Song Herbarium 2000
14 - K17 - Ode to K 2000
15 - K - Obmansore rev 2001
16 - Ersilio Campostorto - Helagabale Noir 2001
17 - Ersilio Campostorto - Huskull Syleechocellar 2002
18 - II - II - 2002 (2002)
19 - RavenousKha - Tanza mit Uns!! 2002
20 - II-03 (2003) 21 - Nadetecandense - Omonimo 2004
22 - Vol. III 2004
23 - Maria's Breath - Fairy's Murder 2004
24 - Ersilio Campostorto - Sonos mortos 2005
25 - Ersilio Campostorto - Scritti Postumi 2005
26 - Antonov vs Campostorto - Rehersal Fakestry 2006
27 - Maqom-Tam-El 2007
28 - Maqom II - Nasprias Cave 2007
29 - Maqom IV - Utopos 2007
30 - HameloH - Dead lake 2007
31 - HameloH - Pathethylich Ruins Orkestra 2007
32 - HBOL - UMUNGUS FUNGUS 2007
33 - HBOL - URANO1 2008
34 - HBOL - URANO3 2008
35 - Andrej Porcu -Disturbi concreti nel disordine dei sogni 2008
36 - India Von Halkein - Mnetha 2008
37 - Block17 - Vude 2008
38 - HameloH - From Exile to Oblivion 2008
39 - Tzii - Vuole Morire 2009
40 - HBOL - Saint Lux 2009
41 - HBOL - Ethnographies Vol.I 2011
42 - HBOL - Ethnographies VOL.II 2012
43 - MSMiroslaw - Rebirth Invocations (Ritual chants for the Vulture Goddess) 2013
44 - EtnoPsychicTrip Project - Echoes of the remote land 2013
45 - La Rivolta Di Iside - A Psychic Movie by Trasponsonic 2015
46 - MSMiroslaw - Libido 2016
47 - HBOL - Anacalypsis 2016
48 - Ethnographies Vol.III 2017
49 - MSMiroslaw - Organes de la Voix 2018
50 - HBOL - Sex and Dead Cities 2019

I was lucky enough to catch a few words with MSMiroslaw about the release, the label and HBoL:

"Hi, thanks for taking the time to do this, how are you all keeping over there in these crazy times

Hi, thanks to you! Being on an island and having closed arrivals and departures almost immediately, we have relatively few cases but the lockdown will cause enormous damage to our already fragile economy.

Congratulations on the 20th anniversary of Trasponsonic .... Did you ever think you would make 20 years? What was the initial goal of the label?

Thanks a lot. To tell you the truth, time has really slipped through our hands and the reasons that prompted us to express our unease and anger are still here and if possible they are even more dramatic. We came from the culture of tape trading and with the advent of home cd burners the transition was natural. The urge to express our view of things did not change but simply found a new medium. Art in the age of its technical reproducibility. The production halves available to the masses. :-)

Listening to the entire discography, it strikes me that the variety and breadth of the roster is quite astonishing..from folk to noise via drone, rock and psychedelia. Do you have a 'remit' as such or just release music that you like?You have mentioned to me before that all the artists hail from within a 10 km radius of Macomer in Sardinia... it sounds almost like a collective rather than a label?

The basic idea of the label was the mutation. The attempt to merge different musical, philosophical, anthropological forms to create new hybrids. Creativity in complete freedom. And yes, of course, all this reflects our varied listening.

Trasponsonic was born to give voice to the musicians of a small area of central-western Sardinia. A dozen friends who lived in the same territory and who in twenty years have given birth to 49 albums and a film. A single brand for the collective.

Nature and the environment are obviously very important to you, from the unique instrumentation to the recording locations (I'm thinking particularly of the Nasprias Cave).do you gain a lot of inspiration from your surroundings?

Absolutely. Trasponsonic could not be born here, with our sounds we have tried to transmit everything that represents the territory from the historical, archaeological, social, economic point of view with all its contradictions trying to catapult the listener directly here to our homeland.

Just turning briefly to Hermetic Brotherhood of Lux-Or...it is a very esoteric name, an obvious nod to the society of the same (almost) name...is this a reflection of your personal philosophy.

In The Hermetic Brotherhood of Lux-Or manifesto can read: All Western occultism and pagan religious rites of ancient Western nations are indebted to this ancient order. Hermetic initiates did not draw anything from India: the apparent consonance between names, doctrines and rituals of Hindus and Egyptians, far from showing that Egypt drew its doctrine from India, reveals instead how the main themes of the respective doctrines derive from the same source; and this original source is not India or Egypt, but the lost island of the west. We like to think that this ancient island is Sardinia with its mysterious megalithic civilization which is very much in common with the British islands, for example, but not only. We have always been passionate about primeval civilization and European religion. Your Julian Cope knows something about it.

The concept of 'ritual' is prevalent in the music..can you explain a bit about that?

We think of music as something very religious. How it was at the beginning. Our approach has never been technical, there is no premeditation regarding composition. Our records are always recorded live, after "a long and reasoned upheaval of all the senses" in real free improvisation rituals. We wait for inspiration, we don't practice tools on a daily basis. And when he arrives we gather in a dark room and document everything. It is more an ethnographic report than anything else. Let's play anthropologists of ourselves.

HBoL have been grouped with other bands labelled 'Italian Occult Psychedelia' (I'm guilty of that myself) ... is this something of which you approve ?

We started making music many years before for the first time Antonio Ciarletta of Blow-Up started talking about "Italian Occult Psichedelia". If we talk about dark and psychotropic sounds, honestly it doesn't create any discomfort for us and many musicians who ended up in the cauldron are beautiful people as well as valid artists. Others tried to ride the wave and in the end in our opinion they didn't catch the true mood and everything got a little deflated. Antonio was good at photographing a scene that has always existed in Italy, undetected, since years not suspicious, and that pays the price for a Christianity that tried to bury the pagan legacies of the Italic peoples. And there is no denying that his article allowed us to get out of anonymity a bit. Even if someone outside Italy had already noticed us (see the good Julian Cope).

In the past, when speaking to other Italian artists, they mention that Catholicism weighs heavy in their work....is this true with yourselves?

I partly agree but in the sense that here in Sardinia, but also in other parts of Italy, as I said before, Catholicism has only attempted to overlap the pagan substratum and still tempts us but has not canceled anything of our customs and rituals. Our whole past still emerges strongly in our culture. If you have never heard of it, just try to find out about the carnival rites of Barbagia region.

What music and artists have influenced you?

More than from the art world, perhaps the greatest influences come precisely from the study of the religions, customs and traditions of the various peoples of the earth. Although it must be said that there have been artists who have combined the paths wonderfully. Antonin Artaud is perhaps the greatest of all. The search for origins is perhaps the biggest influence.

Any modern or contemporary (non Trasponsonic) artists that you listen to or admire?

No one in particular. Our plays span 360 degrees in the world of music. But perhaps if there was one person in the world of music who represented our way of seeing things, it was certainly Neil Andrew Megson. May he always protect us from high places.

Just going back to the label, I believe there is a USB and a movie ...where can people get this?

USb / Dolmen can be ordered by writing to trasponsonic@hotmail.com or on facebook via the Trasponsonic page

Anything in the pipeline for the label or HBoL or your solo work?

Many whirlpools of ideas waiting to take shape in the next rituals. Waiting for the right inspiration.

Thanks again for this and congratulations once more on the anniversary, I sincerely hope there will be many more years of Trasponsonic.

Thanks a lot. We are waiting for you in Sardinia."