M. B. — Decanemia

Here’s a tape from the esteemed Ciel Bleu Et Petits Oiseaux Records, released a few years back, I think. The tape features two long tracks, around 25 minutes each, from M. B. aka Maurizio Bianchi - is there a difference between M. B. and Maurizio Bianchi releases? The artwork features colourful photos of microscopic cells (?) on the outside, whilst the inner inlay has a medical photo of parts of a human skeleton.

The first track, ‘Decanemia’, is dominated by slow (and not so slow), echoing tones, creating a drift of thick murk. This continues as it starts, and ebbs and flows; this, essentially static, structure means that dynamics are amplified, and there are some particularly good sections where the track builds, especially where it uses higher-pitched tones. The overall effect is somewhere between a swirling bad trip, and a slow drone video surveying an alien planet; in more formal terms it’s the busiest, more dynamic, dark ambient.  

The second piece, ‘Orgadence’, deploys a similar soundscape, and again the pace is slow - though notably much quicker than much dark ambient, for example - but here it feels more windswept, more alien, darker. This is music that the listener can genuinely become lost in; there’s a depth that can suck you in, and reward close listening. At points the piece sounds like slowed, slurred voices; I watched Mario Bava’s Planet of the Vampires recently, and Decanemia as a whole is putting me in that same mind space.

I was very late to Maurizio Bianchi, and it’s incredible that 45 years after those first Sacher-Pelz tapes he is still producing class material, and still exploring the same sounds and territories. Both sides of the album are great, perhaps evoking the aftermath of siren sounds on an alien planet, with their victims lured in and now trapped in bleak, hostile environments. Despite the bodily, medical imagery, there is a sci-fi feel to my mind, though this perhaps reflects nicely on the concept of the body as an alien object. A good tape on a good label.