Bolduchin - Shellac - SD-112

Giacomo Triglia is an Italian music video director for Sony, Warner and Universal, among others. Recently he has also been publishing experimental ambient tapes under the name "Bolduchin". His debut is called "s / t", was released in April 2020 and is a studio album. "Shellac" however, his second release, now follows a year later, but this time it was recorded on analog tape.

The unusual recording method allows him to apply interesting effects to the various sounds. He can distort, accelerate and slow down the tapes to create dark drone surfaces. Many samples are reminiscent of the interior of a factory or large machine: metallic bodies are colliding, sirens sound from the distance and loudspeaker announcements echo through the sparsely lit halls.

Here and there are orchestral sounds that are sometimes more and sometimes less recognizable as such due to the processing. Everything sounds very industrial, but by no means inorganic. The sheer size of the factory in which the listener is located creates the impression of a gigantic organism. The tape warping and the amount of sounds create a veritable wall of noises that cast a spell over the listener. Each frequency range sounds saturated and full. The sub booms pleasantly, ambient pads create mood in the middle and synthesizers and metal sounds buzz through the upper ranges of the stereo image.

Tape warping is not the only effect that the recording method enables. In some places the sound becomes "oversaturated" which leads to the sounds becoming distorted and dirty, but this is intentional here. A central element of the album is to use these effects to create dynamics and atmospheres. You don't feel as if you are standing at a fixed point, instead you are constantly in motion, sometimes so fast that the Doppler effect arises.

"Shellac" is an intense and engaging experience that ambient enthusiasts and friends of experimental sounds will definitely enjoy.

Bolduchin - Shellac - SD-112 is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.