Reviews

Tu m', made up of andrea gabriele, rossano polidoro and emiliano romanelli, is an italian trio with an unpronounceable name, and their take on improvisation closely echoes kahn's own. the crackle and drone here could just as easily be attributed to a lone musician with a computer, though the knowledge that this is an ensemble work primes the ear to listen for the collisions and collusions that are absent from solitary laptopping. these are nonlinear forays into ethereal hisses and prolonged squeaks (a predilection also suggested in the multimedia compositions featured on the group's web site, www.tu–m.com), and like kahn's music, they lean heavily on loops for their structure, layering short repeating figures over elongated refrains. beneath the fluid surface of their high-pitched tones and steamvent exhalations, minor disruptions –– static, charred vocal samples, uncertain grumblings –– suck, dimple and chafe, like impudent forces and irascible chemical reactions.— Philip Sherburne, The Wire

Not quite sure how to pronounce their name which is taken from an opera by Marcel Duchamp. Tu m' is an Italian trio consisting of Andrea Gabriele, Rossano Polidoro and Emiliano Romanelli. This is electronic music that is said to be improvised but sounds very structured to me. ‘Improvised’ music that sounds as if it isn't improvised usually means one of two things. Either it's a.) a lie or b.) made by musicians who do what they do very well. I believe the latter is the case with tu m'. ‘.01’ represents well crafted, modern improvised electronic music. It contains the usual glitches and pops. Don't expect anything groundbreaking here, but rather a genre with a slightly different slant, most importantly done honestly and done right. The trio has been together since 1998 and are self taught double bass, guitar and baritone saxophone musicians, but you won't find any of that here. The sound sources used on ‘.01’ are unidentifiable as they should be on any ‘experimental’ electronic record. The album consists of six tracks totaling just over sixty-four minutes. I wouldn't say that ‘.01’ is a difficult record to listen to, especially for this genre. Regardless, the sub-three minute ADD pop consumer should probably stick to what they are used to. For being an ‘improvised’ record, ‘.01’ is very steady and builds gradually on themes rather then concentrating on random phrases or bursts. ‘.01’ is not a messy record at all but very organized. The shifts are subtle and the listen requires patience, though the listener does not go away un-rewarded. It reminds me of a softer, less percussive and subtly less consistent Pan Sonic. ‘.01’ is beautifully recorded and the mastering by Cut's Jason Kahn is exquisite. If an improvised electronic album could ever be called ‘audiophile’ then this would be it. Comes in a cardboard sleeve resembling a mini LP sleeve with minimal artwork and liner notes typical of all Cut releases. tu m' also curates an internet record label that has new musicians every month who contribute an MP3 and artwork to make up an albums worth of material for a compilation and all the downloads are free. May's ‘release’ featured Black Dot, David Grubbs, Bhob Rainey and Plank among the thirteen tracks available. Their label's site can be found at http://spazioinwind.iol.it/tu_m/menu.html.— John Ruhter, Blastitude

The Italian group tu m' (Rossano Polidoro, Emiliano Romanelli, Andrea Gabriele) says their music ‘draws from plunderphonia, electroacoustic, jazz, rock, and minimal techno’; maybe that's their source material, but the end result is moderately structured glitch. tu m' uses irregularly occurring loops of glitchy sound to give the music a techno feel, without a 4/4 beat. Thus, the closest comparison would probably be the Mille Plateaux stuff from a couple of years ago. The disc begins with a beautiful feedback melody accompanied by a click beat. Other sounds, such as hiss and glitches, continually enter and exit the mix, and each theme is sustained for only a short period of time so that the listener never gets bored. This is true for most of the album. Beginning with a rocking chair sound, track 3 slowly builds and drops off. After 5 minutes, a playful techno beat appears, while all the original sounds coalesce around it. Track 5 begins slowly with a light, popping beat whose tracers impart a sense of inadequate buffer size. Ironically, this low-fidelity process results in some abstract polyrhythms. Over the course of 13 minutes, eerie, Autechre-esque synths wash over the track while errors spurt freely. The song's abstraction puts it in line with other 'click-techno' artists like Vladislav Delay and Mikael Stavostrand, but the level of dissonance and delicacy situate it several degrees beyond. Each of the songs on ‘.01’ involves many elements over a wide frequency range so that the result is a very complete and structured work, even while being classified as experimental glitch.— Matt Roberson, Angbase

A very different improvising group from Italy is the strangely punctuated tu m'. There is virtually no information given on the package of tu m's debut CD, but it sure sounds like a laptop to me (that telltale digital high-pitched whine is unmistakable). The group moves carefully through six relatively beat-oriented improvisations. The pieces develop slowly and deliberately, with loops rising up and fading out, sine tones entering steadily and cutting out, muted beats taking a place somewhere in the background and thump thump thumping along. Though the music is improvised, it sounds more similar to the abstract Mille Plateaux or Ritornell bands (Neina springs immediately to mind) than to what one might think of as ‘improv’. The recording quality is muddy at times, especially when tu m' brings out the heavy bass, so many of the digital details are lost in an undifferentiated murk. This could have benefitted from a cleaner production, but the ideas still come across.— Howard Stelzer, The Brain

One of the joys of listening to freely improvised electronics is the chance to bask in a variety of timbres and suss out the sound source(s). Although touted as improvisors of lowercase sound, the trio tu m' exhume an almost orchestral variety from their assorted (and without details on the CD, unlisted) gadgets. Most of the pieces on .01 begin with an off-kilter but discrete loop and proceed to explore the intricacies of hiss, static, pulses, and switching noise. The second track (the tracks are also unlisted) shuffles chits of sound here and there while a faintly tapped cymbal-like tone hovers in the background and slowly reverses upon itself. The chirping chits take over towards the end, as if relaying telemetry to a distant point beyond. The strongest pieces, tracks one and four, feature a slew of collaborators including Chris Cutler, Stephen Vitiello, and Jason Kahn, but behind the stew of blurps and backwards sound, sifting through such a seamless mix to guess who did what is probably futile. In the fourth track, veils of hiss and flickers of static lithely swoop and sway against high pitched drones, almost qualifying as a lullaby! — Signal To Noise

One of the joys of listening to freely improvised electronics is the chance to bask in a variety of timbres and suss out the sound source(s). although touted as improvisors of lowercase sound, the trio tu m' exhume an almost orchestral variety from their assorted (and without details on the cd, unlisted) gadgets. most of the pieces on «.01» begin with an off-kilter but discrete loop and proceed to explore the intricacies of hiss, static,pulses, and switching noise. the second track (the tracks are also unlisted) shuffles chits of sound here and there while a faintly tapped cymbal-like tone hovers in the background and slowly reverses upon itself. the chirping chits take over towards the end, as if relaying telemetry to a distant point beyond. in the fourth track, veils of hiss and flickers of static lithely swoop and sway against high pitched drones, almost qualifying as a lullaby!— Christopher Delaurenti, Ear Peace

«01»: exactly the kind of album title you'd expect from an experimental electronica outfit, especially one delving in the realm of lowercase sound. the Iialian trio tu m' delivers a good cd, not outstanding but honest enough to draw some attention. when working as a closed unit, andrea gabriele, rossano polidoro and emiliano romanelli create complex clicks-and-cuts music, fusing digital glitch sounds with light electronic samples. these pieces (untitled tracks 2, 3, 5 and 6) offer interesting soundscapes, minimal in prime materials but not minimalist in essence. on the other hand, by 2001 there was a lot of such music being released and tu m's, although good, doesn't stand out. working together as tu m', andrea gabriele, rossano polidoro and emiliano romanelli gathered in città sant' angelo and made noises that one doesn't stereotypically associate with italian music... this, .01, is a good thing. when played at low levels, the scritchy improvisational bursts, sputters and drones of the first track (13:38) melt into a squirming carpet of fuzzy textures, intermittently marked by rhythmic and ringing presences. subsonic blurts and mechanically bumping cycles course beneath the third piece, adorned with stylish bits of higher pips and squeals. spare digital clicks and thrummingly deep resonance are emitted from the fifth occurrence; ... squiggly little rivulets of unknown origin are overtaken by semi-musical stuttering, like a malfunctioning miniature robotic circus rolled into town as the sixth track (6:06) closes this 64 minute disc.— Francois Couture, All Music Guide

tu m' is a multidisciplinary trio from italy, formed in 1998 by andrea gabriele, rossano polidoro and emiliano romanelli. their music presents electroacoustic improvisations with a free form and constantly changing landscape. these six pieces are complex and dynamic improvisations with an intensely mercurial character. one part glitch, one part electroacoustic abstraction, and a host of other influences from illbient (some of this music reminds me of projects by the illbient outfit byzar) to minimal techno, .01 brings together a diverse collection of influences and musical elements. at times this mix might seem too varied and lacking in focus (with so many shifts and changes in direction, there's a lot to process here), but on the whole tu m' keeps the listener interested and sensitive to new sounds, crackles, tones and burgeoning rhythms, maintaining an element of surprise and dynamism throughout. challenging surely, but hidden beneath the complex layers and restless shifting to and fro lies an interesting view of where experimental improv can go.— Richard Di Santo, Incursion

Tu m' are a three-piece Italian ensemble that bill themselves as purveyors of music and visual art –– as a quick squizz at their website will tell you. They specialise in a particular strain of music that, according to the band, ‘draws from plunderphonica, electroacoustic, jazz, rock, and minimal techno with a strong bent for improvisation’. That's as good a description as any for the frankly indescribable tunes on .01 –– an album that seems to be designed to relax and completely confound the listener, but in a good way. In short, this CD contains a number of extended works of aural mutation. A lot of the time, it sounds like you're listening to amplifier hum –– that cycling of electricity feeling. On the surface, there's not a lot going on –– it's the sound of the humming lightbulb, an aural record of boredom –– but if you listen closely, there's much more happening. R2D2 speaks with stock-tickers, digital modem-chirps float across your head and clock-ticks burrow into your brain. There's the sound of life-in-machines here, and it's one of the few albums that I'd say is necessary to experience with headphones: the amount of effort that's gone into the layering and aural geography of this disc is phenomenal. .01 is not the sort of disc that supports casual listening; like much electroacoustic work, it's designed to be listened to. However, the oddity of some of these pieces (‘.01.1’, particularly) is that they seem to be constructed in such a way that one can develop a kind of aural Alzheimer's from them. One's sense of logic and linear progression is often worn away by the subtle manipulations of the Tu m' trio, leading to a state of disorientation that's rarely found in music. It's good stuff; never before has a collection of works of improvisation sounded more like the beguiling song of sleepy machines. .01's cover looks like a field of white, covered with what could well be blue Morse Code dots, though it could be static. Likewise, the music within could be the sound of amplified nothingness, a joke passed off as serious music, or it could be a work of slowly-shifting genius –– or even both at once, depending on your mood. This contentious base seems to be what the Tu m' machine is built on; and I'm happy to say that from start to finish, this album offers no answers. While it's a restful place to visit, .01 never quite lets you off the hook. Remember: the machines know where you live.— Luke Martin, Splendids

In March 2001 Gabriele, Polidoro and Romanelli, the three members of Tu m', went into the studio and recorded the six improvisations that make up this album. There is no indication of what instruments they played, but to me it sounds like it was primarily electronic bits and bobs, with perhaps the assistance of some contact mikes and guitars for string scratching. That is, there are no really identifiable musical instruments. The result is ambient-improv-glitch – or such a genre. The pieces are built from clicks tones sinewaves humms pulsings bleeps crackles rumbles sweeps scraggles and so on. That is, all manner of sounds that can be extracted from equipment in the studio. On the whole, these are decentred and disembodied. Various combinations and stages are drifted through for their lengths (generally 10 or more minutes), responding to the mood and whim of the musicians, ebbing and flowing in a subtle intensity. The tracks do vary – the third has a more physical feel with scraping noises running in the early part and a more subtle subdued second half, while the fifth uses deep rumbles and sweeping tones to create a sense of dread. But overall, there I feel that there is too much happening, with lots of activity and constant change without allowing moods to really settle in or develop. The final track is the most successful for me, with an active watery click, tones and loop which interact and develop almost imperceptibly, providing a gentle release, the simplicity actually more powerful. I think what is happening is that it is difficult to listen intensely to music which shifts so rapidly for long periods – hence the move to 15–20 minute releases. In chunks this album works well, but is overwhelming taken whole. Alternatively, as a kaleidoscopic background it creates a thoroughly modern ambience.— Ampersand Etcetera

Working together as tu m', andrea gabriele, rossano polidoro and emiliano romanelli gathered in Città Sant' Angelo and made noises that one doesn't stereotypically associate with Italian music... this, .01, is a good thing When played at low levels, the scritchy improvisational bursts, sputters and drones of the first track (13:38) melt into a squirming carpet of fuzzy textures, intermittently marked by rhythmic and ringing presences. Subsonic blurts and mechanically bumping cycles course beneath the third piece, adorned with stylish bits of higher pips and squeals. Spare digital clicks and thrummingly deep resonance are emitted from the fifth occurrence; ... Squiggly little rivulets of unknown origin are overtaken by semi-musical stuttering, like a malfunctioning miniature robotic circus rolled into town as the sixth track (6:06) closes this 64 minute disc. With .01, some will hear only noise, while others will recognize an unconventional symphony of audio-oddities. I'm especially appreciative that, while of a decidedly ‘noisy’ nature, tu m''s pieces are kept down to an unobtrusive level which attracts rather than repels. B. More stuff coming from Cut.— David J. Opdyke, Ambientrance

Another impressive cd from jason kahn's (see review of plurabelle) cut label out of france. .o1 consists of 6 pieces which blend the electronic with the organic into an evocative acoustic entree. the gently oscillating synthetic sounds bring to mind a night filled with insect sounds. patterns keep up a continuously changing set of inter-relationships, with the intermittent pop or digital chirp to let you know you are in a human-made audio environment. i continue to be impressed by this label's output, from the packaging to the contents. a very engrossing work.— B. Wildered, Desiderata

Formed in 1998, the Italian group Tu m' consists of Rossano Polidoro, Emiliano Romanelli and Andrea Gabriele. They make music which, in their own words, «draws from plunderphonia, electro acoustic, jazz, rock, minimal techno...always with a strong bent for improvisation.» Recorded in March 2001 in Città Sant' Angelo, Italy, this work shows a really intelligent approach to experimenta/improvised music conducted in a very successful and original way.— Namskeio

Subtle pulsing, clicky loop rhythms and crunchy signal textures...i like the sci-fi/lo-fi atmo and the warm balance of organic and electronic objects.— Kim Cascone

Dokumentáltan elso anyaguk, már azok közül, ami a külvilág számára hanghordozón is rögzült. A kiadó a Jason Kahn igazgatta, zürichi bejegyzésu Cut. 6 hosszú lélegzetvételu darab, melyet a relatíve csupasz formák jellemeznek. Fel-felsejlik benne némi indusztriális felhang, olykor még meditatív zöngék elocsalogatását is megkísérlik, összességében azonban az anyag egészét furcsa mód valami sötétség lepi. Nem mintha ez bármikor is jellemezte volna a csapatot (akár mentalitásban, akár zeneszerzési metodikában), mégis ami passzol rá, az egyfelol a ‘dronology’ címke, ahogy ezt jobb/rosszabb helyeken szokták titulálni, melynek hatását egyébiránt a 60-as évek zenei úttöroitol eredeztetik, úgymint Tony Conradtól, LaMonte Youngtól és Terry Rileytól. Szóval egyrészt ez a hosszan kitartott monoton búgás, másrészt a nehézkes, búgó fátyol alól kikandikáló hol elektroakusztikus, hol glitch kísérletek. Mindemellett van egy technós íze is a dolognak kicsiben lejátszva, valójában csak úgy reflektálva rá, anélkül, hogy bármit is akarna vele mondani. Az egymást átfedo búgásokon túl pedig kattogások, pattogások, pukkanások, nyikorgások, zakatolások, gerjedések, sercegések elegye e lemez. A meglevo minimalista váz cseppet sem szentírás. Valami ajánlásféle, vagy még az sem. Valami, amihez viszonyítva rögtönöznek – hol tuszúrásnyi magasakkal, hol alfa hangokkal, hol pedig azzal, miként is hat egy háttérben tartott hangfoszlány a mu egészére, átírja-e annak értelmét, megváltoztja-e annak belso ritmusát. A kérdés tehát számukra mindig is csak az, mennyit bír el egy-egy ’szabott’ forma. Ha meg nem bírja, hát sebaj. Az improvizációs igény mindenesetre még meglehetosen eros.— Farkas Zsolt Géza, Ultrasound

Quando un gruppo esordisce sull'etichetta gestita da un altro musicista viene immediatamente da pensare alla presenza di affinità elettive; nel nostro caso l'ascolto conferma la prima impressione giacché i Tu m' sembrano rispondere a principi enunciati da Jason Kahn – dei Repeat e proprietario della Cut – quali tribalismo, minimalismo, elettronica. Senza però adagiarsi su semplici schemi calligrafici ma bensì portando avanti un discorso affatto personale, ma di questo parleremo in seguito (affinità elettive, teniamo a sottolineare, e non sudditanza). Ma innanzi tutto diciamo chi sono i Tu m', nome sicuramente nuovo per il lettore come lo è per il recensore; si tratta di un trio abruzzese formato da Andrea Gabriele, Rossano Polidoro e Emiliano Romanelli. Il primo pallino va quindi sprecato per elogiare una scena nazionale sempre più vitale e in possesso di una propria autonomia – nomi: Martusciello, Ielasi, Massimo... – che sta conquistandosi un proprio spazio a livello internazionale. Questo esordio nasce da improvvisazioni di studio create con strumenti e oggettistica, oltre che, almeno crediamo di capire, attraverso un moderato uso del computer. Le prime impressioni sono catturate, oltre che dalla freschezza e dalla perizia tecnica, dalle grandi capacità del gruppo nel creare tensione e nel lavoro di strutturazione dei suoni. Tanto che alla fine, nonostante ‘Tu m' .01’ sia un tipico work in progress, nulla appare fuori posto. Tutti i sei brani sono ad ampio respiro, bricolage di suoni e rumori che danno vita a un mondo in perenne cambiamento, per stratificazioni e/o per concatenamenti, senza mai cadere nella trappola dell'affastellamento. I Tu m' fanno proprie le ultime tendenze di settori quali improvvisazione, elettronica e elettroacustica, senza però soffermarsi su nessuna di esse ma usandole solo quali canovacci da improntare nitidamente con la propria personalità. Parlavamo di tribalismo – più evidente nel fosco tambureggiare del primo brano ma che cova sotto le ceneri di tutti i sessanta minuti del CD – ad esso si contrappone una componente onirica, che non solo è dettata dall'influenza minimalista e ripetitiva, ma appare intrinseca alla qualità di certi suoni. Tale connubio fra fisicità e sogno – è ancora il caso di dire body and soul – è addirittura il tratto più distintivo e originale dei Tu m'. Ultima annotazione per citare in nome di Emanuela De Angelis che ha suonato nel 1° e nel 4° brano. (7/8), ma solo perché siamo convinti che i Tu m' possono fare ancora meglio... ma come si dice dalle nostre parti, 'chi bene inizia è a metà dell'opera'.— Etero Genio, Blow Up

...non sfigurano per niente in questo carosello di nomi affermati i nostrani Tu m', al loro esordio discografico per la Cut di Jason Kahn. .01 ne rivela l'abilità e la ricchezza di idee nell'allestimento di grevi improvvisazioni elettroacustiche brulicanti di materismi densi ed onirici, ritmi pneumatici, disturbi e frammenti minimi ben stratificati, dimostrando così di avere assimilato nella sua totalità la ricerca sperimentale degli ultimi cinquant'anni.— Nicola Catalano, Rumore

Terreno impervio quello dell'improvvisazione elettroacustica dove, per i performers, smarrirsi è facile quanto disorientare gli ascoltatori. Rischio storico delle avanguardie che il trio Tu m' evita, nel lucido esordio pubblicato dalla CUT di Jason Kahn. Sei tracce dall'incedere lento, atmosfere a tratti oniriche e timbri talvolta urticanti. Suoni ad alta friabilità che il trio tesse e tritura senza sosta, dando luogo ad un flusso di eventi quasi mai scontati, manipolando sorgenti sonore ben variegate, dal turnable al pianoforte. Un assortimento che ricorda i materiali eterogenei dell'omonima opera di Marchel Duchamp. Molte reminescenze, da Amm a John Duncan, ma nessuna sudditanza, confermando la personalità della ricerca italiana. Gustoso.— Gennaro Fucile, Il Manifesto / Alias

Superfici sonore levigate, appena scalfite da granuli grumosi di entità digitale e di pregnante disuniformità. Sovrapposizioni scaturite da manipolazioni destrutturati, ma sincronizzate e rapprese in riverberi sonici. Piani fluttuanti in maniera repentina ed irregolare tra altezze trasposte da diagrammi di calcolo fonetico e colorazioni cristallizzanti dal respiro estremo. Andrea Gabriele, Rossano Polidoro e Emiliano Romanelli (Tu m') esordiscono discettando con disarmante audacia di parametri, sequenze e permutazioni sonore : nelle sei tracce che costituiscono ‘.01’ (fatica non a caso pubblicata dalla Cut di Jason Khan) paiono confluire, senza evidenti intoppi, svariati affluenti dello scibile elettronico. Rifuggendo dalla facile tentazione di sottoporre a sistematico confronto il loro operato con quello di nomi altisonanti della nuova scena elettronica mondiale, risulta, forse, più saggio collocarli in una ristretta cerchia di ‘musicisti’ senza cliché, manipolatori ante-litteram e sobillatori biologici. Gli sghembi elementi aleatori e i quanti melodici dilatati vengono qui inalati e metabolizzati dalla macchina/computer/Tu m' per ricavarne una impro-avant-laptop-power-glitch music dagli accenti frequentemente personali e, di tanto in tanto, escatologici. Atolli luminosi brulicanti di informatica umanizzata e chiazze scure colme di polifonia sintetica. ‘La normalità alla luce del delirio, la logica tecnicista alla luce del processo primario : un paio di passi verso il caos per tentare di circoscrivere una soggettività lontana dagli equilibri dominanti, per captarne le linee virtuali di singolarità, di emergenza e di rinnovamento. Eterno ritorno dionisiaco o paradossale ribaltamento copernicano che si prolunga in svolta animista? Per lo meno fantasma originario di una modernità che si ripropone costantemente senza speranze di remissione postmoderna’ Felix Guattari.— Rino Rossi, Music Club

Una delle ultime uscite della Cut, etichetta gestita dal percussionista Jason Kahn, ha come protagonista una trio tutto italiano. Andrea Gabriele, Rossano Polidoro, Emiliano Romanelli sotto la denominazione Tu m' incidono un CD di improvvisazioni interamente in studio. Nelle contemporanee manifestazioni di stampo elettronico ed elettro-acustico si è assistito ad una graduale rarefazione verso una forma musicale sempre più indefinita, di difficile decifrazione tanta la penuria di suoni o intrecci. Se è ingiusto giudicare negativamente esperienze del genere è lecito però osservare in esse una sempre maggiore creatività ed una conformazione a modelli, ormai, pluriproposti. Con .01 la ricerca in campo elettronico dei Tu m' non rientra certamente in quest' ordine di idee dimostrando, invece, un' ottima creatività ed una grande gestione dello spazio sonoro. Sette brani pressocchè perfetti per equilibrio e gusto. Sfuggendo qualsiasi tipo di prolissità, riescono a far convivere sonorità colte ad altre legate all' improvvisazione radicale. Stupisce e convince appieno anche la varietà delle proposte. Alle tinte cupe della prima traccia dall'andamento ipnotico quasi ‘industrial’, si affiancano le astrazioni della sesta e gli echi ‘minimal techno’ ridisegnati in nubi pulviscolari della quinta. Tutti i brani, comunque, presentano un loro personalità solida e ben definita. Una grande opera prima. Valutazione: * * * * ½.— Michele Anelli, All About Jazz

Esordio discografico degli italiani Tu m' per la Cut di Jason Kahn con l'album ‘.01’, che – come scrive su ‘Rumore’ Nicola Catalano – ‘ne rivela l'abilita' e la ricchezza di idee nell'allestimento di grevi improvvisazioni elettroacustiche brulicanti di materismi densi ed onirici, ritmi pneumatici, disturbi e frammenti minimi ben stratificati, dimostrando cosi' di avere assimilato nella sua totalita' la ricerca sperimentale degli ultimi cinquant'anni’.— ElectronicChannel