There is a certain kind of expectation when opening a package sent from Portland’s finest, Stunned Records. The expectation is that I will hear things that I wasn’t expecting. It’s difficult to know just what Phil and Myste have in store with each successive blast of new music, but the one constant is quality. And so it wasn’t all that surprising that the last few tapes (already a month ago these appeared!) are all to the same level of quality. But enough about the label—we all know what to expect from them! What about this enchanting Italian duo Armali Lari? Exactly—what about them? I know nothing of them prior to this cassette, Ma Tu La Pasta La Vò?, but now I feel like I know enough about them to keep my interest in their curious sound piqued.

Armali Lari’s ‘sound’ is difficult to describe because it is so diverse. At times I’m tempted to call it ‘sound collage’ because there are these bits and pieces of what sound like unrelated or found sounds that surface periodically. The duo’s selection of folk orchestration is what tether’s this tape to any kind of understandable classification or genre. Guitar and hand-percussion are frequent visitors, and they are recorded with such clarity that it lends a very touching sense of intimacy to the entire album. While I can hear very clearly the instruments at the fore, because of the microphone’s amplification, I also hear some of the room’s ambience. There are points where clicks and pops as though from a phonograph record begin to appear, and this in the midst of what sounds like a taped thunderstorm, full of that classic cassette distortion. The sound is one that demands my full attention.

There are really no ‘songs’ on Ma Tu La Pasta La Vò?, at least not in the traditional sense. Even though the accompanying card/insert lists seven tracks with individual names, when I pop this tape in and hit play, never do I say to myself, “ah the next track…” There is very little repetition and I think I will be hard pressed to recognize any piece of this cassette on the fifth or even tenth listen. Even though I may remember certain instruments or moods, the playing is always new to me. The composition has the appearance of being totally haphazard, so I think it will retain its freshness for a long time. Can’t complain about that, really!

This tape is a true gem, and just one more installment into the steady gush of good vibes oozing forth from the French family. It appears to be sold out from Stunned Records, but is available in CDR format from the loveable A Beard of Snails Records.

Listen to a sample…

Armali Lari: “Maruna e ciuru di burrania”
Ma Tu La Pasta La Vò? [Stunned Records, A Beard of Snails Records, 2010]

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