Standing beyond the realms of category and classification, Pier Luigi Andreoni and Francesco Paladino’s Aeolyca, initially released as a limited cassette in 1989, is an artifact which perfectly illustrates the openness and creative ambition displayed by Italy’s avant-garde music community during the 1980’s. While may of their cousins in other country’s flirted with institutional recognition and fame, Italian artists pushed toward the outer reaches, plumbing unknown depths, tragically remaining in obscurity.
Aeolyca is the document of an incident - a from of responsive improvisation, created between man and machine, which occurred in June of 1988 at the Time Zones-sulla via delle musiche possibili festival. It encounters the two composers - Pier Luigi Andreoni and Francesco Paladino, interacting with the sounds of an Aeolian Sculpture - a wind harp, created by the artist Mario Ciccioli. While Aeolian harps are thought to have existed in the ancient Greek world, and are documented as exiting during the 17th century, with their sounds recorded for release on a number of occasions during the 20th, they remain fairly obscure. It is especially rare to encounter artists responding to their remarkable sounds and ambiences. The result, emerging across the two sides of Aeolyca, is proof of what a tragedy it is.
Aeolyca is an absolutely stunning piece of work - the drifting, unpredictable, acoustic ambiences generated by Ciccioli’s Aeolian harp, threaded by the wondrous structures and interventions emerging from Andreoni and Paladino’s Roland S 50 and Yamaha tX 81 Z synthesizers.
The result is a perfectly balanced tapestry of tone, a pulsing world, punctuated by subtle rhythmic elements, which feels startlingly organic - a form of sonic alien, which only belongs on planet earth. Among the most engaging, forward thinking and ambitious ambient albums we’ve ever heard. Eerie, seductive, and engrossing. An absolute beauty which has remained hidden from view for far too long. It’s an absolute thrill to see this one come back. This marks the first time Aeolyca has been reissued since it’s original release, and the first issue on vinyl. Don’t sleep on this one. It’s not going to sit around for long.
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"Neither aiming for the organic purity of Harry Bertoia's Sonambient recordings or the complex constructions of Mario Bertoncini's works with Aeolian harps, Aeolyca walks a line of resistance in refusing to get with any program. This is a unique work in Andreoni and Paladino's well-documented activity, individually, in duo, and in their eclectic collaborations with the likes of Roger Eno and Riccardo Sinigaglia. Like the Time Zones Festival from which this project got its start Aeolyca is what you find on the 'path of possible musics'." Peter Sarram
