300 copies. Double LP, gatefold cover + inserts. After Juke Box (1977), between September 1978 and March 1979, the inseparable Giusto Pio and Franco Battiato committed to three pieces that should be interpreted as a single work since they both pursue and envision a sound that is independent of any form of language: Motore immobile, L’Egitto prima delle sabbie, and Rappel.
Motore Immobile by Pio (completed in October 1978) was published only in 1979 to avoid interfering with the release/publication of L’Egitto prima delle sabbie by Battiato (September 1978), while the album’s centerpiece, Rappel, remained unpublished. Rappel is a composition for piano and magnetic tape with a duration of approximately 15 minutes. It is a variant of the musical idea already addressed by Battiato and Pio both in L’Egitto prima delle sabbie and in Ananta (Motore Immobile), implemented in this case by the use of two Revox tape recorders which at that time represented a novelty: the second of the two Revox was specifically purchased by Battiato for the creation of Rappel. Battiato explained, in the following way, how the magnetic tapes of the tracks were recorded: "I interpolated the compositions using the Revox, a tape recorder that I had mastered with difficulty, as a self-taught person." In Rappel, the harmonics on the piano were recorded by the two Revox tape recorders connected in a loop, the result of which was superimposed on the sounds of the pianist/performer.
Emerging on vinyl for the first time ever, Rappel now sits within a reappraisal of a large neglected body of efforts made by the Italian avant-garde during the second half of the 1970’s and early 80’s. It is singular, but not alone. It resonates within a collective world of shimmering sound, one familiar to fans of Luciano Cilio, Roberto Cacciapaglia, Lino Capra Vaccina, Francesco Messina and Raul Lovisoni.
This encounter between the two is capable of outlining, nearly half a century later, the philological direction that allows us to understand the origins of Giusto Pio's post-avant-garde vision. Exchanges of ideas, visions, approaches, and inspirations that translate into the search for new sounds through musical fragments and “astral counterpoints in frequencies and colours in time,” hence the subtitle "Percorsi intrecciati con Franco Battiato.”
The title of this amazing double album, KUM is the basis of numerous Aramaic and Greek terms, with the ancient meaning of rising up by discovering riches inside. Listening to Giusto Pio and/or Franco Battiato's music entails retracing those years of creativity, as well as knowing the culture and expressive languages of the time. Pio and Battiato's pathways, which are at times complimentary and at times symmetrical, have prompted the two artists to begin on "Intertwined Paths" that are current, mesmerizing, and unexpected. Chained tape recorders and overlapping instruments in daring and futuristic experiments are still amazing and uncommon today. In truth, digital reverbs and samplers, which now duplicate a wide range of effects, timbres, and sounds, did not exist when the recordings featured on this double LP were created.
