Leonardo Marletta

Intervallo presents a reissue of Leonardo Marletta's Percussioni ed Effetti, originally released in 1983. As often happens in the case of library music albums, even in Leonardo Marletta's one and only record in his career, the titles serve above all as sound indications, as if they were listening guides. In Percussioni ed Effetti (Percussion and Effects) you find a vast array of atmospheres, well explained and illustrated by titles such as "Violenza" (Violence), "Guerriglia" (Guerrilla Warfare), "Allucinazioni" (Hallucinations), "Compulsion", "Battimenti" (Beats), "Sospensioni" (Suspensions), or "Apocalisse" (Apocalypse). All these nouns perfectly fit the mood of the record, which is entirely built on a painstaking work of acoustic and electronic percussions, deep reverbs, drums, cymbals, and hints of piano and organ scattered here and there. Contrary to what one might think, the final result is anything but scant or primitive and shows a spasmodic rhythmic and instrumental research, similar to those you find in some avant-garde jazz works. As Valerio Mattioli remarks in his book Superonda, quoting Marletta's Percussioni ed Effetti, "the moment when library music becomes more interesting is when it abandons any descriptive intent and decides to talk about nothing but itself: a sort of metamusic or 'music in music', an imaginary soundtrack for nothing."