Capricorni Pneumatici

In the widening realms of uncovered Italian outsider art and cursed musical enigmas, few discoveries prove as compelling as the resurgence of Über Artaud by Capricorni Pneumatici. After nearly four decades from its original conception, this work returns in a completely remastered LP edition and, for the first time, in its definitive and complete form via Vasopressin. Capricorni Pneumatici emerged from the Italian underground during the late '80s as one of the most mysterious and elusive projects of the era. Little is known about the collective beyond their dedication to researching the esoteric and ritual implications of music and sounds. The name itself, derived from Aleister Crowley's work, hints at the radical and visionary approach that would define their influential existence, evolving from acoustic/concrete music toward the darker territories of electronic manipulation. Composed between November and December 1987, Über Artaud was born from a temporally charged coincidence: exactly forty years after Antonin Artaud's apocalyptic radio work Pour En finir avec le Jugement de Dieu (November 28, 1947) was censored and never aired due to its blasphemous content and violent critique of Western civilization. This piece, featuring Artaud alongside Roger Blin, Maria Casarès, and Paule Thévenin, represents one of the most radical expressions of his "Theater of Cruelty" philosophy.

The album demonstrates an extraordinary mastery of FM synthesis, extracting from the Yamaha DX7 a universe of complex timbres and intricate stratifications. While Brian Eno had explored the DX7's ambient potential, Capricorni Pneumatici pushed the instrument into darker, ritualistic territories, creating dense harmonic layers that recall Nurse With Wound's industrial atmospheres and Throbbing Gristle's more experimental soundscapes. The connection to Throbbing Gristle is particularly evident in the work's relationship to Derek Jarman's cinematic vision, where hypnotic electronic textures serve as accompaniment to alchemical and ritualistic imagery, much like their soundtrack work for In The Shadow of the Sun (1981). Like Genesis P-Orridge and Chris Carter's approach to creating transformative sonic environments, Capricorni Pneumatici's electronic manipulations function as both artistic statement and esoteric ritual. The original cassette edition of Über Artaud was produced in an extremely limited edition through underground channels but remained incomplete, lacking the sonorization of Artaud's final "Conclusion" section. After almost forty years, the work finally finds completion with an additional track, recorded in 2024, that blends seamlessly with the original material.

This new LP edition was sourced from the original tapes, remastered by Capricorni Penumatici, and optimized for vinyl pressing by Andrea Marutti. Coming as a black vinyl housed in a poly-lined sleeve, released in an limited edition of 150 copies, Über Artaud transforms Artaud's censored radio work into a revelatory aural experience, connecting the prophetic vision with the dark electronic sensibility of the Italian underground.