Paesaggi integrati | music / audiovisual | 2023

Paesaggi integrati is somewhere between computer music, electroacoustic and techno. An album that weaves relationships between different planes and sound materials: details of acoustic instruments, concrete processed sound, digital synthesis and soundscapes. The pieces develop a dualistic game between recorded acoustic instrument and programmed instrument through orchestral libraries. This aspect directs the production towards a sound that becomes crystal clear and sometimes hyper-realistic. From the development of the music form permeates a strong interest in rhythm and a desire to deconstruct the structures of club music. A path on the edge of genres that uses the integration of field recording as a tool to build organic sound scenarios used in opposition, overlap and coordination to the rhythmic design and synthetic elements.

1_Babele
2_Oltre
3_Orizzonte
4_Scissione
5_Fare
6_Giona
7_Mimesi
8_Fondale
9_Elaborazioni spontanee
10_Flussi
11_Apotropaico22

Total time: 50:17

Esc.rec. 98

Composed and produced by Simone Sims Longo

Graphic design and concept by Giulia Toscano

Original sculptures by Michele Bruna

Photographs of the sculptures by Simona Marino

Review by SSK in Vital Weekly:

“Bridging the shires of electro-acoustic music, techno and computer music, the aural tapestries and landscapes Simone Sims Longo conjures from machines and an ensemble of ‘classical’ instruments deftly defy prima facie categorization as moods shift from shimmering eastern ambient to Faust and Tony Conard-ish snarling drone to plucked strings evoking Mark Fell-ish electronics. And strangely but very surely, this work wouldn’t have seemed out of place amid early releases of the Constellation Records label in terms of overall tonal mood. These integral landscapes are produced with a crystalline precision which brings to mind bone-dry IDM or Electro Guzzi’s vibe. The ear keeps getting new clues every few seconds, timbres between artificial and acoustic are masked and disrobed, cut-up elements seem to be fragments of beats or shortened ‘drones’ or samples of field recordings, and you end up somewhere in the middle between Autechtre-mild, Gábor Lázár and Jean Schwarz at the GRM. What I really like about this CD is that the de-constructive intention that could have prevailed is used to construct. So yes, this is fragmented and disparate, but instead of letting the elements fall further apart as some of the aforementioned artists do, and without going into the sparse territories of Ikeda or Nicolai, this symphony fills out the whole of the musical spectrum to the fullest (and technically too, with brilliant spatial use of the stereo field), therewith, emotionally, also seemingly, presenting a nod of indebtedness perhaps to giants of pioneering electronic experimentation, from the NatLab to GRM to EMS, but also early Vangelis and Jarre, in terms of narrative lines, or even Boards of Canada. And to a spectralist composer like Tristan Murail. I’d say: I can’t wait to hear this in live performance mode in the Hertz venue in Utrecht or HAU, Berlin, during CTM in full spatial diffusion.”

Review by Peter Hollo for Utility Fog on FBi Radio:

“Coming soon on the highly dependable Dutch experimental label Esc.rec. is an album of electro-acoustic sound-art from Italian composer-producer Simone Sims Longo. Paesaggi integrati (integrated landscapes) takes sound from a host of acoustic instruments – sax, cello, horn, violin, accordion, tuned percussion and clarinet – and transforms them into electronic music, split into granular fragments, flittered across the stereo field in rhythms that accelerate and decelerate, seemingly referencing deconstructed club techniques but outside of the club context. The sense of discombobulation is only heightened on headphones by the use of mid/side technique – technically this means that the left & right are in opposite polarity (so if you try to listen in mono you’ll lose a lot of the signal!), but it also means that the stereo image is particularly vivid.”

Review by Roland Torres in SilenceAndSound:

“A la croisée des sonorités, Paesaggi Integrati brouille les pistes, sème la confusion dans notre esprit, mélangeant sonorités d’instruments acoustiques et électronique sophistiquée. Simone Sims Longo compose une musique ultra-contemporaine, croisant les couches et multipliant les possibilités, ouvrant les horizons de la perception. La vision de l’artiste ne se résume pas à quelques lignes, tant la destination vers laquelle il nous entraine est pleine de bifurfactions et de surprises, continent sonore épris de classique à la flore hérissée d’électro-acoustique. Les notes volent et se dispersent, pour à nouveau se rencontrer, sur des territoires aux frontières effacées. Les soubresauts se multiplient, créant des sursauts rythmés, pourtant débarrasés de toute forme de percussion. Simone Sims Longo à l’image des cinéastes réalistes, propose un musique sophistiquée calée sur notre époque, arrangée à coups de scalpels chirurgicaux et de tensions en extension. Palpitant.”