ANAN: the A of Roberto Agosta and the N of Massimo Napoli.
Catanian DJ and producer from Space Echo (see Agosta’s self-titled debut and recent Remixes album, as well as records under the name Galathea, the nickname used by Napoli), who since the late 1990s, among artists, crews, clubs, parties, festivals represent two fundamental names in the Etna clubbing scene for fans, devotees and enthusiasts of nightlife.
Room was born almost unintentionally, as a result of an exchange of ideas while both were working on their respective albums, highlighting the personalities of both artists.
In this album, Napoli’s sunny side chases Agosta’s dark side, creating an original combination.
Many and important are the references to Black music, like the sense of groove, like the nocturnal mood of introspection.
In their pensive lightness, ANAN lead us into a dreamlike experience that has the fragrances of jazz, the rhythms of funk and multiple references to Mother Africa as well as abstract hip hop and house, set on psychedelic spaceships that project into space never-seen movies accompanied by imaginary soundtracks.
In Room we find many themes of current sound, of the last twenty years, electronic but not only, reworked with a very personal sensibility that combines the aridity of the mountains and the caress of the sea, of Etna and the Mediterranean, together with/ with the collaboration of Salvo Dub (aka GO.SOUL.MAP, another Space Echo artist and a central name in the current music scene in Catania) and The Invisible Session.
An album that is striking in its aesthetic sensitivity and expressive maturity. The musical ideas, whether it is a sample, a single sound or a suggestion, are layered and interlocked one with each other generating textures that are never banal, indeed sometimes even convoluted, yet with a richness and melodic depth that, like a hook, grasps and ravishes.
A nocturnal listening record, although not lacking in some dancefloor track, in which much is imagined but even more is shown.
Room is a room with a door ajar and a barely soft/dim light capable of evoking worlds and sensations: in Back, Mulatu Astatke’s ethio-jazz blend intersects with Ravi Shankar’s India, while “Naif’s dancefloor dangling between Europe and Africa, as refined as it is carnal, reminds us of Frikyiwa’s Fredreric Galliano, and “Call” sends cumbia into orbit, between dub echo chambers and suspended piano phrases. “Anan’s minimal jazz, but also Lola’s psychedelic and funky jazz, recalling certain Italian filmography of yesteryear (if you were a fan of Crippled Dick, this is for you). The naturist glimpses of Zoom and the percussive fever of Etna while Eden and Noir bring an end to this nocturnal journey.
