Nicolo Francesco Faraglia - Smos Octet [Aut Records 052]

Released via the buzzing Berlin-based Aut Records on December 2nd, 2k19 as the labels cat.no. 052 is Nicolo Francesco Faraglia's "Smos Octet" album - a five track and 39 minutes spanning attempt to fuse Improv, Jazz and Chamber Music within one single longplay piece. Opening with "What Do You Know About  Fire?" the group of eight musicians is setting the tone for things to come with quite a dramatic piece meandering somewhat in between thundering intense piano repetitions, semi-improv and a certain film noir vibe which also transfers, in a slightly more tongue-in-cheek manner, into the theatrical, storytelling "Architect #1.0" which, in a way, harks back to a time in which music was the only way to add emotion and atmosphere to otherwise silent movies in grainy black-and-white quality, even though prevalent electric guitar solos surely weren't a thing in these long gone days. The second question, "What Do You Know About Wind?", is answered by a tender, yearning and naturalistic interlude representing a different angle of the octets collaborational effort whereas "Talisman #2.0" draws inspiration from classic Jazz harmonies, music for theatre and large scale dramatic orchestral arrangements before migrating to full-on minimalism, Broadway romance and a touching, emotional closing whilst the final cut "Clay Metal #1.5" weighs in a well nightly combination of DarkJazz, Musique Concrete and fever'ish, ritualistic, ecstatic and nightmare-inducing improvisation for a hefty, intense closing living up to the expectations long-time followers of the Aut Records catalogue might've built up over the years. Demanding, yet accessible to those who're just entering the world of Experimental Jazz, FreeJazz and Improv and therefore a good starting point for further explorations in new sonic realms.