Atom Sounds Music News

Northcape has a superb following and currently has well over 100,000 scrobbles at last.fm and has a strong following of loyal fans.

Northcape is the ongoing work of a British artist (currently living in Brighton, England) who has been producing electronic music for quite some time. Northcape’s music is mainly instrumental and blends influences from a wide range of different styles, in particular trance, beats and breaks, IDM, ambient and downbeat electronica, always with a strong melodic element. The music is made in a very intuitive way instead of attempting to create a specific type of track or to fit into any particular genre. Nevertheless, Northcape has developed a distinctive and unifying style, which although it sometimes faces the dark side of life normally retains an essential optimism. Although most tracks (so far) don’t have lyrics, they are all drawn strongly from personal experience. This approach leads to something that is both enjoyable to listen to and refreshingly different.

Places you can fine Northcape:

The Official Website, Last.FM, Reverbnation, Musicfreedom

Gianni Ferretti was born in Tivoli in 1962. He plays the piano and keyboards and has been writing music since he was 14 years old. Together with the other musicians in his group he has released two albums in his name, published by Lengimusic: “Johnjohn” (2003) and “Chapter Two” (2005). The latter contains some prestigious musical collaborations such as the track written and performed together with Riccardo Zappa, one of the greatest Italian guitarists of all times. Gianni’s albums are almost entirely instrumental because it is the musical form with which he is able to express himself with the greatest sincerity and he loves the continuous confrontation with other sounds. For this reason there is plenty of space in his tracks for instruments that are not his own. His musical references range from A. Vollenweider to J. Zawinul and from J.M. Jarre to M. Oldfield: the important thing is that there is something in their notes that is able to arouse his emotions.

Listen & Links @ IMIsound

Dream Lab aka Stuart Elliot and Emil Anderberg have come up with one of the most enjoyable chill out albums that I’ve ever heard for years.

From the very start of the Cosmotherpy you are taken away from the world into a relaxed state of mind with subtle drifting keyboards, gentle beats and each track flows wonderfully out of your speakers into you ears unobtrusively.

Even the lyrics on the tracks “I’ll Guide You” and “Silver Skies” are gently and a pleasure to listen to, giving the CD that ‘I want to hear it again’ quality.

Ranging from Psydub to Progressive, featuring the amazing vocal work of Seka and Susi Lavender (Cling), including the remixes of Marco Torrance, Ferdy & Edwin and Easily EmbarrassedDream Lab have surpassed themselves with this release, the whole album just never ceases to amaze and the more your listen the more you hear those sounds that you may not of noticed before.

I can quite honestly say that since I received my copy of the CD it’s not been out of my CD Player or off my iPod, it’s a complete joy to listen to.

You can purchase Cosmotherapy from: CDBaby, iTunes and Cardamar Music.

Gianni Raschiatore: keyboard player, arranger, programmer, author and composer of great experience. His business is arranging and producing music for theatrical events, and he has also been involved in numerous collaborations with emerging artists. The year 2007 saw the release of his debut album: “Sunday Morning”, published under his artist name Kernell32. The album contains 9 tracks in lounge style which lay bare the author’s soul. With “Sunday Morning”, Kernell32 introduces himself with an innovative production, easy to listen to and with captivating atmospheres. “Order to Feel”, with its groove somewhat reminiscent of the early ‘80s and its enchanting choruses and positive impact, “UFO”, a driving track with decidedly surprising sounds, and of course “Standby”, with its changes in sonority creating an atmosphere of great effect. These are just a few of the tracks to be found on this album. Original tracks whose nuances and arrangements are never the same but are united by a common denominator – the desire to amaze the listener, accompanying him on a trip within a new refined music: a trip that winds up at the heart of the lounge genre. These characteristics make “Sunday Morning” an album that can be listened to in every moment of the day without it ever becoming tiring or repetitive.

Listen & Links @ IMIsound

ENGLISH
Restlessness and an overwhelming urge to communicate are the only spurs that incite certain artists to take action. Max Maffia is without doubt one of these artists. While many artists, before acting, think about their sales potential and the chances of meeting with general approval, Maffia, like few others, acts because he has no choice. His lifestyle and artistic production are living proof. Born in Salerno, a fiery electric guitarist with a strong Hendrix stamp and influenced by the sound of 4AD, Max has also demonstrated with the acoustic guitar his ability to reach extraordinary states of grace. His first release was the cd “Sky and Misery”, produced by Paul Chain in 1995, with the rock group the “Peanuts”. For a year or two he was a member of the ska group “Appesi Aun Filo” and also played with “Il Pozzo di San Patrizio”, recording with them the album “Altri Tempi” (Other Times) – a mix of Irish folk, dub and space rock – and taking part in their international tour. In the meantime Max moved ahead with his own self-produced projects such as “Stagioni” (Seasons) and “Anywhere in the World”, the soundtrack to a video entitled “Picasso, sulle impronte del mito” (Picasso, on the artist’s trail). From 2005-2006 he collaborated with Nicodemo, a group of electronica songsters, on the albums “Boulevard Du Sud” (Southern Boulevard) and “Il Treno per Bologna” (The train for Bologna) while dedicating himself at the same time to the cultural association “Anima Mundi” of which he is both founder and president. In the spring of 2007 he successfully completed the difficult musical and hunanitarian project “The Right Compilation” supported by the FAO for the Telefood programme. The album is the result of a meeting of artists from various cultural and stylistic backgrounds such as the Scambio, the Israelian singer Talya G. A. Solan, the Argentinian singer Florencia Ruiz and the Neapolitan sitar player Guido Schiraldi. The cd can be purchased from the site www.therightcompilation.com at the cost of 10 euros with all the proceeds going entirely to Telefood. At the moment Max Maffia is recording a cd with the Peanuts and is preparing the next edition of “The Right Compilation”.

ITALIANO
L’irrequietezza e la smania di comunicazione sono gli unici stimoli che spingono all’azione alcuni musicisti. Di questa schiera fa parte senza dubbio Max Maffia. Mentre tanti artisti, prima di fare, pensano alla vendibilità e alle probabilità di trovare consensi, Max, come pochi altri, fa perché non ha scelta. Le sue vicende di vita e artistiche lo dimostrano. Salernitano, chitarrista elettrico infuocato con una forte impronta hendrixiana e influenze del suono della 4AD, Max ha anche dimostrato con l’acustica di saper raggiungere inconsueti stati di grazia. La sua prima produzione è il cd “Sky And Misery”, prodotto da Paul Chain nel 1995, col gruppo rock dei “Peanuts”. Milita per qualche anno nel gruppo ska “Appesi Aun Filo” ed entra ne “Il Pozzo Di San Patrizio”, registrando l’album “Altri Tempi” - un ibrido tra folk irlandese, dub e space rock - e prendendo parte al rispettivo tour internazionale. Intanto porta avanti progetti personali autoprodotti come “Stagioni” e “Anywhere In The World”, colonna sonora di un video intitolato “Picasso, sulle impronte del mito”. Dal 2005 al 2006 collabora col gruppo di cantautorato elettronico Nicodemo a “Boulverd Du Sud” e “Il Treno Per Bologna” dedicandosi intanto all’associazione culturale “Anima Mundi” della quale è fondatore e presidente. Nella primavera del 2007 riesce a realizzare il non facile progetto musicale e umanitario di “The Right Compilation” sostenuto dalla Fao per il programma Telefood, risultato dell’incontro di musicisti provenienti da culture e formazioni stilistiche differenti come gli Scambio, la cantante israeliana Talya G. A. Solan, la cantautrice argentina Florencia Ruiz e il sitarista napoletano Guido Schiraldi. Il cd è acquistabile dal sito www.therightcompilation.com al prezzo di 10 euro, che verranno devoluti interamente a Telefood. Al momento Max Maffia sta registrando un cd con i Peanuts e sta progettando la prossima edizione di “The Right Compilation”.

(artist profile by Gianmaria Consiglio)

Listen & Links @ IMIsound

Maurizio Metalli is a keyboard player, composer and arranger. He started to study piano at the age of 7 and grew up to the sound of the 70’s symphonic progressive rock bands - Genesis, Emerson Lake & Palmer, Yes, Jethro Tull, Gentle Giant - as well as fusion, jazz-rock bands and artists such as Yellow Jackets, Spyro Gyra, Jeff Lorber, Larry Carlton, Dave Grusin, Gino Vannelli.

He started to work as session man at the age of 20, also appearing in several italian broadcasts on RAI (italian national television) such as Discoring, Domenica In and others. Widely-known as the keyboard player for the italian progressive rock band “Formula 3″ (with Alberto Radius and Tony Cicco), for many years Maurizio has been touring and appearing on national TVs (RAI and Mediaset): La vita in diretta, Taratata’, Sanremo Estate, Sarabanda etc and working in studio recordings: “La Formula 3 a Sarabanda” (1998) and “La folle corsa” (2000).
He has worked as arranger for Vincenzo Incenzo (songwriter, Michele Zarrillo, Renato Zero, PFM), appearing in the famous italian TV broadcast “Help” (TMC2, 1999).
He has toured with Little Tony, Nadia Cassini, Luca Sardella and has made jingles and music for advertising and documentaries for national TVs (RAI and Mediaset).
He recently released instrumental music for “Xis Chillout Compilations” (Portugal, 2005) and recorded for Filippa Giordano (www.filippagiordano.net) in the “Primadonna” album that won the Gold Disc in Japan (2005) and in Mexico (2006).

He’s planning to record a solo album in the next future…

listen to “Pacific Trip”