daniele ciullini: domestic exile collected works 82-86

ltd repress. Ecstatic presents an expanded reissue of Italian mail artist Daniele Ciullini's 1983 self-released cassette Domestic Exile. Hailing from Florence, Ciullini was part of the forward-thinking TRAX collective and its pan-European art and music collaboration network. When asked about the title, Domestic Exile, Ciullini explains, "The music in this cassette was born in a very difficult period of my life. A period marked by a rift with the world. 'Domestic Exile' reflects a time of recession, entrenchment within the walls of a tired soul. Most of the songs are improvised on the spot. Listening to the music today I think this aspect was perhaps naïve. But I enjoyed realizing something very close to my inner state at that moment." Ciullini's music is as sharp and controlled as his elegant photographic images of decadent marble statues, mannequins, and deserted Art Nouveau architecture. The B-side of this reissue consists of tracks originally released on compilations between 1982 and '86, some of which Cuillini describes as "sonic polaroids" in which synthetic sketches and keyboard voices sit side by side with vigorous electro-industrial rhythms and metronomic modified drum machine pulses. His music presciently fuses ambient and industrial, and echoes the synthetic alienation of 8-bit micromusic, the melodic wave sounds of Young Marble Giants, and even proto-shoegaze guitar ("Soft Marble"), as well as hints of drone music (the magmatic loops of "Bloody Machine"). Made with Boss DR-55 and Roland TR-606 drum machines, EMS Synthi AKS modular synthesizer, Roland TB-303 bass synthesizer, Yamaha CS-5 and Casio VL-1 synthesizers, Teac A-103 tape deck, Akai 4000-DS MK-II reel-to-reel tape machine, Fender Stratocaster electric guitar, and Pioneer MA-62 mixer. For fans of Chris Carter, Merzbow, Suicide, Minimal Wave, Cabaret Voltaire, Mika Vainio, Tasaday, and Nurse With Wound. This edition includes extensive liner notes by Vittore Baroni, TRAX co-founder, musician, journalist, and active figure in mail art circles. Mastered by Not Waving.