DECONSECRATED AND PURE

Stefano Musso, the genius behind the "Alio Die" albums, is perhaps the only Progressive Electronic artist who is sounding new, different from those that have gone before. Most everyone else sounds like they came out of the 1970s, imitating or carrying forward certain sounds and styles, only using the advantages of advances in technology for sound engineering to their advantage. Though Stefano's frequent foundational employment of zither does produce reminders of Brian Eno's third "Ambient" album--Eno's production of the recording of New York City street musician Larry Gordon or "Laraaji" and his electrified zither playing--Stefano's use of layers of synthesizers with re-engineered sounds of other instruments makes for a 'new' or expanded version of the Laraaji/Eno sound. Plus, Stefano's music seems often to be strongly steeped in overtones of the musics of various religious traditions--especially Christian and Arabic. There are many times while listening to Alio Die music that I've thought I was listening to the music inside some vast Christian cathedral (as in the first two songs here) or an Arabian mosque. Also, Stefano's openness to collaboration with other musicians has fostered an ongoing shift and variation in the sounds and styles of his musical outputs; Stefano is not afraid to grow, to take risks, to learn from others, to collaborate, to try new things, and yet Stefano's music is clearly his own--of a style that I can almost recognize immediately upon hearing it.

Five star songs: the ethereal music of the reverence of religious traditions, 1. "Layers of Faith" (15:47) (10/10); 2. "Obliterated Alcove" (12:10) sounding like a modern day Gregorian chant (10/10); the Celtic-sounding parade of joy and celebration, 3. "Peel Away This Mortal Coil" (9:22) (9/10); the wind-chime infused, Eno-esque ("Lantern Marsh"), 4. "Cerulean Façade" (10:21) (8/10), and; like "Peel Away...," a mélange of world sounds of celebration, 5. "De-Altered" (18:09) (8/10).

The first two songs of this album alone are worth the price of admission as they are two of my all-time favorite electronica songs.