released March 19, 2023
“WORKOUT | WORSHIP” is the first full-lenght album by Lampreda (aka Simone Vassallo) and Tonto (aka Francesco Zedde), two percussionists/producers/noisers based in Italy, who have been active for over a decade in the European underground circuit. Such a two-headed creature is collectively known as LAMPREDONTO. The album follows the "! WASTED !" EP - released by UR Suoni in June 2022 - and largely display the same stylistic features. The duo’s creative process implies improvising in the studio, with a setup reduced to a minimum: two percussion kits played live, with no click track or overdubs, and a dash of real-time electronics. Songs are then edited and arranged by cut-and-paste. Being extremely physical, Lampredonto’s music speaks primarily to the body. After having devoured and digested traditional rhythms from all over the world, the duo spits them out blended into a noisy, industrial esperanto that is meant to crush every dancefloor.
Lampredonto's visceral nature is what inspired the title “WORKOUT | WORKSHIP”. In fact, the title can be interpreted both as a sentence and as the union of two words in their own right. Both physical exercise (including dancing) and the practices underlying worship are grounded in the obsessive repetition of certain movements. Repetition is, at the same time, what defines rhythm. This same concept is illustrated by the astonishing cover by Simone Brillarelli who - as was the case for “! WASTED!” - curated the album artwork.
Rhythm is therefore a universal archetype, linking worlds that appear quite distant and yet are very close to one another. After all, are there any substantial differences between the trance of dancing dervish and that of a raver?
As was the case for "! WASTED !", many guests from all over the world participated in the album. The ancestral vocal performance by Serena Altavilla enriches "Micro Gandung". The frantic title-track features Mark Stewart (The Pop Group/Maffia) and artist/musician Peter Harris ranting about the brutal commodification of human existence, over what can only be described as the sound of charging buffaloes. Zé Caveira (Caveiras) leads the outlaws to war in "Campo De Guerra". “Neolithic Group Dance” and “Ultimate Weightlifting” display the typical glitch-hop touch by So Beast. "Naked Safari", a pseudo-dubstep track haunted by feedbacks, backs up the dialogue between (Italian jazz-punk virtuoso) Andrea Caprara’s saxophone and (Icelandic musician) Unnur Malín Sigurðardóttir’s euphonium. In “Taiho”, a free-form wall of percussions stands opposite Jacopo Andreini's (Arrington de Dionyso/The Master Musicians of Jajouka) psychedelic Bouzouki.
Personnel:
LAMPREDONTO: percussions + electronics
SERENA ALTAVILLA: chants on “Micro Gandung”
MARK STEWART: lead vocals on “! WASTED !”
PETER HARRIS: vocals + guitar on “! WASTED !”
FRANCESCO D'ELIA, UNNUR MALÍN SIGURðARDÓTTIR, RÚNA VALA ÞORGRÍMSDÓTTIR:
chants on “! WASTED !”
ZÉ CAVEIRA: lead vocals on “Campo De Guerra”
SO BEAST: vocals + guitar on “Neolithic Group Dance” and “Ultimate Weightlifting”
ANDREA CAPRARA: saxophone + contralto clarinet on “Naked Safari”
UNNUR MALÍN SIGURðARDÓTTIR: euphonium on “Naked Safari”
JACOPO ANDREINI: hand-made tenor and baritone electric bouzouki on “Taiho”
Recorded by FRANCESCO ZEDDE / SIMONE VASSALLO and mixed by SIMONE VASSALLO.
Mastering: EDOARDO FRACASSI.
All music by SIMONE VASSALLO / FRANCESCO ZEDDE, except "Taiho" by SIMONE VASSALLO / FRANCESCO ZEDDE / JACOPO ANDREINI.
"! WASTED !" lyrics by PETER HARRIS.
"Campo De Guerra" lyrics by ZÉ CAVEIRA.
"Neolithic Group Dance" & "Ultimate Weightlifting" lyrics by SO BEAST.
Artwork: SIMONE BRILLARELLI, based on pictures by LÉA MASSÉ.
UR013CD.
©️ UR Suoni 2023
released June 29, 2022
“! WASTED !” is the first collaborative output by Lampreda (aka Simone Vassallo) and Tonto (aka Francesco Zedde), two percussionists/producers/noisers based in Italy, who have been active for over a decade in the European underground circuit. Such a two-headed creature is collectively known as Lampredonto.
The duo’s creative process implies improvising in the studio, with a setup reduced to a minimum: two percussion kits played live, with no click track or overdubs, and a dash of real-time electronics. Songs are then edited and arranged by cut-and-paste. Being extremely physical, Lampredonto’s music speaks primarily to the body. After having devoured and digested traditional rhythms from all over the world, the duo spits them out blended into a noisy, industrial esperanto that is meant to crush every dancefloor.
On this astonishing debut, the duo's peculiar sonic mixture is further enhanced by a handful of talented guests. The frantic title-track features Mark Stewart (The Pop Group/Maffia) and artist/musician Peter Harris ranting about the brutal commodification of human existence, over what can only be described as the sound of charging buffaloes. "Naked Safari", a pseudo-dubstep track haunted by feedbacks, backs up the dialogue between (Italian jazz-punk virtuoso) Andrea Caprara’s saxophone and (Icelandic musician) Unnur Malín Sigurðardóttir’s euphonium. In “Taiho”, a free-form wall of percussions stands opposite Jacopo Andreini's (Arrington de Dionyso/The Master Musicians of Jajouka) psychedelic Bouzouki.
The album also includes 5 remixes/reworks, thanks to the contribution of a few kindred spirits, who dismembered and reassembled the title-track to reach surprising results. In “Body Waste” Portuguese sound designer Jonathan Uliel Saldanha (HHY and The Macumbas/HHY and the Kampala Unit) stresses the tribal nature of the song, turning it into an obsessive, nocturnal techno track. On "Toxic Waste" Mark Stewart himself, along with Dutch producer Uncle Fester On Acid (aka Patrick Dokter, Adrian Sherwood's On-U Sound associate), applies his typical cut-up methodology to give birth to a bass-laden sonic behemoth. On “Lo-Fi Waste” Florentine producer HZHA squeezes the title-track into a middle-eastern-flavoured sliver. "Wasted X", by Italian-American DJ Michael Byrne, unveils the dancing potential of the original track, turning it into IDM élite. ”On The Run (Wasting Thrax)”, by Egyptian producer Polonius, completely dismembers the track, making it a piece of abstract art.
"! WASTED !" artwork is curated by Italian artist/animator Simone Brillarelli. Each LP cover is hand-crafted and a unique piece of art. The EP is a limited edition of 300 hand-numbered copies.
released June 29, 2022
All music by SIMONE VASSALLO / FRANCESCO ZEDDE, except "Taiho" by SIMONE VASSALLO / FRANCESCO ZEDDE / JACOPO ANDREINI.
"! WASTED !" lyrics by PETER HARRIS
"Toxic Waste" contains a drum sample from Keith LeBlanc's “Essential Trilogy”
"! WASTED !", "Naked Safari", "Taiho" recorded by FRANCESCO ZEDDE / SIMONE VASSALLO and mixed by SIMONE VASSALLO
Mastering: EDOARDO FRACASSI
Artwork: SIMONE BRILLARELLI
UR009LP
released January 19, 2020
Produced by Attenuation Circuit
Including Workout Worship by Lampredonto
LAMPREDONTO =
Francesco Zedde (Tonto): percussions, electronics +
Simone Vassallo (Lampreda): percussions
released January 19, 2020