Francesco Devincenti Brutal Reality Pregnant Void Records | The Electro Review

Francesco Devincenti
Brutal Reality
Pregnant Void Records
TBR: 30th September


Returning to the decks with a huge double 12” vinyl release, Pregnant Void make way for Francesco Devincenti. The ambient electro dub sounds Devincenti is known for are unleashed for yet more journeys into experimental and boundary defining music. A member of MORK and TDV, as well as a prolific solo producer, Francesco Devincenti has worked in music for years, studying audio before landing a job at a respectable studio. Having a knack for manipulating waveforms using a plethora of knowledge, we are treated to a truly masterful audio artwork with each recording.


Wooden percussion sounds jangling in the wind match a swelling underscore of wobbling bass. Trilling high notes dance on plinths raised from static and crumbly subsections. As the music grows, windy sounds swell in the corners while extra effects build and crunch together in strange sonic architecture. Maths doesn't make much sense, and yet it's an inventive and exploratory journey that's enjoyable. It feels as if the music is being played live with a combination of organic and digital instruments, yet my better sense tells me it's all done with computers.


Fuck You Trup featuring Hi.Mo opens with a sunny burst of warmth synthesiser. Sparkly notes drift in twinkling bursts while a lower projection waves in heat-lines from the surface. A skittish rhythm breaks free. Frantic and hyper-active beats thrust a subtle energy forwards as they remain low in the mix. Throbbing bass tones wander in like ogres over the valley lip. The drums begin to grow in volume, pushy beats jostle together with the synthesiser and flow to bring a bubbling froth of adventurous ambience.


The next number has a happy upbeat melody. Playful notes bounce together in a major key while under-bells chime in harmonising similarity. A tapping of rhythm spells a smooth and easy-going drift through a cloudy surface. We dreamily get swept along in pleasant and forgiving nudges through an inventive and evocative soundscape. Jim Odissey also features Hi.Mo. It's a sunny and well-lit forage through ample meadows and broken pathways.


Plucky notes begin to surge for the following tracks. Pushed up by the ever-present energy of mechanical rhythms, it's as if a machine is typing or stitching in time to some higher purpose. Bassy blips and pattering percussion mingle while hyper-cymbals jingle at high velocity. Digging beats hook subtle lines into the deep end as dancing tones shake and shift in the lofty reaches. Then a vocal sample hand in hand with eerie chords begins to grow into an awkward euphoria. Chiaro' Soldiers is the final number which features Hi.Mo on this record.


Skunk is a quieter track. To begin with, there's only the distant sound of bells. They could be copper and wood, their succulent tones sit somewhere in between. Whistling tones and slender drumming build a tranquil lake of sonic fuzz. Buoyant notes drift along in dreamy corridors of current and wind direction. A plasma of percussion expands in bubbling projectiles of sound while the matrix below churns and simmers with a forceful mixing. Extra music can be heard, plucked guitarish sounds make a smooth melody across like a film of coalescing harmonies.


This is followed by a playful bassline, scoping out random horizons. A spectral ray of sonic intensity washes across the hillside while we avenue through distinctive natural surroundings. Like a journey with a destination, something grows nearer with the following bars. Mysterious tones shine and drift as magical luminary entities begin to join each other in rows at a distance. Their vision like frost as we walk through their territory. Memories is full of rumination and uncertain perspectives.


Lord of Lords starts with a vocal sample of a man speaking about Christ. It's a moving subject, he asks us if we agree with what the bible is teaching and what it means. The sample is played out via funky dancing beats and synths which gargle and swell in vibrant ethics. Smashing and highly effected percussion breaks down before another run of jangling drums sparks a new dancing rhythm. Tones and chords slam down in hits of sound as odd sound effects and murky environments are knitted together.


What follows is a building drum-beat. Distant at first but quick to meet us, the subtle and chatty drums bring along a bell which soon starts to decay into something else before redefining it's original shape. Cymbals scamper along the flat plane of sonic building ground while lifts in the topography gradually evolve into repeating sections and loops. The progressive growth of sound seems to continue into peak after peak. Brutal Reality wants to grow in intensity and pressure as it marches onward with each turn of the record.


6 a.m. Fishing Dub featuring Simone Gatto starts in a windy lakeside. A clean guitar plucks a melody across wide open spaces. Drums begin to cast their magical allure while the music gradually spans out to incorporate more subtle sonics and crafty waveforms. The guitar wanders off from the main area, gets lost and then rejoins the group in a too close to real life twiddle of the blues. Impending drums, distant grumbles, and sounds from some unseen depth mix together as swelling rhythms build a heavier side to the tempo.


Submission features Alice Lobo and it begins on a metronome. It expands to allow room for sultry vocals and vibrant bass strings. Punchy elements of drum and tone burs through to wake us up after Alice has sent us into introspection. She wants us to carry on listening. Her poetry twists onward, through harmony, tone, and expressive intent. Her voice carries a rhythm that once again smashes down into a new era of projection. A rapping element to her delivery touches on the punk warble known from the likes of Johnny Rotten and others.


The final number takes us to springy percussive sounds and dripping globules of semi-molten liquid. They gander together in frolics of wispy sound that swirl from left to right in gusts of cymbal and tonal drum. A spacious and disorientating dredge through astronomical adventures of number and photograph comes to life for Euclidean. This numerical and manicured finale to the record takes us deep into the world of portion and flow.


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