Zu - Bromio #1999

ZU, an all-instrumental Italian band (Massimo Pupillo on bass, Jacopo Battaglia on drums, Luca Mai on saxophone, and, on the first album, Roy Paci on trumpet), played some of the most adventurous post-rock music at the turn of the century, occasionally evoking the legendary LAST EXIT with Sharrock's guitar replaced by Pupillo's bass.

They fine-tuned their aesthetics through a series of theatrical soundtracks ("Vladimir Majakovskj", "Il Funambolo", "Histoire du Rock'n'Roll", "Octavia") and eventually debuted with Bromio (Wide, 1999) in a wild, loud and fast style that harked back to the heydays of jazzcore (SACCHARINE TRUST, UNIVERSAL CONGRESS, THE EX). They simultaneously sprayed bits of funk onto their convoluted mix in the manner of THE CONTORTIONS (Detonatore) and launched into gargantuan free-jazz fanfares (Xenitis, Asmodeo). Their tone runs the gamut from brainy (the hiccupping Testa di cane) to droll (the vaudeville-like Zu circus). The interplay is both geometrical and intricate, as best displayed in the frenzied Erotomane. While most compositions stick to a unitary core with little or no movement, La grande madre delle bestie ends the album with a transition from chaotic partying to melancholy introspection. Each of these short pieces is a strike at the core of prog-rock. By the standards of jazz-rock, this is harsh and jarring music.

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Tracklist:

01. Detonatore

02. Xenitis

03. Testa di cane

04. Paonazzi

05. Zu circus

06. Asmodeo

07. Cane maggiore

08. Epidurale

09. Villa Belmonte

10. Erotomane

11. La grande madre delle bestie

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