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.
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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