The Brvtalist is proud to feature the latest release by experimental ambient project, Diana Berti. Out Halloween on Cuss Fetish, a label with a very impressive discography, Diana Berti is a non categorical project, operating within ambient, noise, experimental and even techno. The artist behind Berti is Violet Poison, a prolific producer who continues to push the boundaries of sonic exploration and refuses to be inhibited by genres or conventional structure.
Diana Berti - Tragedy Of The Uncommons (Cuss Fetish, 2015)
Berti's latest work is titled Tragedy Of The Uncommons. A truly conceptual piece of art, Tragedy is a sonic journey that evokes buried emotions and puts listeners into varied psychological states. The beautifully composed ambient works weave between brightness, darkness and depth, and while there are few vocals, it's clear there is a narrative. We were fortunate enough to get in touch with the artist and requested any information or background about the release. Here is what we received:
“The metaphysicals and spirituals of love”.
Diana Berti is the actress Alessandra Acciai in Lamberto Bava’s giallo/horror movie “Il Gioko” (1989). I was fascinated by Berti’s fragility (in the movie she’s a young teacher from Lucca’s countryside (Tuscany), her native village is Borgo a Mozzano, a little village I used to go through by car when I was going to Abetone (Tuscan’s Apennines) with my parents during the summers of the 1980's). There’s a strong link between the landscape, the music, the movie and my childhood.
Diana Berti lacks self-esteem and she’s mocked and avoided by her fellow countrymen and countrywomen just because she had a nervous breakdown (a reference in the album title, “Tragedy of the Uncommons”) I used dialogue from the movie in some tracks, processed by distortion, reverb and delay, to accentuate the most dramatic moments, to fit well with music and track titles. On the first track there’s a little divagation: the voice is from Dino Campana (an Italian visionary poet from early 1900s) and the poem is named “In un momento…”, I wanted to use it to accentuate the romanticism. I can say the “sonic-plot” behind Berti lies in Paris, a city that means a lot for me (despite having been there just two times). There I have beautiful female friendships that changed my life and my attitude in a splendid way.
Musically speaking, I am influenced by the works of Suzanne Ciani (“Seven Waves”, 1982), Erik Satie (Gymnopédies, almost), Enno Velthuys (his whole discography), jingles/themes of magic/esoteric shows broadcasted in Tuscany’s TV channels during the 80’s, background music from metaphysical giallo/horror movies from the same decade (as in Dario Argento’s “Phenomena”).
If you pay attention, the main element of each track is a sequencer. I liked this cyclic nature, these rhythmic melodies in a minimalist interpretation, with subtle and imperceptible variations. Dorian scale, Korg Poly 800, some distortion, reverb, delay and some low-pitched ring modulation to create rhythmic articulation.
We are also thrilled to premiere a new track off the record, which is titled "A Fragile Bird Out Of The Nest". This selection captures the essence of the album and is graced with touching melodies and ambiguous vocals.
Diana Bert - Tragedy Of The Uncommons will be out on cassette on Halloween. For more information please visit Big Cartel, Tumblr, Soundcloud and Discogs.
-JRS