I've come to expect the weird and wonderful requests sent in by artist from around
the world. But there's always that glimmer of one-upmanship as the months pass,
and the request pile in. What I find isn't your average music, and right here,
on this page, is some of the most extraordinary music I’ve ever heard.
Effortlessly brilliant in terms of musical quality, but hopeless at making a
mainstream push unless it's respected and heard by the weird folks at Sigur
Ros, or through Michael Gira's school for the abnormal. Katya Sanna, as Italian
artist (in music and design,) had been releasing music for a number of years,
many of which I've checked out through last.fm. La Via delle Stelle is
her ??? album, with neo-folk at its heart.
"Achernar" is different to the others though. There’s something
about its structure which stands out as a stranger in a group of ethereal
recordings. This track is specifically strange because of its deep bass which
completely took me by surprise. I was half expecting the ambience to continue,
but Sanna took it in a completely off-beat direction. The bass pounds with
distortion, offering up the parallel to Sanna's high pitched and experienced
vocal which compares to layered female vocalist like Julianna Barwick and
Grimes. "Achernar", like most of La Via delle Stelle is a
lesson - there's always something ready to amaze and confuse, don't just expect
the norm, because when someone creates the anti-norm... Well, mind-blown
basically.
~Eddie Gibson