Oslo Tapes Premiere “Deja Neu” Video; Staring at the Sun Before Goin’ Blind Out Dec. 1
Posted in audiObelisk, Reviews on October 13th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
Italian progressive atmospheric rock unit Oslo Tapes will release their new album, Staring at the Sun Before Goin’ Blind, on Dec. 1. The record — which is the fourth since the mostly-solo-project of vocalist, multi-instrumentalist Marco Campitelli (who also handled some of the recording here) released its self-titled debut a decade ago — is being issued through a consortium of labels that includes Echodelick Records, Sound Effect Records and Grazil Records, covering North America, Europe and Australia, respectively.
The distributary triumvirate step in for Pelagic Records, which issued Oslo Tapes‘ ØR (review here) in mid-2021. Staring at the Sun Before Goin’ Blind — the title perhaps conveying some measure of pastoralism by knocking the ‘g’ off “going” — is comprised of eight tracks, like its predecessor, and sees Campitelli working in collaboration with producer Amaury Cambuzat, who also mixed, mastered and contributed to the writing and presumably arrangements of the material, which carries subtle currents of pop in its digestible blend of styles from prog and post-heavy rock in drifty opener “Gravity” and the later “Middle Ground,” which swells to a wash that would feel like a culmination were it not for the seven-minute closing title-track two songs later, to the Godflesh-‘n’-chill of side A’s “Ethereal Song,” the turn-of-the-century Reznorian drum and bass perfect-druggery of “Reject Yr Regret” or the periodic dance parties that seem to break out, in either of those two or elsewhere.
It’s a complex listen, provided you want it to be. For those who might dig into details, there’s full-dimensionality to what Campitelli and Amaury have brought here, unto the use of traditional verse and chorus structures to give that overarching complexity a 
still-accessible bent. But from the very first windchimes in “Gravity,” there’s intricacy corresponding to the abiding mood that gives the entire album its context.
And while one raises an eyebrow at the notion of congratulating a band that’s mostly one person on their record being cohesive — it better be; there’s no one else around to screw it up — and through the beat intensity of “Middle Ground” or the lower chug of maybe-keyboard under the higher frequency melodies of the suitably flowing penultimate cut “Somnambulist’s Daydream” or the actual-dream tonality of “Like a Metamorphosis” that led off side B, Oslo Tapes‘ sense of purpose never wanes. And for being so clearly exploratory in nature, Staring at the Sun Before Goin’ Blind never loses either its fluidity or the solid ground on which it’s offered. The work of someone who knows the sound they want and seems to be in steady pursuit of new ideas and aspects to bring to it.
Shades of New Wave, dance, classic krautrock, psych, prog — a list that could go on depending on the listener — and yet there’s little to disconnect Staring at the Sun Before Goin’ Blind from the central experience of its melody or the thoughtfulness of its composition and arrangements. In addition to some hard-lugging of wood and a solid argument for why you should try not to get tangled in your socks when hanging out the laundry (you’ll see it, don’t worry), the video’s meditative nature is fitting with the song’s likewise patient but not staid movement. I don’t know if I’d call it peaceful, exactly, but neither is it throwing elements at your ears just to see what sticks. Everything has a place.
Please enjoy:
Oslo Tapes, “Deja Neu” video premiere
Marco Campitelli on “Deja Neu”:
“Deja Neu” a track that falls between cinematic and ritual music, built upon ethno-kraut motifs embedded in hypnotic rhythmic figures, in a crescendo of psychedelic ornaments and intensity.
You can imagine to catch the sound between the mitte-europe and the oriental tunes….
On Friday, December 1st, Oslo Tapes returns with the highly anticipated fourth album, ‘Staring at the Sun Before Goin’ Blind’ marking another step in Marco Campitelli’s personal initiatory journey through the realms of post/art/kraut/noise and introspection. The album will be released on vinyl by Echodelick Records (USA) and Sound Effect Records (Greece), while Grazil Records (Austria) will oversee the CD, cassette, and digital versions.
‘Staring at the Sun Before Goin’ Blind’ is the follow-up to the successful third album, ‘ØR’, released in 2021 by the prestigious Pelagic Records, and it is imbued with emotional radiations that fuel disorientation and restlessness. Voices in contrast with metronomic rhythmic patterns, geometries distorted by fluid basslines, and melodic synths that compensate for the voids left by liquid and acidic guitars all contribute to creating a distinctly personal auditory mirage.
The album is produced by Amaury Cambuzat, a historic member of faUSt, and Ulan Bator, who co-authored the songs and arrangements with Campitelli. Using an unspecified number of magnetic tapes and analog machines, he forged the album’s sound through his thirty-year experience in the kraut/avant/rock domain.
Oslo Tapes says: ‹‹ ‘Staring at the Sun Before Goin’ Blind’ is hypothetically a brief period traversed in eight tracks, from the ethereal opening of ‘Gravity’ to the hypnotic ‘Ethereal Song’, the avant-syncretism of ‘Deja Neu’, and the psychedelic and modern deep house vibes of ‘Reject Yr Regret’. It follows the harmonic framework of ‘Like a Metamorphosis’ in a fusion of psychedelic jazz, the post-minimalist fuzz-kraut of ‘Middle Ground’, the distorted and celestial ‘Somnambulist’s Daydream’, and the tribal-kaleidoscopic title track finale. ››
Recommended for fans of God Is An Astronaut, Neu!, Can, Porno For Pyros, Nine Inch Nails, and Angel Of Light. While the Oslo Tapes capsule is in orbit, on board are Mauro Spada on bass and Davide Di Virgilio on drums, Stefano Micolucci on bass and upright bass, Federico Sergente on percussion, Nicola Amici, also known as Kaouenn, on guitars, synths, and percussion. There are also exceptional guests such as Berlin’s Sicker Man from Trialogos on cello and Dahm Majuri Cipolla, the Japanese post-rock band MONO drummer. After being part of the same label as Marco Campitelli, they cultivated a collaboration driven by their shared passion for kraut rock.
TRACKLIST
A1.Gravity
A2.Ethereal Song
A3.Deja Neu
A4. Reject yr Regret
B1.Like a Metamorphosis
B2.Middle Ground
B3.Somnambulist’s Daydream
B4.Staring at the Sun Before Goin’ Blind
CREDITS
Produced, mixed & mastered by Amaury Cambuzat Recorded by Marco Campitelli (Marigold’s Flower Studio) & Amaury Cambuzat (Let Go Ego Sound Studio)
Written by Marco Campitelli & Amaury Cambuzat
Played by Oslo Tapes
PhotosSilvia Verna
ArtworkDruckwelle Design
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