Newsgroup: it.arti.musica.rock
Titolo: Laddio Bolocko varie

http://www.stora.de/_subsites/helgoland/eng/biose.htm
Biography
Helgoland, since 1993.
The first line-up: Gregor Wanke (Guitar), Rudi Burr (Bass) und Michele
Avantario (drums). The ever-changing fourth: Valentin Mayr, Andi Viehöver.
Then as a semi-temporary: Carsten Meyl (4 track tapes). First improv
appearances in an abandoned bowling alley, in a small gallery, and a comic
convention.
First production, 1994: "early Helgoland", Mini-CD, six tracks, 16 minutes,
edition of 500 copies, Label: n/a. Toured Germany and Holland with
Ostzonensuppenwürfelmachenkrebs. Meyl leaves the band after the tour.
Release of a Split-single (with unHOLD, Happy Grindcore, Muck and others) in
1995, mini-tour of north Germany. Wanke leaves. Then follows appearances as
Helgolandrest with Melt Banana, Brüllen, Incredible Sinalco Bums. A liking
to short music pieces becomes noticeable. The live sets lasted the average
of 20 minutes. The search for a synth player begins. Computer musics remain
unreleased.
Gunnar Büttner (Synthesizer) joins Helgoland 1996. The trio steers towards
structured music. Appearances with new program in 1996/97. Opens for a
variety of shows including Zeni Geva, Tatsuya Yoshida. Middle '97 begins the
recording of "20 minutes with Helgoland", a 10-inch-EP, which is released
one year later. Hamburg's Noise-Label Fidel Bastro releases the "Zehn"
compilation, on which Helgoland appears with "boss-a-boo" (later: "(Walkin´
On) Crystal Drive"). In July '97 Helgoland improvises live the silent film
"Panzerkreuzer Potemkin" in Metropolis-Cinema, Hamburg. The computer works
accumulate.
Middle '98 "20 minutes with Helgoland" is released, 26 pieces (composed and
improvised), edtion of 500, Label: NWN/Agog. Gigs with Flying Luttenbachers,
U.S. Maple, Alboth!, The Ruins. Guest singer: Isaac Margono. First release
of a computer music ("It's MC Rimini van der Putten and his Crazy
Duck!!!!!") on the compilation "
www.subaudio.net/cd_01
" (with Cornelius,
Prince Paul, King Missile, Schorsch Kamerun and others). The recording of
"Helgoland and band 99" begins.
Early '99, the label Edition Stora releases the "storage kompilation" (with
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Kreidler, Messer für Frau Müller, Felix Kubin,
Jetzmann/Liquidski, Oleg Kostrow and others) which includes two more
computer pieces by Helgoland. Rudi Burr and Jens Rabeler produce "88 Video
Appetizer" with selections from Helgoland's next album. In April, the CD
"Helgoland and band 99" (Avantario/Büttner/Burr plus guests: Pia Burnette,
Holger in´t Veld, Andreas Künnecke, Isaac Margono, Günter Reznicek) is
released on NWN/Agog, 99 short improvisations, 32 minutes, edition of 500.
Douglas S. Patton (winds, guitar) joins Helgoland. Appearances with Laddio
Bolocko, Christoph de Babalon and a new set (songs, improvisations and
computer pieces). Live-line-up: Avantario/Büttner/Burr/Margono/Patton plus
Alexander Diehl on computer. Two months after the debut of "88 Video
Appetizer" in Metropolis-Kino, the Helgoland quintett accompanies the silent
film "Aelita" in that same cinema.
In August '99, Freibank releases their forth volume of "for films" which
includes Helgoland's "Portamento Splendido (Insert Coin)". Late that summer,
Felix Kubin's Gagarin-Label releases the "Psykoscifipoppia" compilation with
ten computer songs by Helgoland as well contributions from
Grönlandorchester, Brezel Göring, Max Kleyderstorm and others.
Early 2000 begins the recordings of the new Helgoland album "Helgoland Media
Music EP", which is released one year later as CD (Stora) and 12-inch LP
(Reis Records). 30 pieces, 45 minutes. In May 2001 Helgoland improvises live
the silent film "Turk-Sib" in Metropolis-Cinema, Hamburg.
LADDIO BOLOCKO
--interview by Ted Casterline.
I like to smoke pot. Yesterday I was at an outdoor barbecue with a bunch of
close friends. The weather was as close to perfect as I can imagine, and
someone had a joint. We smoked it, and it felt good.
But sometimes a regular joint just isn't enough for me, and on these
occasions I like to concoct something I call the "Heart of Darkness". To
make the "Heart of Darkness", I take a small sheet of blotter acid, about 40
hits total, and I use it as a ro lling paper for some really strong grass
(Dutch 4-way or Northern Lights usually). I try to mix some chunks of blond
hash and at least one or two psilocybin caps in with the pot. Once I get it
all rolled up, I turn off all the lights in my apartment, loc k the door,
change into flip-flops, and light it up.
Between hits I brush my teeth with "Toms of Maine" ginger mint toothpaste.
After three or four deep inhalations, I make an espresso (no sugar, twist of
lemon) and then I sit in my room experiencing a feeling for which words
fail. It is a non-verbal experience. Picking out a CD in this state is next
to impossible, so I make sure to load up my six disc changer beforehand with
the perfect musical accompaniment. I usually chose some combination of the
following: Cheer Accident, The Ruins, The Free D esign, The Carpenters,
Miles Davis, and Laddio Bolocko.
I first heard Laddio Bolocko on the radio, probably WPRB in Princeton.
Unfortunately the DJ read the playlist so fast that I couldn't catch their
name exactly (Claudio Glocko? what?). I didn't have time to call in, so I
didn't have much to go on in terms of finding out more about them. I asked
around at some record stores and inquired with several record collectors
that I knew, but no one had heard of anything resembling that name. My
search ended when I asked Yanni Popadopolous, the guitarist fo r Stinking
Lizaveta, if he'd heard of them. He'd not only heard of Laddio Bolocko but
his band had played a show with them and he had a CD (In Real Time) which he
loaned me.
"Our music is about pushing the bounds of texture and form," says sax player
Marcus DeGrazia. "We play higher, faster, and louder to feed our need to
push ourselves physically and emotionally through music. It is an attempt to
reinvent the roles of o ur instruments. Doing what no other saxophone,
guitar, bass and drum group is doing today or ever. On the best nights we
are a machine that moves as one, which is what all the most memorable bands
have been about."
Laddio Bolocko definitely succeeds where many have failed, which is the
daunting task of integrating saxophone in an aggressive rock mode. In their
live show, Marcus deGrazia not only juggles an arsenal of saxophones, but
also employs a number of spe cial techniques including circular breathing
and the simultaneous playing of both alto and soprano. His oxblood platform
shoes and vertically striped bell-bottoms don't hurt either.
After the summer of 1997, Laddio Bolocko decided that they were going to try
to do something truly memorable together through music. Moving up to Elka
Park in the Catskills was stepping into that idea and not looking back. In
Brooklyn they had always lived in DUMBO before it became the real estate
gold mine that it is now. They all lived together in a subterranean
commercial space with no shower, just a toilet and sink in the hall. A month
later they found themselves in Elka Park, which was, at the turn of the
century, a summer resort for wealthy German businessmen and their families.
For the same price as their space in Brooklyn they rented a huge old ski
lodge with a big glass enclosure which became their rehearsal
space/recording room. This ar rangement seemed idyllic until they realized
there was no way for them to make money, the heating bills doubled their
rent, and they were surrounded by cabin feverish mountain folk.
Laddio Bolocko's sound is propelled by the precision drumming of Blake
Flemming. He combines rhythmic complexity with a pulverizing aggressiveness
that I haven't seen since Thymme Jones from Cheer Accident. Add to this the
feverish guitar interplay and relentless bass ostinatos of Drew St. Ivany
and Ben Armstrong, and you have one of the most intense live bands on the
scene today.
"When we play together," says Marcus "we run, dive, sneak up and scare the
shit out of you. Our music is mischievous and smart and usually quick to
change. When we're really together, it reawakens the metaphysical memory of
every other time things h ad really clicked. I've always felt that if the
four of us are really making it happen: communicating, anticipating, and
playing at the top of our potential then the audience will be able to come
with us and feel the magic. The spell we create is done so by personal means
to a completely personal end. The performance aspect of what we do is
predominantly selfish. I don't really care who gets it. If something is
awakened inside the listener, or a perception is altered, then it's just an
added benefi t to what we're doing."
Laddio Bolocko has a new album coming out this fall and will be on tour with
Trans Am in September.
Ted Casterline lives in Brooklyn. He is recently born again and works on a
truck delivering bags of onions. He also plays bass in one band called
Krakatoa and another called The Hong Kong. Contact him at go o
I cavalieri del sacro ordine dei Laddio Bolocko attraversano le lande
desolate della contea modenese, cavalcando un assurdo furgone pieno di Ceres
e colori. Sono gli ultimi discendenti di una stirpe meravigliosa di
immortali, immuni dai richiami di sirena del facile successo; abbracciano
con forza i loro strumenti musicali e insegnano a sognare. C'è l'Uomo
Serpente, esile come il collo di un cigno e completamente senza ossa, che
usa le sue braccia elastiche per colpire i piatti come una frusta. Chissà
quale uragano della natura conserva un angolo nascosto di sé, per esplodere
in una potenza così dirompente! Sir Ben Armstrong è un animo gentile, che
abbassa il ciuffo verso terra quando deve parlare con una pulzella; ma
dategli il suo basso come uno scudo e vi punterà addosso due occhi fieri che
ti trapassano da parte a parte. Drew St. Ivany sa l'arte misteriosa di fare
uscire mille voci diverse da uno stesso strumento: la sua chitarra si
moltiplica fra le sue mani fino a diventare un'orchestra sinfonica. Mani
magiche, mani dure che tagliano come asce: capita che ogni tanto Sir Drew
sparisca dalla scena, accoccolato sulle sue gambe incrociate e la chitarra
adagiata sopra come un animale ferito, con una corda impazzita che punta
verso l'alto. Niente chitarre di ricambio: il cavaliere è fedele alla sua
spada. Infine, il grande guerriero Marcus DeGrazia, implacabile e spietato,
non concede un secondo di tregua con la sua straordinaria abilità tecnica e
la folle vena improvvisatrice: sue sono le poltiglie rumoriste del
sintetizzatore, su cui gli altri musicisti camminano miracolosamente, come
dei Gesù sulle acque. Ma soprattutto il sax, anzi i sax; tre soldati
allineati e sempre pronti, soprattutto soprano, contralto e baritono. I
primi due addirittura contemporaneamente; l'ultimo, ben lungi da essere di
semplice accompagnamento, data la scarsa maneggevolezza, viene torturato
all'inverosimile, con sfrenate cavalcate su scale quasi liquide, tanta è la
rapidità di esecuzione.  Da suoni gutturali, da profondità di caverne, Sir
Marcus ti afferra in volo e ti trascina a forza senza farti respirare fino a
degli squittii inaspettati da una belva mastodontica come quel sax. Insieme,
la loro potenza è compatta, grazie anche ad un interplaying come viene solo
per miracolo, quando l'intesa è quasi telepatica, e nessuno dei quattro
tende mai a prevaricare gli altri: si rincorrono, s'introducono a vicenda,
giocano a vedere le reazioni dei profani alle loro acrobazie sonore; senza
sosta, ma anche senza affaticare, perché sono sapienti nel dosare al momento
giusto lunghe ondate di noise anomalo, e dopo avere stordito a dovere calano
la tensione fino al minimo, fino a che la batteria non è altro che il rumore
di una goccia sulla pietra. Sorride beato e sudato Sir Blake Fleming, dopo
l'ardua battaglia sul campo dello Zoo, a Finale Emilia; distende i suoi
muscoli con lo yoga, annodandosi le gambe dietro la testa. La pulzella gli
chiede: "Perché porti le calze di colore diverso?" , e lui, col viso
angelico del crociato che ha combattuto per una giusta causa: "Perché no?".
E la fanciulla, che prima non conosceva nulla di loro, se ne innamorò
perdutamente.

 Helgoland, since 1993.
[checc'entrano gli helgoland, pero'?] :)
P.

 [checc'entrano gli helgoland, pero'?] :)
Boh..non so neanche chi siano...
mi sarò sbagliato..
gianni