Porta d'Oro - Così Dentro Come Fuori (Maple Death, 2024)
"The fragmented mind can sometimes lead in two directions, a complete reconstruction based on a new hypothesis or a leap into the unknown, that divine breath that permeates all. Porta d’Oro, Giacomo Stefanini’s musical journey and therapy, lives on both lines, meditative sketchings that dig deep and beg for ascension.
From abstract dub, to post-punk rumblings and bedroom classics Giacomo Stefanini (also member of Kobra and the Milan Sentiero Futuro collective) has been slowly building his own world of meditative punk, ethereal dub, tape ballads, ambient noise and spiritual stanzas. “Così Dentro Come Fuori”, his proper debut, co-released by Maple Death & Legno, is one of the most unique and singular releases in both labels’ catalogues. Melding raga-like minimalism, spoken word poetry and primitive chants his songs possess an incantatory nature with a questing, spiritual overtone that resonates profoundly.
Inspired by Borges and Bioy Casares, "Cielo e Inferno" pulsates rhythmically, alien vox proudly reciting a line from Plotino’s Enneads; 'Un Sasso Nero', an ambient bliss meditation on depression that turns into a dub-punk lo-fi classic; “Conta I Passi La Lepre?” an observation on the idea of happiness as an unnecessary human-capitalist complication channelled through a contemplative ballad that mixes Country Teasers’ angular songwriting with Not Not Fun’s woozy oscillations.
Entirely recorded and mixed on a cassette 4-track “Così Dentro Come Fuori” unfolds into unexplored realms that draw together very disparate figures, the mystical stoicism of Daniel Higgs, trance inducing early Mute Records post-punk, freakout psychedelia, anarco fuzzed out Casio and earthy melancholia. Nothing sounds quite like it, everything is everywhere." - MD