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M.B./Dedali, "Elektro Tones"
With two different generations of Italian electronic artists coming together, Maurizio Bianchi and Dedali stick closer to its title than the more industrial tinged harsher noise I was expecting.  The four pieces hint at Bianchi’s initial new age-y sound from his late 1990s reappearance, but manage to stay on the good, experimental side of that, with Dedali’s contributions providing a contemporary sheen.
The four song cycle has a distinct flow, from lighter moments into darker dissonance and back again by the end.  The first piece is mostly light electronic pinging, with a haze enshrouded melody underscoring it.  The tones are subtle, and build upon each other during each piece, becoming less melodic as the piece progresses.  Dissonance sets in, pulling the passages into elongated, sputtering outbursts that still maintain the gracefulness that defined the early minutes.
The shorter second piece is where the duo recruit the most conventional new age sounds.  Largely exacerbated by the piano, dramatic electronic sweeps do manage make things bleaker than Yanni could ever get, but there are tentative steps in that direction.  The lighter moments brilliantly slip away towards its end, as the light synth sounds slowly drift from ringing bells into rattling chains, transitioning well into darkness.
The darkness continues into the third composition.  Expansive, wobbling electronics make the mood clear, and slowly the music becomes more sinister and hollow as it goes on.  Ghostly rumbles and harrowing emptiness keep it moody.  The bells that appear in the closing minutes have a certain cliché, yet endearing horror movie score sense to them. The final work keeps the aforementioned bells, but the duo lead off with a harsher, almost power electronics noise drone that contrasts very well.  As it continues, the piece's mood lightens, with the more aggressive layers peeling back to end on a gentler note, much like the album began.
While I know Bianchi has moved in softer directions from his dour early 1980s records, Dedali’s work that I have heard has been more harsh and aggressive.  Blending these two, Elektro Tones remains in a softer, hazy space wavering between cloudy ambience and cavernous darkness.  It is for this reason that it managed to not fall into the noise or dark ambient rut it could, thanks to MB and Dedali’s compositional skills and sensibilities.
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