FRANCESCO MESSINA - Reflex 12"

Liner notes by Francesco Messina.

Rare 1979 recordings from Italian avant-garde pioneer.

Unreleased for over thirty years, the recordings on Reflex have an unadorned, almost improvisational feel. “Untitled” (featuring Lovisoni’s plaintive flute) and “I Nuovi Pescheti” are full of meditative piano passages that lend an aura of new age, while the title track is more insistent with unfurling chords layered in real time via a reel-to-reel tape machine, resembling Steve Reich’s mesmeric phase-shifting works of the ’60s.

A central figure within the Italian avant-garde, Francesco Messina gracefully expands his country’s contribution to Minimalism.

Recommended for fans of Joanna Brouk, Luciano Cilio and Charlemagne Palestine.