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| sps26121 VARIOUS ARTISTS SEA SONGS - MUSIC FOR HOTELS VOL. 3 28-page 21x21cm Book + CD, ltd. 500 copies |
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| The compilation "Return to Acapulco - Music for Hotels Vol. 1" (13 / Silentes), curated by Vittore Baroni in the summer of 2024, included 16 songs composed by 16 musicians to provide soundtracks for the various areas of a typical seaside hotel. The following year, "Summer Fun", the second volume in a unique series exploring new ways to combine tourism and culture, contained 20 covers of well-known and lesser-known songs dedicated to summer, performed by 20 artists. Raising the bar, for the 2026 summer season, "Sea Songs" presents not one but two CDs, featuring contributions from 31 national and international artists invited to explore the multiple relationships between music and the sea, understood above all as a holiday destination, a place of love and bittersweet memories of a more naive and carefree time. The title of the compilation is a tribute to Robert Wyatt's Sea Song, which Le Forbici di Manitù, the series' house band, has approached with the utmost affection and respect. Even more so than in previous volumes, the contributions from artists of different generations and backgrounds span various genres - from rock to electronic, pop to blues, to songs with elements of vocal jazz, new wave, punk, surf, rockabilly, industrial, and more - evenly distributed between covers and original compositions. Not only songs, including timeless classics such as La Mer by Trenet, The Dolphins by Fred Neil, Song To The Siren by Tim Buckley or Ocean by Lou Reed, but also soundtracks, recitations and instrumental experiments, signed by a composite and unpredictable cast, which sees alongside musicians active in the Versilia Riviera and its surroundings (Luciano Federighi, Michela Lombardi and Andrea Garibaldi, Giuseppe Giannecchini with Ugo Cappadonia, Brunilde Galeotti, Elenband, Staindubatta) or in the Tuscan area (Dome La Muerte E.X.P., Mirco Magnani, Gabriele Bartolucci, Xayde, The Garden of Love) and true legends of the (inter)national scene, such as the bassist and composer Steve Piccolo or the prime mover of the Italian extra-rock scene Maurizio Marsico, present in a double role with the potential summer hit Lunadimare by the duo MARSICODITRAPANI, promoted by a delightful video directed by Roberto Da Pozzo, and with a witty musique concrète-style sound montage by his Monofonic Orchestra (together with Roger Stanza and Mauro Tondini), winking at Pink Floyd, Throbbing Gristle and Lina Wertmüller. Besides tributes to 1960s beach songs, such as Shocking Blue's Hot Sand revisited by Wide Hips 69, the album also features less reassuring themes. Gianluca Becuzzi and Elia Ulian, for example, draw inspiration from the tragic shipwreck of the Romantic poet Percy B. Shelley on the beach at Viareggio, Teatro Satanico echoes the frightening ocean myths of H.P. Lovecraft, while Adi Newton and Enrico Marani's Spectral Unit tackle the classic theme of the "ghost ship" in a contemporary key. In the three volumes of "Music for Hotels", the curator has managed to connect friends and artists he's met over half a century of journalism and musical adventures in a common thread, strengthened by an unexpected sense of community. The lineup ranges from former Stormy Six member (and former neighbor) Tommaso Leddi with Carlo De Martini to Spirocheta Pergoli Redux with longtime collaborator Massimo Giacon, from Stefano Saletti (formerly of Novalia) and SALE to Fabio Zigante/Miss xoX and Teho Teardo, whom the curator encountered at the time of The Great Complotto in Pordenone, from representatives of the Italian electronic scene like Simon Balestrazzi and Adriano Zanni to artists he met on the mail art circuit, such as David Greenberger, a master of spoken word narratives (set to music by Tyson Rogers), and AI music virtuoso Grey T. Noise, all the way to Ricky Rialto, who starred in the video for the song Estate all'italiana on volume 2 of the series, and Polemica, a punk-avantgarde project discovered by word of mouth at the last minute. An eclectic cross-section of networks of non-aligned musicians, testifying to the vitality and innovative energy that thrives far from the logic, names, and conventions of the mainstream. The third - and final, because a good game doesn't last long! - volume of "Music for Hotels" was produced by the Hotel Acapulco in Forte dei Marmi, run by the Baroni family since 1968. This establishment has always had a special connection with music, serving for years as a rehearsal space for various local bands during the winter months. Its guests have included such diverse figures as Cochi and Renato and Nocturnal Emissions, Cabaret Voltaire and Earth Wind & Fire, Renzo Arbore and Merzbow, Incognito and Gianni Bella, SPK and Riccardo Bertoncelli. The cover illustration and booklet layout for "Sea Songs" are the work of Reg Mastice, an eclectic artist and author of atypical books such as the fantastical guide "The 150 Best Nonexistent Records in the History of Rock" (Arcana, 2020) and the Carroll-esque extravaganza "The Mirror Crossed Alice" (Moscabianca Edizioni, 2023). order |
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