FUTEISHA
“Alegrias y duelos de mi alma”
(ArteTetra)




Ever wondered what David Lynch’s soundtracks would sound like if they came from Italy? Well, true believer, wonder no more! Futeisha, the project of Juan Scassa (guitarist of La Piramide di Sangue and collaborator of Craxi Driver, Krano, Gianni Giublena Rosacroce and others), has composed the most Lynchian of odes to all manner of weirdness, bubbling like clear, refreshing water from the freshest springs throughout the country. You probably didn’t think this was possible outside the all-noir-all-the-time confines of Los Angeles, but I’m here to tell you that Scassa has every right to stake a similar claim over the whole European continent as Lynch has in his home state. Well, OK, maybe not all of Europe – Scassa’s music has a decidedly Italian vibe about it – but that won’t stop him from trying!

Between sinister sound experiments, heavily reverbed spoken word (in Italian of course), and moody acoustic guitar performance, Futeisha combines fully modern atmosphere with the ethnic vibe of his home country. It’s at once of a moment and timeless, a time capsule that makes sense in the context of history and a beacon pointing toward the future. It’s traditional, but it’s also a bit psychedelic, owing to raga, exotica, and dark folk in equal measure. Wanna speed with the top down through the hills at midnight? We got you, with “Nel Roseto.” Wanna pensively ruminate while waiting for a lover to arrive? “No me dejes mi amor,” you do! Wanna take acid and freak out for forty-five seconds? “A la puerta del rio” is your jam. That’s not even mentioning “Me aveleno,” which of course could be used for pretty much any scene in a dramatic film. I dare you not to use this music, Hollywood – you’re fools to pass it up.

It’s hard finding a favorite moment on Futeisha’s ArteTetra debut because they’re all good. But one of the best parts, a surprise anyway, is “Una fin,” which closes the tape with distorted guitar drone, a vast change of pace but one that fits perfectly nonetheless. So next time you need a Lynch fix, don’t reach for Badalamenti – or, well, you can, because why wouldn’t you, but then you have to reach for Futeisha after it, because it hits all the same spots, just in slightly different ways. I swear there’s a lost highway in the Italian countryside just waiting to be discovered… Come peculiare!



--Ryan Masteller