Arium by D'Arcangelo

D’Arcangelo is the duo of Marco and Fabrizio D’Arcangelo and Arium is their latest entry of sublimely introspective electronics.

Tracing their lineage to the fertile ACV scene of mid-nineties Rome, D’Arcangelo would collaborate with likemind Max Durante before appearing under their own Automia Division and Centuria City aliases across an array of Artificial Intelligence-inspired recordings alluding to themes of science fiction, civilisation, mathematics and metropolitan dystopia.

Over the course of two decades, releasing a dozen EPs and seminal sides for the likes of Rephlex, Nature and Suction Records, D’Arcangelo forged a distinctively sleek and sensuous sound alongside their stylistic peer, compatriot and label mate Bochum Welt, drifting away from the hardcore velocities of Leo Anibaldi and Lory D. Their last outing, Tweaking Paper (Analogical Force, 2018), captured the evolution of their sound into its most polished and propulsive state, and the five pieces that make up Arium could be considered a moment of solace, of lightness after the rain.

Opener 'Godsonix', swirling and kaleidoscopic, "was produced at a time when our music thinking was very open-minded", as Marco reflects. Picked from a hard drive containing sketches from 1998, it stands as lost gem produced during the Shipwreck era. 'Arium' and 'Spacing Out', a couplet encapsulating production techniques showcased in the infamous Diagram series, are effervescent and playful, elevating beyond the most blissful moments of Broken Toys’ Corner (2002) and Eksel (2007). A fitting accompaniment to the euphoric analogue bubblebaths of 'Duty' and 'Familiarity', titled in homage to the duo's lifelong surroundings and focused studio methods.

The culmination of over two decades of intimate collaboration and studio research, Arium shines as an exemplar of Italian electronic romanticism whose wide-eyed impulses could, we'd argue, be shared with the elegant undulations of Roberto Cacciapaglia’s Sei Note In Logica and drifting ambience of Franco Nanni's Elicoide.

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