Antonella Ruggiero: “Altrevie” with Roberto Colombo is coming out
“Other ways” is the title of the new album by Antonella Ruggiero and Roberto Colombo – the first set after the parenthesis of “Genetic tomato” of 2008 – published on the first day of spring, the March 21, 2024.
“Altrevie” is an artistic research with many voices that develops in sound, on paper and on the web. A truly unusual initiative which makes it the most experimental project within Ruggiero's vast repertoire.
The work starts from the idea of recreating a new language to create an innovative musical proposal that passes through the digital manipulation of the voice and the birth of an imaginary and unknown language. Together they poured over, decomposed and recomposed the vocal tracks of Ruggiero's first solo work (“Free” published in 1996 and recorded between India and Italy) accompanying Antonella's new song with original harmonizations and arrangements by Roberto Colombo. The result is twelve songs of unreleased melodies with a new language
Tells Roberto Colombo:
Once the 12 original vocal tracks had been separated from the instrumental part, they were reproduced in reverse with the “reverse” technique used since the 1960s starting with the Beatles themselves up to other groups such as the Byrds, Jefferson Airplane up to Jimi Hendrix, significantly influencing the trend of psychedelic rock of those times. The technique consisted of normally recording the voices or instruments on the magnetic tape which was subsequently transferred to vinyl by spinning it backwards where needed. The effect obtained was extremely innovative and alienating. Clearly the whole process was analogue but today exactly the same thing can be done digitally. After selecting the most significant phonemes and having built new melodic lines together with Antonella, I developed new harmonizations, totally departing from the original material taken from the album “Free”. The result achieved surprised us with the unexpected sounds that certainly went beyond our most optimistic predictions and expectations..
The graphic work it is the result of a meeting between Antonella and the collective Clandestine Fake Books (specialised in art publishing and paper converting), united by the love for vintage books and reuse. The collective composed a collage of images also using antique books from Antonella Ruggiero's personal collection.
For Other waysin addition to CD formatthe Libri Finti Clandestini collective produced a work of art publishing in a limited edition: a peep showpaper support that can be opened like an accordion with a window, inside which it is possible to spy on the unknown world of Other ways. On the peep show there is a QR Code that links to the website from which it will be possible to listen to the music for free and rediscover the visual world of Other ways. Furthermore, to those who purchase a copy of the peep show The album will be sent at the same time in high quality CD and MP3 format.
Some songs by Other ways they will be part of the soundtrack of the stylist's film project Antonio Marraswith the collaboration of the director Roberto Ortushot entirely in Sardinia paying attention to the traditions of the island and its wild and beautiful landscapes.
Antonella Ruggiero with his refined voice he has shown his curiosity over the years by experimenting with different sound and artistic forms, ranging between genres and musical languages that are distant from each other, from pop to classical and sacred music, from electronic to tango, passing through folklore, up to music for big bands. After the path of great successes with Matia Bazar, which lasted fourteen years, and a break of seven, Ruggiero began her solo career by releasing the album “Free” in 1996. In 2022, a collection of 18 songs entitled “Like the air that is renewed”, written between 1996 and 2018 by and for her, and rearranged by Roberto Colombo.
Roberto Colombo is an Italian musician and keyboardist. He released two instrumental albums in the 1970s, standing out for his innovative orchestrations. He is known for his prolificacy in arranging and producing records, collaborating with numerous renowned Italian artists. He has also composed music for commercials and major television programs. For over twenty years he has been involved in Antonella Ruggiero's musical activity as a record producer. He has conducted various orchestra concerts for television and musical events. In 2019 he published the box set Good mood musicdemonstrating his continued creativity in the field of instrumental music.
