Italian post-rock band, En Plein Air release a new album on Fluttery Records. They have been signed to the label in Summer of 2008 and they are the second band the we have signed. They released their 4 song EP “L'alba Irradia L'inutile Parola” in February 2009. The EP has got great reviews in their country and the rest of the world.

Let's have a look at our description for their music.

“Violin and cello brings you to the ocean of nostalgia and melancholia, lovely guitar melodies are the dolphins swimming with you; but it doesn’t mean that you may face chaotic storms with guitars and drums gone crazy. It is En Plein Air from Rome, Italy we are talking about. Their music can find a place in the genre of post-rock but when you listen to them, you realize how their classical and jazz influences affect their music.

Their live performances both in their country and abroad are said to be pleasing. A magazine calls watching them live “smells like the wood of the ancient instruments projected into the future”. One more interesting detail: They are the first group in Europe to play live for virtual pub of the game 2nd Life.”

The beauty of the music still remains, but the ocean is getting warmer.

It was the same year they started writing new songs for their debut. They had experienced something awful while recording it; they left their instruments in the studio after the rehearsal, they discovered they were all stolen when they arrived the studio the next day. They haven't lost the will and went on recording the self titled debut in the Play Wave studio in Rome. Soon after the recording sessions, the album has been sent to Metropolis Studio in London, UK.

En Plein Air have moved forward to another step with this album; all seven tracks are welcoming the new rising sun. Self titled album starts with calming piano entry and the song is followed with distorted guitars and violin climbing to the edge. Various instrumentation, various feelings follows. Guitars to strings, electronics to drums, each member collaborates to the beauty at their best.

On it's 16th release, Fluttery Records is very proud to have such gifted artists in the label.

REVIEWS

Saltinaria / Scritto da Giovanni Villani

RATING : 8/10 - Those who know me well, know my predilection for instrumental music. Let it be clear, I don't dislike the other music but I prefer the played part to the vocal part, for different reasons: first, because I'm a musician (especially a bassist) and because I can not absolutely sing. Also, seriously, I firmly believe in the unearthly provenance of Arts and Beauty in general (Immanuel Kant agrees with me, I heard him yesterday).

What is the music if not a hook, which raises the mind and soul from death of daily "human too human" (op. cit.); a continued relief, a force that can give us peace and quiet, energy and adrenaline, calm and excitement?

A force which, personally, I find the highest degree in instrumental music: from J.S. Bach to Trenz Reznor.

Coming to En Plein Air, I recommend listening to their latest omonymous work for the Fluttery Records, because you will find (I hope) the confirmation of my thesis: through an original blend of classical instruments , like the violin, to the synth, they get that fantastic and never banal balance that only real musicians are able to find: all instruments are combined and nobody oversteps the other (who recorded them made a great work too).

How not to mention the many emotions of "En Plein Air": a veritable avalanche. Personally listening to "Waterloo" I jumped off my chair: besides a masterful use of instrumentation, the En Plein Air in their tracks include traces of everyday life, recordings that seem to be (probably are) taken directly from the street; in doing so, emotionally saturated atmospheres collide with reality, causing emotional thuds, worthy of best thriller (I repeat, "Waterloo" just scared me).

If you only have intrigued by talking of the first track, enjoy "En Plein Air"

Caleidoscoop / Jan Willem Broek

The great, ever growing label Fluttery Records excels in releasing high quality and especially unorthodox post-rock bands from all over the world. Portugal, Russia, England, Denmark, Serbia, Norway, Canada, Japan, and so forth: Fluttery manages to find the extraordinary bands every time. In 2009 the Italian sextet En Plein Air debuted with the mini cd L'alba Irradia L'inutile Parola on the label. On that release they showed that, like other bands on the label, they can create some unorthodox sounds within the worn-out post-rock genre. Now the band from Rome is back with their self-titled full length. Eric Caldironi (guitar), Giovanni Federici (guitar), Ludovico Lamarra (bass), Marzia Ricciardi (violin), Aron Carlocchia (synthesizer, piano) and Adriano Proietti (drums), here and there complemented by Federica Vecchio's cello, again perform their wayward instrumental crossbreed of post-rock, library rock, wave, neo-classical, dark ambient, and electronics. What stands out in all 7 tracks is that they are drenched in melancholia. That is the case both in the more cinematic, calmer parts, and in the epic, blazing parts. By the way, if it is hard, then it is really hard. They build up towards such explosions nicely, but do not continuously switch between soft and hard. Nicely undulating, they meander through genres, bringing to mind different musical references, such as Mono, Giardini Di Mirò, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Dirty Three, Sigur Rós, Les Fragments De La Nuit, Clogs, and Robin Guthri at different times, but always focusing on the post-rock influences. It is an exciting and very varied CD, filled with surprising and breathtakingly beautiful elements. A fantastic CD that manages to captivate until the last nanosecond.

The Silent Ballet Score: 7.5/10

Fresh from the land of popes and Neil on Impression comes En Plein Air, a young act hoping to make a name for itself on a brand-newlabel, Fluttery Records. This four-track, 23-minute EP should establish them fairly quickly; it melds the professional guitar settings of the aforementioned group to the modern classical influences of Strangers Die Every Day, 3epkano and 417.3 in seemingly effortless fashion. The elevation of violin and cello to the position of equals with the other instruments is what sets this band apart; far too many other bands have treated these instruments as guest stars, failing to incorporate their vitality. While a handful of other guitar-based post-rock bands have honored string instruments in their compositional settings, this crossover field remains small, and guests are always welcome.

The French phrase "en plein air" means simply, "in the open air," and refers to location painting. The traditional image of an outdoor painter with an easel seems apt; but open air painting preceded the easel. The advent of tube-encased paints in the mid-19th century led to the popularization of the practice, as well as to the field ofImpressionism. En Plein Air seems to be commenting on this movement through their music: the strings represent the natural light, the drums and guitars are neutral, and the synthesizer, like the tube paint, represents the modern catalyst. The album title, "The dawn irradiates the useless word", is more open to interpretation. The hinge word is 'irradiate', which can mean either "to expose to radiation" or "to illuminate". Since useless words, once illuminated, remain useless, the title likely utilizes the primary definition. In this case, perhaps the dawn – the natural light preferred by Impressionists – destroys words, replacing them, one might guess, with music.

Such a grandiose statement may not be what En Plein Air had in mind when they recorded this EP, but their air of professionalism indicates that they have studied and practiced hard to produce this faceted document. The ideas presented here outnumber those on many full-length albums; the listening experience leaves one sated rather than starving. Because each of the tracks is fully-developed and nearly uniform in timbre, one might also argue that a longer collection might diminish the music's power. Should they consider a full-length release, the group would be well-advised to incorporate softer hues, a more varied palette.L'alba Irradia L'inutile Parola is exactingly controlled, which is admirable, and perhaps necessary due to its complexity; but more frequent solos, forays into improvisation and passages of near-silence would enhance the group's overall sound by throwing the more carefully-executed passages into relief.

That being said, this EP presents four tracks of nearly-uniform quality. Each contains at least one memorable violin passage, and shows admirable restraint in the repetition of the central melody. Opener "Parola" wraps around from overture to finale, and in the interim allows each instrument to wander on a very short leash. The song also includes a slight, but obvious build in its final minute, a lesson to all post-rockers who feel that they must stretch every ponderous passage to the fraying point. "Irradia," a recent entry on TSB's Tracks of the Week, runs slower and has more of a "traditional" post-rock feel, piling on the guitar work in its penultimate segment, but is notable for the avid drum rolls which carom around its closing crackle. "L'inutile" comes to a complete stop midway beforeintroducing a bridge, always a welcome compositional tactic; and closer "L'alba" seats the violin once again on its throne, reminding us who rules the roost. This piece, just like the opener, presents a compellingly simple passage at the beginning, rows offshore in the middle and returns to dock in the end.

This introductory salvo implies a promising post-rock future. En Plein Air already possesses the technical prowess and necessary confidence to stand out in a crowded field. Add a little more emotion to the mix, a dollop of the unpredictable, and even more sparks will fly.

InForty

Italian post-rock with classical, jazz and folkish bents, strongly flavoured by the sad elegance of an ever-pervasive violin. The EP is at its dreamy best when these disparate elements are given freedom to roam, moving the music away from more routine post-rock territory.

Ephebia.it
Once again a noteworthy group from Rome! […] The En Plein Air […] Their first piece is entirely instrumental. Intense and sincere. […] Soundtrack atmosphere. Bass to the fore and tune chiseled by a wonderful violin; unpredictable drums and clever in standing out at the right moment; guitars ready to back in the most emotional moments. Listeners are taken into a voyage of multiple moods. It prevails, however, a melancholic and nostalgic atmosphere […] L’alba irradia l’inutile parola (The dawn irradiates the useless word) shows at the same time technical skills and inspired intensity. It strikes for the perfect amalgamation among the various instruments. A very young band, but yet of high value. Curtain call! Bis!

violadrunken.it
Renounce to a packet of cigarettes and buy this CD. Listen to it at evening. No word. And when you think that the night, this night, began with dawn (you will understand), you’ll be who knows where, rocked by a music which still today I can’t explain and define to my friends. But trust me. If you trust me, you’ll find it is worthwhile to listen to it.

Gufetto.it
[…] L’alba irradia l’inutile parola (The dawn irradiates the useless word) is an ever pulsating and exciting musical trip. Brave, insofar it doesn’t need words. Listen in silence: the music will irradiate you as a spring dawn.

Beautifulfreaks.org
“Istrumental is better”. This is the program of the Rome quintet[…] The result reminds various influences which the band doesn’t hide: Mogwai, Pink Floyd, Sigur Ros, Goodspeed You! Black Emperor not to mention a certain jazz and classic approach which gives elegants to the tunes (or I would better say pieces). A suggestive cd which joins indie rock and ambience music, classicity and experimentation.