Stefano Pilia - Blind Sun New Century Christology (2015)

Stefano Pilia, prolific solo performer and founding member of projects such as 3/4hadbeeneliminated (together with Claudio Rocchetti & Valerio Tricoli) and In Zaire, invites us to see the „Blind Sun“ - and also to experience a „New Century Christology“ as the subtitle of the record reveals.

The guitar is the instrument of choice, many shades of which we are welcome to experience here. The tone of „Blind Sun - New Century Christology“ is a subtle and calm one, nonetheless do Pilia’s guitar as well as the many other instruments & their skillful manipulations to be heard on this record possess a large emotional power.

There is introspective fingerpicking right next to a washed-out gong, a beautiful violin telling you an awe-inspiring story in a yet undeciphered language and some tape loops bringing you back to the harsh truth. And guess what: it works.

It would be easy to drop names for comparison in the wide array of solo guitarists between John Fahey and Loren Mazzacane Connors, but let’s just assume that the only thing you need to know about this record is that it was composed by someone directing the music to the core of the feelings that were wished to be expressed.

There is a sense of joyous melancholy throughout the songs, ready to lull you in a wide- awake sleep full of revelatory dreams - gazing inwards and outwards, these are pieces to return to and experience them in more than just one way. Music can be a very fertile ground for thoughts, feelings and ideas; immersive and sparse sounds sometimes become one and the same and feel, think and brainstorm for you. There is only thing left for you to do - listen.!