Renato Rinaldi
Dyed in the Grain
CD (E107)
All sounds processed from recordings made during
the manufacture of ceramic tiles: from prime material
collection to the hammering of the final test tile.
Recorded, processed and composed in August 2005;
re-arranged in May 2009. Mixed by Renato Rinaldi
and Giuseppe Ielasi.
See also Renato Rinaldi (E95)
First edition of 200 copies
Co-published with senufo editions
Renato Rinaldi (left) and shady companion
O’artoteca, Milan, January 2011
Entirely crafted through the processing of sounds
deriving from the manual procedures related to the
assemblage of ceramic tiles, the 18 minutes of Dyed
in the Grain belong among the best work heard in
recent times by Italian entities operating in this area
of sonic manipulation. The latter word is essential in
picturing the ideas gathering in our mind while listen-
ing to this pleasurably crisp piece. Battered adjectives
like ‘tactile’ and ‘organic’ would also be functional in
defining the qualities of the music, characterised by
several moments of pure aural gratification. Rinaldi
managed to extrapolate ambiguous harmonic halos,
a tad of reminiscence and substantial amounts of
mystery from inert materials; he utilised the effects
without exceeding in the alteration of the original
sources, leaving the inbuilt rhythms and repetitions
of the working cycle practically unaffected. The out-
come disinfects the ears from useless complication
yet, at the same time, elicits a sense of impenetrability
typical of records that make the most of a paucity of
means to create momentous sonorities, gifted with
the kind of mechanical ineluctability that defines an
echoing installation. I don’t know exactly why, but
something tells me that aficionados of the late-80s/
early-90s embodiment of :zoviet*france: are going
to welcome this one with open arms.
Massimo Ricci at Touching Extremes
—
What really stands this track apart from just about
everything else I ever write about here is its use of
rhythm. For the first half of the track there is actually
a straight-up dub echo chamber sound running through
the piece, with other subtle pulses and throbs running
alongside and right through the piece so as to retain
a sense of minimal rhythm throughout. Now, as regular
readers will know, this would normally turn me right
off of the music, but oddly here this really works.
Rinaldi’s use of other, abstract sounds, elements that
later revealed themselves to me to being tiles being
drilled, hammered, scraped, is excellent, creating sharp,
jagged shapes as well as soft billowing textures that
fold in and out of the rhythmic elements to fit the music
just right. It is beautifully balanced and very nicely
crafted, with a really strong sense of the whole compo-
sition rather than just a load of little collaged parts sewn
digitally together as is so often the case with this area
of music.
Dyed in the Grain is a really unusual, individual piece
of music that actually would probably cross over well to
other audiences more used to more mainstream material,
and yet it also sounds like a well sculpted, uncompro-
mised piece of electroacoustic composition.
Richard Pinnell at The Watchful Ear
—
Recorded, processed and composed in August 2005;
Dyed in the Grain is a 19 minute work comprised of
sounds recorded during the manufacture of ceramic
tiles. They’re quite heavily processed, though some
drilling slides into earshot around the 12 minute mark.
My knowledge of the Italian tile making process is far
from comprehensive, but I’d guess it blends artesan-
ship and technology, a combination Rinaldi hints at
texturally, to very pleasant effect. A gauzy back-
ground drifts gently, and is overlaid with recurring
sound patterns and rhythms, as well as one-off
events, in particular some odd dub-like echo.
Nick Cain in The Wire