Svanire (NEW ALBUM)

Svanire, the Italian word for “vanishing,” is a 44-minute piano and electric piano suite, divided into four tracks that guide the listener through an intimate and reflective sonic journey. The work is minimal and skeletal in its essence, built around eloquent silences and fragile, almost suspended notes that evoke the melancholic hues of autumn. Each note seems to dissolve into the air, like leaves in the wind, creating an atmosphere of rarefied beauty.ย 
The strength of this piece lies precisely in its simplicity, which never feels trivial thanks to the meticulous production by Andrew Chalk. With his unique and hypnotic touch, Andrew has brought to life a sound that amplifies and enhances the delicate nature of the compositions, enriching them with emotional depth. Every sonic detail is carefully crafted, creating a balance between emptiness and fullness, between sound and silence, making the listening experience unique and immersive.ย 
Accompanying the music is a short story, a narrative that intertwines with the notes, creating a subtle dialogue between words and sound. The artwork, generously provided by Andrew Chalk, is not just a visual frame but a perfect representation of the atmosphere evoked by the album: an image that, like the music, seems toย dissolve and vanish, capturing the fleeting nature of the moment. The choice of colors and visual forms engages with the sonic tones, further enriching the overall sensory experience.ย 
A special thanks goes to Daisuke Suzuki, who contributed the Kanji translation of the wordย Svanire, adding another layer of cultural and symbolic meaning to this work. The Kanji translation is not just a linguistic transposition but a bridge between cultures, reflecting the universality of the theme of vanishing and impermanence.ย 

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… autumn

I have always loved this time of year when, towards the end of September, we bid farewell to the summer heat and gently step into that path of multicolored leaves and minor chords that lead us towards the cold of winter.
Memories of the past resurface in my mind, when I still lived in the house in Pordenone. I see my mother, before she got sick, showing off the shawl she bought in her hometown, Edinburgh. I feel the first cold starting to penetrate the walls of the house and the basement set up as a sound studio that finally comes back to life with notes and resonances. I touch the tiles, finally cold, and smile because the first fog is near.
In the air, I perceive something special, a sort of preparation that has always attracted me. Not surprisingly, my soul is magnetically drawn to this season.
I am happy to soon present a work with these characteristics, with an autumnal and foggy mood. A delicate sound that leaves time to reflect and let oneself go between dream and melancholy. And as Radiohead would say, โ€œhow to disappear completelyโ€.


Ho sempre amato molto questo periodo dellโ€™anno quando, verso la fine di Settembre, si saluta definitivamente il caldo dellโ€™estate entrando in punta di piedi in quel sentiero di foglie multicolore e accordi minori che ci portano verso il freddo dellโ€™inverno.ย 
Riaffiorano nella mia mente ricordi del passato, quando ancora vivevo nella casa di Pordenone. Vedo mia madre, prima di ammalarsi, che sfoggiava il coprispalle comprato nella sua cittร  natale, Edimburgo. Sento il primo freddo che inizia a penetrare le mura della casa e lo scantinato allestito a studio sonoro che finalmente ricomincia a vivere di note e risonanze. Tocco le piastrelle finalmente fredde e sorrido perchรฉ la prima nebbia รจ vicina.
Nellโ€™aria percepisco qualcosa di speciale, una sorta di preparazione che mi ha sempre attirato. Non a caso, la mia anima รจ magneticamente attratta da questa stagione.
Sono felice di presentare a breve un lavoro con queste caratteristiche, dal mood autunnale e nebbioso. Un suono delicato che regala il tempo per riflettere e lasciarsi andare tra sogno e malinconia.ย E come direbbero i Radiohead โ€œhow to disappear completelyโ€.

Music vs AI (part 2)

Small distortions welcome my resonant body. Small reflections that prevent me from proceeding with the day, words that I must put on paper (as they used to say).

I still reflect on what I wrote yesterday and think about music with a capital M, the real kind that the new generations no longer know.

I still hope for a niche of people made of ancient souls who run backwards in time and carry forward the values of the past. When everything was more difficult but made senseโ€ฆ every gesture was a sacred movement that gave importance to the here and now.

Speaking of mainstream music, I often read about how Fontaines DC are a blessing in todayโ€™s music scene, and itโ€™s true, but one has to wonder who their rivals are.

Yesterday, by chance, assuming chance really exists, I listened again after a long time to two albums by The Cure that shaped my adolescence: Wish and Disintegration. Despite the years, every single word was still imprinted in my mind, perfectly sealed between heart and soul. When we still leafed through booklets and every new album purchased became an invaluable treasure in my bedroom that would accompany my listening for months. How can I compare this love and dedication with those who can switch from one album to another for free or with a simple subscription?

I wonโ€™t deny it, I too have been seduced by the convenience of digital, but slowly I have grasped its limits, limits that only those who want to breathe poetry can perceiveโ€ฆ

And now that we have reached the next chapter, from the birth of the Internet to the birth of AI. How can I believe that all this is good for humanity? How can I not think that man is destined to become an inferior race in the next generations? A dumber race supported exclusively by this machine that will only be able to give us excellent advice. How can we not believe that all this will backfire on us?

Life is a continuous training of problem-solving, and the better you become, the simpler life gets. It is obvious that the habit of not thinking that will be generated in the future will lead to a collective lowering of intellect. It is also quite likely that future generations will no longer be able to recognize a piece created by a human beingโ€ฆ if they are still capable of creating, of course. And here lies the fundamental point of it all: my greatest fear is that the human being may intellectually weaken to the point of believing that the only one capable of creating something, artistic or not, is AI. If that were the case, it would be the end.

I would like to think that instead, man will use this machine as a tool to improve, to increase his abilities and elevate his talents, and thus create a better world, but unfortunately, I donโ€™t believe it will go that way. Human nature is still so deceitful, and the dark side will blind us in front of this fake opportunity, leading us straight to a new Middle Ages.


Sono piccole distorsioni quelle che accolgono il mio corpo risonante. Piccole riflessioni che mi impediscono il procedere della giornata, parole che devo per forza buttare su carta (come si diceva una volta).

Rifletto ancora su quello scritto ieri e penso alla musica con la M, quella vera che ormai le nuove generazioni non conosco piรน. Spero ancora nella nicchia di persone fatte di anime antiche che corrono a ritroso nel tempo e portano avanti i valori di un tempo. Quando tutto era piรน difficile ma aveva un senso….ogni gesto era un movimento sacro che regalava importanza al qui e ora.

Parlando di musica mainstrean leggo spesso di come i Fontaines DC siano una benedizione nel panorama della musica odierna, ed รจ vero effettivamente, ma cโ€™รจ da chiedersi chi sono i loro rivali.

Ieri casualmente, ipotizzando che il caso esista davvero, ho riascoltato dopo tantissimo tempo due album dei Cure che hanno formato lal mia adolescenza: Wish e Disintegration. Nonostante gli anni ogni singola parola era ancora impressa nella mia mente, perfettamente sigillata tra cuore e anima. Quando ancora si sfogliavano i booklet e ogni nuovo album acquistato diventava un patrimonio inestimabile della mia camera da letto che avrebbe accompagnato per mesi i miei ascolti. Come posso confrontare questo amore e questa dedizione con chi puรฒ passare da un album allโ€™altro gratuitamente o con un semplice abbonamento?

Non lo nego, anche io mi sono fatto sedurre dalla comoditร  del digitale ma lentamente ho colto i suoi limiti, limiti che solo chi vuole respirare poesia puรฒ percepire…

Ed ora che siamo arrivati al capitolo successivo, dalla nascita di Internet alla nascita dellโ€™IA. Come posso credere che tutto questo sia un bene per lโ€™umanitร ? Come posso non pensare che lโ€™uomo sia destinato a diventare una razza inferiore nelle prossime generazioni? Una razza piรน stupida supportata esclusivamente da questa macchina che saprร  regalarci solo ottimi consigli. Come possiamo non credere che tutto questo ci si ritorca contro?

La vita รจ un allenamento continuo di problem solving e piรน si diventa bravi e piรน la vita si semplifica. Eโ€™ ovvio che lโ€™abitudine a non pensare che si genererร  in futuro non porterร  ad un abbassamento collettivo dellโ€™intelletto. Eโ€™ anche abbastanza probabile che le generazioni del futuro non sapranno piรน riconoscere un brano creato da un essere umano… se saranno ancora capaci di creare ovviamente. Ed รจ qui il nodo fondamentale di tutto: il mio timore piรน grande รจ che lโ€™essere umano possa depotenziarsi intelettualmente a tal punto da credere che lโ€™unico in grado di creare qualcosa, di artistico e non, sia lโ€™IA. Se fosse cosรฌ sarebbe la fine. Vorrei pensare che invece lโ€™uomo utilizzerร   questa macchina come strumento per migliorasi, per aumentare le proprie capacitร  ed elevare i propri talenti e quindi creare un mondo migliore, ma purtroppo non credo andrร  cosรฌ. La natura umana รจ ancora cosรฌ subdola e il lato oscuro ci accecherร  davanti a questa finta opportunitร  portandoci diritti ad un nuovo medioevo.

Music vs AI (part 1)

Not long ago, an old friend of mine, a computer professional with a hobby in metal electric guitar, shared his musical experiments made with AI.
His rational and analytical mind led him to create 1,000 tracks in a month to fully understand the Suno platform, exploring various requests and musical genres.
I was amazed to discover that today, with just a simple sketched arpeggio, a text, and a few instructions, you can now create a song that to many ears may sound real.
So, what is the future of music?
Considering that AI is growing like a child, in ten years, or perhaps even less, it will have much higher capabilities than we can imagine, and consequently, its ability to generate music will be of much higher quality as well.
The thought that today I could ask AI to add trumpet or violin tracks to a new song makes me really uncomfortable, and imagining a future world where mainstream music features avatar artists makes me truly sad.
What are we doing? Why are we rushing in this direction?
In not too many years, chaos will be generated, and not only in the artistic realm. But I prefer to speak only of the fate of Music, reduced to a distant memory… when imperfection was still capable of generating that inner impulse and spark that could move the listener.


Poco tempo fa un amico di vecchia data, professionista del computer e con l’hobby della chitarra elettrica metal, mi ha girato i suoi esperimenti musicali fatti con l’IA.
La sua mente razionale e analitica l’ha portato in un mese a creare 1000 brani per capire a fondo la piattaforma Suno, spaziando nelle richieste e nei generi musicali.
Sono rimasto sbalordito nello scoprire che oggi con un semplice arpeggio abbozzato, un testo e qualche indicazione si possa ormai creare una canzone che all’orecchio di molti puรฒ risultare reale.
E quindi qual รจ il futuro della musica?
Considerando che l’IA sta crescendo come un bambino nell’arco di dieci anni e forse anche meno avrร  capacitร  molto piรน elevate di quello che immaginiamo e quindi di conseguenza anche la sua qualitร  nel generare musica lo sarร .
Pensare che oggi potrei chiedere all’IA di aggiungermi delle tracce di tromba o di violino a un nuovo brano mi mette davvero a disagio e immaginare un mondo futuro dove il mainstream proporrร  artisti avatar mi rende davvero triste.
Che cosa stiamo facendo? Per quale motivo stiamo correndo in questa direzione?
Tra non molti anni si genererร  il caos e non solo a livello artistico. Ma preferisco parlare solo della fine che farร  la Musica ridotta a diventare un ricordo lontano… quando ancora l’imperfezione era capace di generare quell’impulso interiore e quella scintilla capace di emozionare l’ascoltatore.

Waiting forโ€ฆ

After months of waiting, the rain that changes everything has finally arrived. These are different drops that mark the end of summer and lead us into autumn, my favorite season. Early in the morning, we already wake up in the dark, and slowly the house returns to a more livable temperature. It was a summer divided in two, pleasant until June and then very hot until a few days ago.

Slowly, I can complete the two works I finished in 2024. They will be called โ€œSvanireโ€ and โ€œBrusio dโ€™autunnoโ€ two autumnal works that I canโ€™t wait to share. Always for those who still want to follow my publications. I am becoming less and less social, and maybe one day I will even leave Bandcampโ€ฆ but this is just a thought that has been swirling in my head for a while, nothing concrete for now.

For now, I enjoy the coolness of the morning and those clouds in the sky so uncertain but full of autumn energy.


Dopo mesi di attesa finalmente รจ arrivata la pioggia che cambia tutto. Sono gocce diverse che delineano la fine dellโ€™estate e ci accompagnano verso lโ€™autunno, la mia stagione preferita. Al mattino presto giร  ci si sveglia con il buio e piano piano la casa ritorna a un temperatura piรน vivibile. Eโ€™ stata unโ€™estate divisa in due, piacevole fino a giugno e poi molto calda fino a pochi giorni fa.

Piano piano posso portare a termine i due lavori che ho concluso in questo 2024. Si chiameranno โ€œ Svanireโ€ e โ€œBrusio dโ€™autunnoโ€, due lavori autunnali che non vedo lโ€™ora di condividere. Sempre per chi ha ancora voglia di seguire le mie pubblicazione. Ormai sono sempre meno social e forse un giorno abbandonerรฒ anche Bandcamp…ma questo รจ solo un pensiero che mi frulla in testa da un pรฒ, nulla di concreto per ora.

Per ora mi godo il fresco del mattino e quelle nuvole in cielo cosรฌ incerte ma cariche di energia autunnale.

Ambient

When music enters your skin in such a forceful way,ย givingย oxygen to your blood, you slowly start a research journey that will never end. You start to explore musical genres in a transversal direction like a vagabond moving from one country to another,ย drivenย simply by the search for beauty. You are never satisfied and always look for something new and different that gives you transcendentalย sensations. This is,ย in my opinion, what best characterizes the true soul of the sound researcher, and I consider myself among them,ย beforeย even a musician.
In the past, I have often been pointed out by those I consider conservative listeners (not to say obtuse), criticizing ambient or experimental music as non-music. This is for me a superficial and totally false judgment. Personally, I believe that every self-respecting music is and must be simply well made. When it is, then it is MUSIC.
Speaking of ambient, you enter a vast territory with a language that however is not for everyone.ย Itย is something that touches your strings immediately, of which you either fall in love or get irritated by its lack of stakes. I remember as a kid, when I was listening to other musical genres like metal or progressive, I was in love with some intros of some songs to the point that I wanted them to repeat indefinitely, to the point of finding theย continuumย of those songs almost ruining everything done before. A forcing and a waste.ย Untilย I discovered ambient and it was love at first sight.
Listening to this genre is like taking music and listening to it under a microscope,ย savoringย every molecule. There is a desire for minimalism of the soul that leads to this love. It is something indefinable in words, so it is useless to project yourself into brainy challenges andย soundsย of television debate with those who denigrate and criticize this genre. Very often those who listen to ambient love and listen to many other genres while instead those who listen to rock, metal or any other genre fossilize exclusively on that type of music, never changing perspective and looking at theirย ownย world always from the same angle.
So whatโ€™s the point of arguing with them? As a person I knew years ago often said: โ€œitโ€™s useless to make a donkey answer the phone, it wonโ€™t answer you anywayโ€. I think this description gives a very good idea.


Quando la musica entra nella tua pelle in maniera cosรฌ prepotente,ย dandoย ossigeno al tuo sangue, lentamente inizi un percorso di ricerca che mai si interromperร . Inizi ad esplorare generi musicali in direzione trasversale come un vagabondo che si muove tra un paese e lโ€™altro,ย spintoย semplicemente dalla ricerca del bello. Non ti accontenti mai e cerchi sempre qualcosa di nuovo e diverso che ti regaliย sensazioniย trascendentali. Questo รจ,ย secondo me, quello che caratterizza al meglio la vera anima del ricercatore sonoro, ed io mi considero tra quelli,ย primaย ancora di un musicista.
In passato sono stato spesso additato da quelli che considero ascoltatoriย conservatoriย (per non dire ottusi), criticando la musica ambient o sperimentale come non musica. Questo รจ per me un giudizio superficiale e totalmente falso. Personalmente, credo che ogni musica che si rispetti รจ e deve essere fatta semplicemente bene. Quando รจ cosรฌ, allora รจ MUSICA. Parlando di ambient, si entra in un territorio vastissimo con un linguaggio che perรฒ non รจ per tutti.ย รˆย qualcosa che ti sfiora le corde da subito, di cui o ti innamori o ti irrita per la sua assenza di riferimenti. Ricordo che da ragazzino, quando ascoltavo altri generi musicali come il metal o il progressive, ero innamorato di alcuni intro di alcuni brani a tal punto che avrei voluto si ripetessero allโ€™infinito, a tal punto da trovare ilย continuumย di quei brani quasi un rovinare tutto quello fatto prima. Una forzatura e uno spreco.ย Finchรฉย non scoprii lโ€™ambient e fu amore a prima vista.
Ascoltare questo genere รจ come prendere la musica ed ascoltarla al microscopio,ย assaporandoneย ogni molecola. Cโ€™รจ un desiderio di minimalismo dellโ€™anima che porta a questo amore. รˆ un qualcosa di indefinibile a parole, inutile quindi proiettarsi in cervellotiche sfide eย suoniย di dibattito televisivo con chi denigra e critica questo genere. Molto spesso chi ascolta ambient ama e ascolta anche tanti altri generi mentre invece chi ascolta rock, metal o qualsivoglia altro genere si fossilizza esclusivamente su quel tipo di musica, senza mai cambiare prospettiva e guardando ilย proprioย mondo sempre dalla stessa angolazione. Che senso ha quindi discutere con loro? Come spesso diceva una persona conosciuta anni fa: โ€œinutile far rispondere un asino al telefono, tanto non ti risponderร โ€.ย Penso che questa descrizione renda benissimo lโ€™idea.

 

 

 

Le tissage des rรชves: Collaboration Album by Toร n & Francis Gri

I’m very happy to introduce my first collaboration with the French composer Toร n available now in digital and physical format.

When I approach a collaboration, I always feel a mix of curiosity and fear. Working remotely, it’s not easy to communicate your thoughts with your collaborator, and often the risk of misunderstandings or tensions can lead to ruining the simple initial idea of blending your musical worlds together.ย 
In recent years, I’ve been fortunate to work with people who share the same way of experiencing music, and I must say that this new collaboration with Anthony Elfort is part of this positive trend. “Le tissage des reves” is the first collaboration with the sound of Toร n, whom I got to know by publishing his album Phonolite for Krysalisound in 2022. I consider Anthony one of the most talented musicians I have met so far, with an ability to create musical collages of infinite beauty and extraordinary compositions, and I feel extremely honored to have had the chance to enter his world.ย 
It’s an album of a dreamy nature that blends electroacoustic, ambient, jazz, and electronic sounds in nine medium-length tracks to accompany the listener to those delicate and suffused territories that only dreams can offer.ย 
I don’t know if there will be new chapters with Anthony in the future, but for sure, “Le tissage des reves” will remain for a long time among my most successful collaborations.

Release date: June 7, 2024ย 

– All music by Anthony Elfort and Francis Griย 
– Recorded between Cruguel (FR) and Milan (IT) in 2023-2024ย 
– Mixing & Mastering: Francis Griย 
– Artwork and design: FG

Valley of Languages: Collaboration Album by Xu & Francis Gri

It’s a pleasure to announce my first collaboration with the Italian composer Xu (project of Nicola Fornasari).
“Valley of Languages” will be released on May 18 by the English label Whitelabrecs.

โ€˜Valley of Languagesโ€™ is the brainchild of these two musicians who, despite having never met in person, found themselves sharing and understanding the same musical space; which became the inspiration for the album title and its concept. This album is not just a collection of songs; it’s a collaborative exploration of diversity and emotional resonance. It serves as a metaphorical meeting point where diverse musical languages and techniques converge, creating a rich tapestry of sound that transcends geographical boundaries. This album comprises six tracks, each a testament to the harmonious collaboration between two minds separated by distance, but united by a similar way of seeing and perceiving things. 

While in “Rockerilla”

A stunning review written by Mirco Salvadori:

Francis Gri รจ quel raro musicista che riesce ad esprimere il proprio sentire mantenendo sempre alta la soglia dellโ€™emozione in chi lo ascolta. La sua scelta nellโ€™osservare da sempre totale libertร  e indipendenza, lo colloca nellโ€™oscuro per molti Olimpo dei puri, un luogo in realtร  assai frequentato per chi di queste caratteristiche ha bisogno, lasciandosi andare in un ascolto parimenti unico e libero. Eno e Budd alle basi del suo gesto sonoro che in While assume le sembianze del diario, oggetto intimo e liberatorio, capace di tenere lontane lโ€™ansia e lโ€™angoscia degli accadimenti che segnano il nostro percorso, mantenedo aperta la connessione con ilย SOGNO.

Lull

I’m happy to share this little sound miniature called “Lull”

“Lull” is the first in a series of micro-albums that I will release in the future. The main characteristic of these works is to focus the essence of an album into the duration of an EP. Each track will be conceived as small musical haiku, compositional sketches aimed at the search for purity and poetry. I like the idea of โ€‹โ€‹working by enhancing the small, the little, and spontaneity, in a world where instead the exact opposite is desperately sought. “Lull” is a dedication to my daughter and her first months of life, when sleeping was still her primary activity. Thanks to anyone who desires to be lulled by this first sound miniature.