Phil Maggi, member and active vocalist of different decadent and esotericcombos (ULTRAPHALLUS, IDIOSYNCRASIA, EVE AND THE SICKNESS) is anextravagant noisicist improviser and a dronist loop-maker composer since2003.
He recorded and worked on a few mini-albums and EP's -all previouslyunreleased today- and became the second protagonist of IDIOSYNCRATICS RECORDS(first compilation including KK NULL, CHARLEMAGNE PALESTINE,RAPOON, JAZKAMER, DANIEL MENCHE, TROUM...in stores now.), a disorganisedcollective, founded by Yannick Franck, his long datecompatriot.
LUCILIA CAESAR (90 cd-r * HyRe006)
Hyperblasted Recordings
Mastered by James Plotkin
Phil Maggi is the vocalist for a killer Belgian noise rock band calledUltraphallus, who we've yet to carry here at C-Blast but will hopefully rectifythat in the near future - they've got a raging blown-out Am Rep/Unsane/Geisha thing going on that is damn heavy.It looks like Maggi's got some creepy horror movie soundtracks floatingaround in his skull as well though, which have materialized as this new soloCDR that was just recently put out on the Hyperblasted label. Packaged in asilkscreened 4-panel chipboard case, mastered by James Plotkin(Phantomsmasher/Khanate/Khlyst/OLD) and limited to a mere 90 hand-numbered copies, Lucilia Caesar is a sinister soundworld of minimalistdrones, heavy doomed piano notes decaying in the night air, snippets oforchestral music taken apart, cracked and then stitched back together intodeep breaths of scraping symphonic dread that cycle over and over again,distant ur-drones piercing a veil of witchy violins. I checked it out, and foundout that the disc takes it's name from the greenbottle fly, which is agruesome looking creature in it's own right, and that realization just adds tothe sense of decay and corruption that seems to seep through Maggi'srepetitious compositions as they unwind endless loops over shadowy terrain,in a manner not all that unlike the Basinski-esque blackened ambience ofSor'chenn.CRUCIAL BLAST RECORDS
The work is, alternatively, very direct to the point conceptually.The simple repetitions achieve what you have in mind.A smokey, haunted, rarefied work of conceptual minimalisms.To my ears, this is the soundtrack to the ghosts of an old, infamousorchestral hall -perhaps mysteriously gutted by fire- .A place where the cries of fractured chords heard to various degrees ofabstraction still hum in the ashes centuries later.Plotkin's mastering is flawless per usual and the objective is achievedadmirably.BEN FLEURY-STEINER
Phil Maggi - Lucilia Caesar(Hyperblasted HyRe006)CDRPhil Maggi, at least according to the accompanying press sheet, is a busy little beaver, being a member of 3 groups as well as releasing this his first album of solo works. It's a good listen too. Utilising samples from a variety of contemporary classical recordings alongside his own sounds and a variety of indeterminate voice samples Maggi is actively and methodically constructing a reality designed to his own specifications. A little overly repetitive in places and with an atmosphere that is almost unrelentingly dour excludes this from being something that I'd choose to listen to everyday but for the most part it's an intriguing piece of work that just needs the addition of that little missing something extra (maybe varying the ambience) to push it into being compulsive listening.(hyperblasted.bravehost.com)
CONTINUUM - THE PRIMITIVE (50 cd-r * HHH93)
FF HHH
Mastered by James Plotkin and Gregory Duby
DISCOGRAPHY/MUSIC HISTORY:
*The Land of Flow and Generosity -40 cd-r (Not Available) -February 2004---
*Memory is a sweet overdose EP -Previously unreleased -September 2004---
*Extravagances in Riviera Temple EP -Previously unreleased -September 2005---
*Narcissus Gold Moon EP -Previously unreleased -May 2006---
*Kobieta EP -Previously unreleased -September 2006---
*The Initials of Jesus Christ -50 cd-r (Not Available)- January 2007---YOUNG GIRLS RECORDS
*The Box of Breath Right Strips -December 2007--- AUR001(netlabel)
*Lucilia Caesar -90 cd-r- April 2008---HYPERBLASTED RECORDINGS---HyRe006
*Continuum - The Primitive -50 cd-r- May 2008---FF HHH---HHH93
*REALLY SOON* Blue Fields in Paramount (searching for a label)
