After the success of volume 1 (2020), the label run by Simona Faraone and the Roman collective Kuro Jam relaunch with Kimera Mendax Volume 2 Double EP, a limited edition double colored vinyl (300 copies) that consolidates the “disco-graphic” collaboration between the two realities (NIM / Kuro Jam Recordings).
The record accompanies the release of the final chapter of the homonymous cyberpunk comics saga and represents its original soundtrack.
Kimera Mendax is the title of the debut graphic novel of the team Kuro Jam, composed by the artists Enrico Carnevale (Inkiostro, Markosia), Mattia De Iulis (Marvel), Giulia D'Ottavi(Manfont), Stefano Garau (Editions Glénat, Mondadori), and by the screenwriter Gianluca Pernafelli.
The comic tells the story of a group of rebels who, from the underground of an esoteric Rome of the future (2048), struggle to neutralize the KX bio-operative system, a sort of invasive and all-encompassing social network, to which humanity is connected through robotic appendages. Vinyl records are the instrument of struggle for the “disconnected”: they try using music to awaken the natural human vibrations, atrophied by the massive use of technology. The final battle is a spectacular and liberating “sonic tsunami” in the heart of the Eternal City, a journey for the eyes... and the ears!
On the pages of the two volumes, there are tributes and quotes to Gurdjieff, Aphex Twin, Giordano Bruno, Lory D, and the underground rave culture of the early 90s, with a particular reference to the London scene.
In continuity with the EP KM vol.1, eight Italian musicians with different sensibilities were involved to make their interpretation and sound reinforcement of the story. This time the tracklist is truly cinematic, spanning across the four sides of the two colored vinyl records - on the labels, we find the two alchemical principles of Salt and Sulfur, in addition to Mercury that was used for the label of the first EP - flowing in 8 acts without solution of continuity, enriched by a Prelude and 4 Interludes that draw on the noises, music, and voices of the city of Rome.
The A Side begins with the Prelude, where a robotic voice introduces us to the KX bio-operating system, but it's silenced by strange disturbing frequencies: the “antisystem” sonic journey can begin. The first track of the disc is Massimo Amato's rarefied and dreamy “Later That Night”, followed by the dissonant “Antimente” by visual artist Tiziano Lucci, preceded by the screech of seagulls flying over the city of Rome in the first Interlude.
The B Side opens with a track by Milan based producer Giona Vinti (Hyena), inspired by one of the key characters from the comic: “Talamo, o la Memoria”. The second Interlude transports us into the electro-futurist dimension of T / Error with the solid “KX2048”. The third Interlude closes the side with the announcements -partly sampled, partly reconstructed - of the roman subway, imagining that in 2048 there will be alternative routes, passing through the Colosseum station.
The C Side explodes with the massive “Cyb(Moth)er” by Mattia Trani, with his electro-alias 051 Destroyer, who gives us an electro-techno pearl with drexciyane shades inspired by the character of Falena. MA Spaventi dedicates his liquid and melancholic "Tevere (Somewhere in Rome)” to the river, an emblem of the Roman metropolis, which incorporates recordings of the tenuous city watercourse.
In the D Side, we reach the emotional climax of the soundtrack. The brothers Fabrizio and Marco D'Arcangelo, masters of the IDM / Braindance scene, are inspired by the epic and kaleidoscopic battle of the latest comic strips for their glowing "Dive Reverse Universe Edit". The fourth Interlude is dominated by the distant melody of an accordion - the magic touch, here as in the oud of Interlude II, is provided by Greek musician Maria Arampatzi - which anticipates the theme of the only proper "song" of the record, "Orizzonti Perfetti". The song, co-produced with Halfcastle and masterfully interpreted by the powerful and unmistakable voice of NicoNote, lends the definitive missing piece to an articulated, complex, ambitious..., and a little crazy musical and visual project: the first original soundtrack of a graphic novel!
The record is a new, colorful, unmissable collector's art object, made precious by the gatefold cover signed by international star Elena Casagrande, Marvel and DC Comics designer - 2021 Eisner Award winner for her “Black Widow”! - and conceived as a maxi comic composed of boards signed by the artists of the Kuro Jam collective.