Review of The X Discography
By Gilbert Lachance
The X, an Italian duo formed in early 2011 by Luca Ascari and Stephanie Lapertosa. Even though The X is a recent project, both members of the band are not new to the music industry. Stephanie began as a soprano at school in 1988, then directed her attention to jazz, which shows in some of the songs that The X have composed. In 2010 she released her first solo album, ‘’Dreaming Is Also Fly’’. With The X, she brings a captivating voice which plunges the listener into a dreamy mood. Luca Ascari is the composer, arranger and musician of the band. His career in music began in the 1980’s, but really took off in the 1990’s when he began a project with a new band named Segura Coisa, by trying to merge the original spirit of tribal rhythms from African sounds with those of northeastern Brazilian. Around 2000, in turned his research with solo projects more oriented toward jungle, drum’n’bass, electro, etc., with a project called Khallàs, in which he was singing in Italian. Finally, The X began in 2011 with a first album called ``Marie: The Dark Age of Reason``.
I had only heard about The X recently, and didn’t take the time to really explore their music. So to complete a thorough review, I received 4 folders containing lots of music of varied styles. One, containing different collaborations with many artists. Two, the new album, "Transmutation". Another containing remixes made by Black Project. With the final containing tracks made in collaboration with Ul2raviolet. Already being familiar with Ul2raviolet through his collaboration with Delta Pavonis.
The first batch, the single tracks & collaborations, contains the most varied types of music. The jazz orientation of Stephanie shines in these songs, especially in "Boom Bop", "You’re So Light" and "Diamonds Ecstasy". The latter being one of the best of everything I have heard from The X. A song using snippets from the James Bond movies. Another great one is the remix by Black Project of "Six Feet Under". A track that is more dance floor oriented, but very effective. Where "Changing With a Little Shot" is a quiet song, perfect around a martini with Stephanie’s voice twirling around your senses.
Transmutation, as said earlier, is the most recent EP put forth by The X. The ambient sound of The X is very apparent in this album. All 6 Tracks from this EP are excellent. They made me think a bit about The Orb at times. Especially on the track "A Wrong Cluster of Truth". the track "Sonogram" and the fore-mentioned "A Wrong Cluster of Truth" are not to be missed. Shining as the best tracks on an already well received EP.
The Black Project remix tracks, are remixes of tracks from Transmutation. Black Project gave them the techno dance treatment. For some it works fine, but for others like "A Wrong Cluster of Truth (Hardstyle remix)", I would definitely prefer the original version. Really an ear of the beholder remix there. Then on the track "Russian Dolls", the remix works wonderfully and adds a new dimension to an already good track." The Womb Beat Refixx" is another example of this.
The last folder contains the album "Luminescence", made with Ul2raviolet. As Ul2raviolet does the same type of ambient music as The X, this collaboration is top notch. "The Womb Beat" is really sounding like the best of The Orb’s music, and it’s quite a compliment to say that with conviction. "Mechagism (Interstellar hypnosis)" is one of the best tracks. With another version of this track surfacing on the Square Peg in a Round Hole vol. 3 Compilation, just out a few weeks ago. "Solidarity" has separate versions, one ambient and the other a drum and bass track. Both done well in their own right. The best of this bunch, are by far "The Womb Beat" and "Sonogram", which is more rhythmic.
Enjoy music by The X Pleasure
All in all, The X are very varied in styles of music. Going from ambient jazz to techno to deep ambient. If you like to discover new bands this one is a must hear. If you take the time to have a listen, you’re in for quite a nice journey in sound.
The X links:
ReverbNation: http://www.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/
Soundcloud: http://soundcloud.
Gilbert Lachance is the on-air host
of From One Extreme To Another
("D'un extrême à l'autre")
heard Monday nights at Midnight
here: http://chuo.fm/
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