Alessandro Cortini (Blindoldfreak, Sonoio, Skarn, & other projects)

[paul_guyet]

My thoughts exactly. Red and Blue just grab you from the start and suck you in.

I actually had time to sit on this record and spin it a few more times last night, it grew on me quite a bit. It's a solid record from beginning to end, as in, I can get through the whole thing without skipping anything, but I still feel it's just kind of "background music", I tried listening to it on my way to work on transit yesterday and it didn't work at all. It was too soft/slow to drown out noise. It's one of those records that works in a certain type of setting. Needs to be quiet. You need to be relaxed, focused. Doing some general reading or browsing. I had it on repeat last night and it was great. Just a different type of record.

Question for @paul_guyet - or anyone else on here that reviews music - Do you base your review off of 1 listen, or do you listen to it for a week and digest it before giving a review? Just curious how music reviews work, because I know with myself, my opinion of music changes after a couple listens. I don't feel like I would be a good reviewer based on only listening to a record once. I am usually quite harsh on a record after the first listen. And that's when you know you have a good record. A good record, to me, is one that doesn't quite sit right with you upon first listen. I find that if a record sounds great right away upon first listen, usually that means the record is going to get worse or stale as time goes on. Not sure why that is, but that's usually how it goes with me. The records I disliked upon first couple listens, are some of my favourite records ever.

It depends on how much time I get with the album before the review is due. If I can't spend enough time with it, I make sure to mention that. Usually I want as many listens as possible to see if things strike me differently over several plays. My first listen is almost always focused; good headphones, no interruptions, etc.

[neorev]

I love the new album!

[Lerxto]

I'm no expert on the Italian language, but wouldn't that be "Fin", with an accent of some kind in there and no e at the end? Or am i thinking of the French version of the word?

Fin is the French version, Fine is the Italian (more well known and used worldwide) version.

[|mando|]

My favorite tracks so far are ... almost all of them!
If I had to choose the top - Left, Vitamin D, Bad Habit, Under the Sea, What's Before. Hell, the entire second half.

When Thanks For Calling first premiered in 2014, I was pretty lukewarm on it, and I was the same way before I had heard the rest of Fine. The context and atmosphere of the album make the song better than it was before, it's great. I'm glad he included it.

[Harry Seaward]

I thought it was a musical term, meaning the end. Of course it's Italian.

Alessandro has lived in America for a long time and is no stranger to the English language. It seems silly to assume that he wouldn't grasp how the title to an album called "FINE" would read, whether his primary intention was to reference the Italian or musical theme or whatever else.

This album might take me a bit to try out. I liked RED and BLUE a lot, but modwheelmood in particular still has a very profound effect on me. I discovered them at an incredibly tumultuous, soul destroying period in my more formative years and that melancholy tone that flows throughout those records stuck with me just as much as the chaotic, hateful NIN I was self-medicating with concurrently. Most of the music I listen to is associated with one memory or another, but modwheelmood is one of only a few things that can always have such a visceral nostalgic gut punch for me.

Puscifer's Conditions of my Parole was also released while I was in jail during a vacation turned wrong in monsoon-season Arizona during a summer of peak alcoholism, living (being trapped) with the person to blame for the previously aforementioned hell-scape of a time. So that record is also a... doozie. Not that anybody asked. But hey, Alessandro was featured on that record as well so it's on topic!

[Lerxto]

Alessandro has lived in America for a long time and is no stranger to the English language. It seems silly to assume that he wouldn't grasp how the title to an album called "FINE" would read, whether his primary intention was to reference the Italian or musical theme or whatever else.

Of course, it's just my two cents. (Hopefully) Reasonably so since this is the final sonoio album.

After listening to this record a few times I think I prefer Avanti. He's much better when he does ambient stuff nowadays.
Fine is a proper swansong to the sonoio project, though.

[BRoswell]

This is actually a really dark/depressing record when you really let it sink in. I guess it's appropriately titled "fine" for a reason. Like saying "Everything's Fine. Don't worry" even though it's not.

For the most part it is, but I think it ends optimistically. He (whoever he is in this scenario) has managed to leave his pain behind by the end of the album, at least if "I Don't Know (Coda)" is any indication.

As far as the title goes, I definitely feel like it's meant to have a double meaning. Most of Alessandro's recent albums have had Italian titles, so I can see why he went with that. I also feel like there might be a slightly tongue-in-cheek third meaning behind it. People asked him for the third album for so long that he just said "fine" and finished it in order to move on.

[neorev]

Of course, it's just my two cents. (Hopefully) Reasonably so since this is the final sonoio album.

After listening to this record a few times I think I prefer Avanti. He's much better when he does ambient stuff nowadays.
Fine is a proper swansong to the sonoio project, though.

I love Avanti, but think his Sonoio work is so much better. He really shines melodically and structurally with Sonoio. Don't get me wrong, I love his instrumental work, but Sonoio is his strongest project and Fine is his strongest album. I find a lot more emotion in his Sonoio material. I would love him to find a balance of the two. I don't see why something like Avanti and Fine wouldn't fit together and have the best of both worlds within a single album.

His Sonoio stuff makes me wish he had a lot more contribution in Nine Inch Nails material. Not just performing some synth parts, but actual songwriting and back up vocals. Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, and Alessandro Cortini would make one fucking strong team in the studio if they worked on material from the ground up. Dear Trent, get this guy in your band in a more permanent position. If Alessandro wants to retire Sonoio, he could put his Sonoio skills into NIN.

People will probably lose their shit over this next comment...
I enjoyed Fine much more than Bad Witch and had a much bigger emotional response to it being an end of a trilogy.

[Shunt]

Fin is the French version

And the Spanish one.

[implanted_microchip]

The title felt like a triple entendre -- fine as in okay, fine as in finished, and FINE as an ironic, aggressive statement in the middle of an argument before the door gets slammed in your face. I've given it a few listens now and I love it. It's got all the vibes of the first two albums with a deeper and moodier feel to it overall. It feels like a lot of this is coming from a personal and painful place and I can understand Alessandro not feeling eager to focus on those things much anymore, but I'm happy we got this out of it. His vocals feel more confident without having lost what makes them unique, a lot of the music dives into an almost depressed lullaby feel, and it works fantastically as a final statement for this project.

For a project whose title literally means "it's me," it fits perfectly that these albums would be so personal and intimate and I think that this record overall picks up the threads that Scientist/Just Me ended on and explores them in a more distanced space. If he wanted to I think Alessandro could have this be a fairly big deal but it's almost better that it's destined for some level of obscurity -- having something so intimate stay a little underground can be a good thing and can create a stronger sense of connection over time. The overall tone of this album feels like someone exasperated and done with everything they've been dealing with and getting ready to just move on in some way, shape or form. The cover of him alone in a depressing hotel hiding his face with all of his work scattered on the floor and the word "FINE" on a TV felt really evocative and intensely sad when I saw it and it fits the album so well. If Blue and Red are working up to and into the guts of depression, this feels like being completely exhausted by it.

I can't rank these albums but all I can say is that I love them all and am happy he finally put this out to give some closure to the project, it works wonderfully as a three act piece of art this way and his work has had an impact and been such an inspiration on me in ways I could never thank him for properly.

[TinDefacto]

I love this album. I think it may be my favorite of the trilogy, though it's hard to tell. It's definitely pretty different, even if it was recorded not too long after the others, and I was surprised to hear some chimes and even guitar on there! It seems like everything has been getting more and more layered and turned down on average with each release, and more intimate, and I really like the progression. I'm so glad he finally released this beauty.

[Piko]

Haven't heard much of Fine yet. Just now hearing Forse 1. Good stuff. From what I've heard of Fine matches up pretty much with most of what I've seen mentioned here.

[neorev]

Damn, is there really no way to buy Red or Blue albums anymore?

[Piko]

Damn, is there really no way to buy Red or Blue albums anymore?

ITunes. Pretty sure I saw them there. Physically, no idea.

[neorev]

ITunes. Pretty sure I saw them there. Physically, no idea.

Sorry, I meant physically. If it is available digitally, I would want lossless audio. Personally, I avoid Apple, plus they only offer lossy, but thanks for the info.

[Volk]

I've listened to this about 10 times since it released. It's fantastic.

[gamecat235]

https://twitter.com/blindoldfreak/st...830031360?s=21

Alessandro confirmed that track 99 is only available on the CD.

[burninglard]

I am still waiting for my cd of FINE to come in the mail. Tracking says it will be here Thursday. I am excited. It upsets me that I pre-ordered the album 6 weeks ago and it didn’t come quicker. I guess I won’t be ordering directly from Dais anymore unless that’s my only option for a release of something I want.

[neorev]

https://twitter.com/blindoldfreak/st...830031360?s=21

Alessandro confirmed that track 99 is only available on the CD.

Wait. The CD has a bonus track?!?!?! Fuck me! I bought the digital

Is it like a full on track? Not just some noises or weird outro thing?

Ugh, this kills me! Now I have to get that CD for the track. I need it in lossless. Please lord, don't sell out like Blue and Red because I can't buy a copy until the 15th of August.

[gamecat235]

Wait. The CD has a bonus track?!?!?! Fuck me! I bought the digital

Is it like a full on track? Not just some noises or weird outro thing?

Ugh, this kills me! Now I have to get that CD for the track. I need it in lossless. Please lord, don't sell out like Blue and Red because I can't buy a copy until the 15th of August.

I created an entry on Discogs for the release. It’s a nearly 8 minute long repetitive piece (no vocals). It’s quite pretty... And I imagine it will get out eventually. However, since it wasn’t mentioned anywhere, I wanted to go straight to the source, and then share the knowledge. The 99 track thing was cute. LOL.

[neorev]

I created an entry on Discogs for the release. It’s a nearly 8 minute long repetitive piece (no vocals). It’s quite pretty... And I imagine it will get out eventually. However, since it wasn’t mentioned anywhere, I wanted to go straight to the source, and then share the knowledge. The 99 track thing was cute. LOL.

Still gonna kill me having to wait weeks until I get my hands on the CD. I fucking love this album, so any more music from this project is awesome. I would have just bought the CD instead of the digital.

[gamecat235]

Still gonna kill me having to wait weeks until I get my hands on the CD. I fucking love this album, so any more music from this project is awesome. I would have just bought the CD instead of the digital.

It was a shock to discover that the cd had 99 tracks, and there was a hidden track after. I’ve loved the entire project since inception and still kick myself for not buying a SuONOIO. I literally only got the cd so that it would match the other cds I already have.

This trilogy is magical to me. My phone has had sonoio sounds for everything (ring, notifications, alerts, alarms)... something about this sound which is recognizable as this project resonates with me. So I understand. I’d be in the same boat were I you.

[ManBurning]

SONOIO turns out to be the Nine Inch Nails you can take home to your parents

https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums...ocial_facebook

[neorev]

https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums...ocial_facebook

That review is bullshit and I fucking hate Pitchfork. Honestly, they have the worst reviews ever written and shit taste. They praise some horrid stuff. Plus they keep comparing Alessandro to Trent Reznor. Alessandro and Trent are nothing alike just as Sonoio and NIN are pretty far apart style-wise. Just because the dude plays keys in the band doesn't mean you have to compare everything he does to said band. It's like, "I Googled and read Trent toured with David Bowie once, let's compare every NIN release with Bowie."

[BRoswell]

https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums...ocial_facebook

That review gave me a headache...and maybe a venereal disease.

[BRoswell]

[ManBurning]

That review is bullshit and I fucking hate Pitchfork. Honestly, they have the worst reviews ever written and shit taste. They praise some horrid stuff. Plus they keep comparing Alessandro to Trent Reznor. Alessandro and Trent are nothing alike just as Sonoio and NIN are pretty far apart style-wise. Just because the dude plays keys in the band doesn't mean you have to compare everything he does to said band. It's like, "I Googled and read Trent toured with David Bowie once, let's compare every NIN release with Bowie."

Yeah, I kept questioning why on earth the reviewer keeps comparing him to Trent/NIN as though he has more of a say in NIN than playing live... not very good on the reviewers front to do that.

[BRoswell]

The U2 comparison is what really got on my nerves. It's not because I hate them, but how in the fuck do you compare something as tense and intimate as this to arena rock?

[TinDefacto]

https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums...ocial_facebook

What the... what?! SONOIO's music doesn't have anything to do with NIN. I could understand a one-off comparison, like "Compared to Nine Inch Nails, of which he is a touring member, SONOIO's music is much more/less...", but spending the entire review like that makes no goddamn sense. And "arena rock"? Really?! Where??

Grr.

[roolfdriht]

Damn, is there really no way to buy Red or Blue albums anymore?

I came here with exactly the same question. Surprised to see there aren't even second-hand copies on Discogs. Frustrating...