Italian avant-garde and jazzcore legends ZU are celebrating the exclusive vinyl and digital release of their long-lost 1996 record "The Lost Demo" via Subsound Records today.
"Given the ability to absorb and incorporate an exhilarating variety of musical styles into their material, it is not surprising that Zu often sounds like a hundred bands in one although the way they piece together their wild sonic jigsaw is unique to them alone." - Pitchfork
Listen to "The Lost Demo" album in full at this location
Since their inception in 1995, ZU has released over 15 albums, played thousands of shows across the globe, and collaborated with the likes of Mike Patton, Thurston Moore, Steve McKay, The Melvins, Mats Gustaffson, Dälek or Eugene Robinson. With their common ground remains their love for NoMeansNo and The Ruins, ZU vigorously defies genre boundaries and unswervingly follows their own creative vision while injecting anything from metal, noise, prog, ambient to electronic soundscapes, tape manipulations or acoustic cello the trio of Luca Mai on sax, Massimo Pupillo on bass and Jacopo Battaglia on drums forms a Big Bang of influences successfully dragging the listener into a lifetime odyssey through the confines of contemporary music...
After two years of intense rehearsals, this tape was the first demo they sent out. The cassette circulated around so much that ZU themselves no longer could find a copy, until recently when one mysteriously reappeared, intact and still perfectly listenable: which, digitalized and mastered, becomes now, 25 years later, "The Lost Demo".
The album was recorded and mastered by Giampaolo Felici, mixed by Giampaolo Felici & Zu, and remastered by Andrea Secchi at Forward Studios. The artwork was designed by Andrea Sermasi. It is available in extra limited and limited colored vinyl editions, black vinyl and digital via Subsound Records.
Zu "The Lost Demo"
Out June 14th on Subsound Records (LP/digital)
Bandcamp order - Shop order
TRACKLIST:
Side A
1. Villa Belmonte
2. Cane Maggiore
3. Shin Jin Rui
Side B
1. El Nino
2. Film Nero
Zu is a strange beast. Officially born in Ostia, near Rome Italy in 1997 but active even before in other projects, the band has released more than 15 albums and played thousands of shows throughout the planet, gaining a cult status worldwide. Genre-defying and boundary-blurring, Zu has evolved a unique musical language following their own personal path. Parts of metal, noise, prog, electronic music, ambient, industrial, and contemporary music, are transformed and reshaped in their unique form, resembling none of the above. In the last 20+ years, they have collaborated with a wide array of artists, from their famous collaboration with Mike Patton on their Carboniferous album, to acclaimed theatre director Romeo Castellucci and his Societas Raffaello Sanzio. They have released albums on labels such as Ipecac Recordings and (Ulver-curated) House Of Mythology.
The list of their collaboration is endless, from Joe Lally of Fugazi, King Buzzo of The Melvins, David Tibet of Current 93 (releasing an album in 2018 as Zu93), FM Einheit of Einsturzende Neubauten, to Thurston Moore & Jim O' Rourke of Sonic Youth, Damo Suzuki of Can, Steve McKay of The Stooges, Mats Gustafsson, as well as members of The Ex, The Locust, etc. Individual members have played with artists such as world-famous piano duo Katia and Marielle Labeque (with an album on Deutsche Grammophone), soprano superstar Barbara Hannigan, composer and electronic music pioneer Alvin Curran, but also Stephen O'Malley of Sunn O))) and Oren Ambarchi, Thighpaulsandra (Coil), only to suggest an idea of the vast scope of their sound exploration. Since 2014, they have released an experimental trilogy on the House Of Mythology label curated by the band Ulver.
ZU is
Luca Mai - Alto Sax
Massimo Pupillo - Bass
Jacopo Battaglia - Drums
ZU links
Website⎜Facebook⎜Bandcamp⎜Instagram⎜Youtube⎜SpotifySUBSOUND RECORDS links
Website⎜Facebook⎜Bandcamp⎜Instagram⎜Youtube
