I’ve written about Marco Lucchi before, and I was pleased to find that Webbed Hand, a netlabel I highly recommend, have released a collection of his tracks from a multimedia performance which took place in 1999.
Tantra à l’usage des anges is an exquisite collection of ambient pieces, with varied instrumentation and vocals. If you judge them at face value, you might easily miss some of the more interesting qualities of these recordings. Yet they evoke quite emotive responses at times, as well as stillness and tranquility as you may assume the title implies.
Tantra à l’usage des anges stands up strongly next to many of the recent release on Webbed Hand and other prominent netlabels. And if you’re a fan of electronic music, which is generally the stock fare of current netlabels, you might enjoy the change.
A central part of this performance was a dance by Alassandra Dallari, which represented the “mudra” alluded to in the title. Here is an explanation of the dance and the poetic texts by Maulpoix, as explained by Marco Lucchi:
“Alassandra Dallari - although you cannot see or hear her - was the mudra - the mudra symbolizes the motive of desire as it is intended in the tantra contemplation… you can imagine an almost acousmatic performance… Alessandra appeared in the middle of the multimedia performance wrapped in a long plastic sheet that she unwrapped along a ten minute slow dance while wrapping the audience with it… at the end of the unwrapping she remained for a second completely naked, just for a second, in a dark blue light.