Chris Ianuzzi
Olga in a Black Hole
(Satellite Symphonics)

New York electronic symphonic composer and songwriter Chris Ianuzzi presents his new 3-song EP Olga in a Black Hole, the first taste of new music we’ll be hearing on his upcoming full-length album Planetaria.

The title tracks opens, pushing us out into the far reaches with blips, far-off telemetry-like synth bleats, weird smacks, and low grumbles…at least at first. It’s a scary metallic brew that rises in a metallic beat that meets an explosion about halfway through and throws us out into the weird, and at times, wholly discordant. Sure, Ianuuzi is having fun here, but he probably could have ended this one sooner; his point is made by the seven-minute mark, I feel.

“Hello” grooves with a robot beat and a roomy bass line, getting us into some neat percussion and a real song. The simple floaty synth atop it all is a perfect counter to the lower stuff, and when things get going, we get all kinds of sounds slipping in and even a sampled vocal. Damn, there is even a piano here! This tune, I really dug.

“Fork,” is pretty much a swirly (and scary) atmospheric jumble with low big single note synths plodding in to create a stomping tearing beat. Every so often, Ianuzzi cuts in with arpeggiated higher runs, but again I’m not sure what’s being said here.

Surely Ianuzzi is a singular talent who knows his landscapes. In all fairness, Olga in a Black Hole is just a taste of what I imagine the man can, and will, deliver.