RECORD TURNOVER 80s HITS #226
Maurizio Bianchi or M.B. was an Italian experimental musician based in Milano. He began to making and releasing music in 1979, initially on his own via very limited cassettes. About 13 or so came out in 1980, with electronic music somewhere between ambient and early industrial experiments. Bianchi became religious and withdrew himself from the music business. Much of his work is sought today by collectors, especially as they appeared in extremely small editions.
Apparently, Bianchi had regular correspondence with Merzbow, SPK, Nigel Ayers of Nocturnal Emissions and William Bennett of Whitehouse during this time. Subsequently he found religion and disappeared from the world of music (which had hardly known him) for about 15 years. He returned in 1998 and now has over 300 releases registered on discogs.
Regel was his first vinyl release, I think, released as an LP on his own label Mectpyo Sounds in 1982. At the beginning of this year it was reissued by the new label Oblio and called ”the first ever fully remastered vinyl reissue”, although there seems to have been a previous vinyl reissue in 2012. It’s the first ever release on this label, so I’m very much looking forward to seeing what’s next for them.
The LP contains two side-long tracks, with the b-side being calmer and more drone-based. Italian Tape Archives have added several of his tape releases on their channel, check them out if you dig Regel. Here are a couple from the British label York House Recordings.
