De Gennaro, Matthew

De Gennaro, Matthew

Fireflies

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A colorful world emerges from Fireflies, the latest & most distinct statement yet conjured by Matthew De Gennaro. Everyday moments, from the mysterious to the joyful to the still and most points in between, are traversed in this set of shifting stories (mostly wordless). Echoes of Reiko and Tori Kudo, Bruce Langhorne’s The Hired Hand soundtrack and Souled American tether the otherworldly compositions to our plane, if only slightly. De Gennaro’s own personal micro-orchestra of arcane sounds—augmented on Firefles by past collaborators Jameson Sweiger and Scott Tuma and draped in artwork by Scott Macleod—have rarely sounded as spry or stark. And as with all of his records, Fireflies rewards attentiveness with rippling beauty.  Matthew De Gennaro has been active on the margins for more than 25 years, composing and home recording out-of-time works centered on arcane instruments and crumbling equipment. His first forays into public consciousness and consumption were the works he produced in tandem with Alistair Galbriath, issued by Corpus Hermeticum, Emperor Jones and others. The Michigan native relocated several times in recent years, and has finally resettled in rural southern Indiana, where his quietly prolific streak continues.

De Gennaro, Matthew

Laughing Lost In The Underground

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Matthew De Gennaro goes to gothic country with his wry, intense soundtrack of temporary isolation in Kansas, Laughing Lost In The Underground. This new collection of songs find De Gennaro glinting at darkness, light, and the in-between. Laughing Lost leans less on De Gennaro’s plaintive Andean-indebted folk songs, and more on salient instrumentals that shift and dance, bridging the natural world with humanistic ruminations.  Laughing Lost In The Underground was created in the reclusive De Gennaro’s home studio, set on the edge of town, as close to wilderness as civilization. Though crafted with an array of arcane instruments and otherworldly sounds, the ardor and vitality of De Gennaro’s recordings resonate in the present moment.

De Gennaro, Matthew

What It Is?

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Wandering homebody Matthew De Gennaro has created a beautiful new opus titled What It Is ? The answer to the album's question: a moving set of deep and transcendental micro concertos, composed and performed almost entirely by the artist himself. De Gennaro summons sounds and styles from out-of-time frames of reference, a practice that separates him and his practice from most other known active performers. That said, a few active performers (friends) join him on What It Is ?, namely Scott Tuma and Stefan Neville, both adding new flavors to the pot.

De Gennaro, Matthew

Conversation With A Roadside Skull

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Matthew De Gennaro is a deep listener & composer of unclassifiable esoterica that draws on folk music from around the globe. In recent years, his finger-picked, highlife imbued guitar playing has taken on more prominence in his pieces, and there’s been a proliferance of personal story songs as well. Ever present is his gorgeous, otherworldy viol, and melodies from an arcane organ or two. There’s no one out there quite like him, and Conversation with a Roadside Skull provides further proof of this. Joining Matthew on organ for one track is long-time friend and collaborator Scott Tuma. Enjoy the short ride.

De Gennaro, Matthew

Spark + Flame

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***A glorious state of the union delivered by MATTHEW DE GENNARO. Long a denizen of greater Ann Arbor, MI, De Gennaro rose to cult notoriety following a string (pun intended) of collaborative releases with Alastair Galbraith. With “Spark + Flame,” De Gennaro volleys an ode for his lovely bride; a love song sung by a changed & grateful man. On the flip is a cascading organ & keyboard driven piece, “La Chirapita,” that's downcast and hopeful all at once. The limited 45 is tied together with brilliant psychedelic art by JOSH BURKETT and assembled to resemble the 78s that fill De Gennaro's music room.