Video/track from the next album, Aviation, released March 2024
Olivetti discography with track lists
My good friend Marakas released his second album. Really good and highly recommended. Listen and buy!
Interview with Conny Olivetti
Info regarding the compilation of songs made together with Linnea.
the music of Conny Olivetti 
I have been listening to this album on and off for several weeks now, and what is clear is that each new release from Conny is an improvement over the last; that each feels like a refinement of previous releases. Your music continues to amaze and delight. Long may it continue.
Thanks Simon!
He is getting better isn’t he ? More adventurous with every release . I spent a lot of time with this album because he has stretched out and began to believe in his ability . Keep up the good work mate , we love you man.
Thanks Jim!
Not like ordinary ram-a-lam-a-ding-dong.
Ok, being a Luddite I can’t work out where to place a review of the album before this one – New Pop (Another Kind of Friction) – so I’ll put it here:
Wow! The lad gets better and better. That’s not to say previous haven’t been robust (they have) but this one is a masterpiece – my fave so far!
From the opening track the pace, atmosphere and layered musical texture are stunning. There is no better way to start an album than with the gorgeous layers that sound like Tangerine Dream – Edgar would be proud. The influences are clear (into Cluster) but Conny is able to put his indelible mark on every track that makes the sound his own unique sound. Delightfully seminal.
Forst Revisited is stunning – Ralf & Florian would die for this – just lovely metronomic and sweet as a nut!
Playback in der Fabrik has a stark industrial sound that at times is chilling – very atmospheric and very Faustian. Heavy and scary – well done – you’ve got the balance just right.
Waterfront is a 10 minute epic! Kraftwerk, YMO eat your little hearts out – absolutely stunning! ‘Neon Lights – shimmering Neon Lights’ (and as good!). This is class. Real class. I love the simplicity.
Fragment cluster – is that a pun?! That Faust feel again – just like Playback – stunningly industrial – a great noise and delicate too – a great juxtaposition.
Technic would fit perfectly on Karftwerk’s Radioactivity – not a steal, not a copy but Conny Unique – beautiful! Beautiful! To my ears full of angst and tension – I’m on the edge of my seat for this one!
Common European Rot – I was listening to YMO’s BGM yesterday – this gem reminded me of the feel of that album – I love the spores/entropy reference – everything returns to dust. This track transmits that message.
New Pop – a nod to the titles of Kraftwerk – a delightful track to close a stunning album.
Well done Conny – this for me, is your best – JUST PERFECT!
Robust? Seminal? I think so.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOF!!!
INCREDIBLE!!
.
“Discomfort With Benefits” starts off with the quite atmospheric “Inherit The Stars”. Even with a pulsing kick back beat, it manages to keep the ambience and atmospheres flowing. Moving next to “Cafes And Bars”, seemingly a nod to very early Human League. The keys, in particular give me that impression. “Interstellar Eclipse” is simply beautiful. A nine minute transformative journey through space and time. At times throughout this song, there’s an evident influence from the likes of Dome. At least to my ears. The closing track, “Transmission”, slowly builds to a climax and then gently toys with your mind a bit before closing this wonderful release.
My personal favorites on “Discomfort With Benefits” are “Schwa¨bischen Strasse”, with it’s layered, Kraftwerk-like keyboards and “Acoustic Telegraph”. A pulsing, yet ambient musical journey layered with voice samples speaking on such things as NSA hacking, secrets, zero-day exploits and so on. A brilliant piece of music.
As a whole, “Discomfort With Benefits” is more ambient/atmospheric than I was expecting. Bordering on experimental electronica at times. Trust me, that’s a good thing. There’s still some early Kraftwerk influences going on here as well. This release from Conny Olivetti is about as rock solid as you’d expect, especially if you’re already familiar with his work. If you are not familiar, I urge you to get familiar. You surely won’t regret it.
Review of Music/Emotions/Harmonic/Frequencies
This the first album by Conny that I have really had to work at to appreciate the music. It is, for me, less accessible than many of his earlier albums. Perhaps because the themes of the album are more abstract than the political narratives that featured on his last few albums. There seems to be a ghost in the machine motif, most notably with the use of synthesised or computer generated speech. The majority of the found human voices, apart from Bowie that is, which I assume to be in German add a darker tone to those tracks.
Musically the tracks are either pulsating and metronomic synth sounds or played in a chiming style. Arithmetical Operations is trance like and even has a dance vibe to it. For me, this is the standout track, especially when others on the album sound quite dense and foreboding.
As always, I look forward to the next release!
Hej, Finns den på CD eller CD-R? Mikael
Hej Mikael. Menar du EMM, senaste albumet, så finns det några ex kvar / Finns du på Facebook? kan fortsätta dialogen där om det är ok / mvh Conny
https://www.facebook.com/mikael.hakansson.96