The Italian Jazzcore Geniuses, who have already swung the ship with Mike Patton! Zu returns to the ship in the best form of their life!
The Čakovec-based trio Zagušljivi dim (“The Suffocating Smoke”) finds inspiration in the worlds around and within us. Their music is a mantra-like musical journey, aimed at exploring the wondrous, the eerie, the unknown, and the mysterious. "Smoke" in their name signifies fluidity and elusiveness, echoed in their continual genre-shifting approach: the band constantly oscillates between psychedelic rock, krautrock and spoken word, incorporating experimental, post-punk/post-rock and ethno/folk influences, crafting their albums into cohesive musical narratives.
The band lineup features Aleksandar Dolić (bass guitar, percussion), Martin Geček (guitar, keyboards), and Nikola Švenda (drums, percussion). In 2019, they released their debut album, “Kranjecovi krugovi pakla” (“Kranjec’s Circles of Hell”, produced by Mark Mrakovčić), a 53-minute instrumental piece characterized by oriental, psychedelic, and hypnotic soundscapes. The album is layered with symbolism and conveys a philosophical statement, clarified in its introductory monologue. Zagušljivi dim has also created music for numerous theatrical productions and plays, including the soundtrack for “King Lear”, performed by the Dada Drama Studio of Pinklec Theater Company.
With their original line-up (since 1997) of drums (Jacopo Battaglia), bass (Massimo Pupillo), and saxophone (Luca T. Mai), the trio from Rome, Italy gradually developed into their current form of highly intricate, experimental, metal/math/no-wave/free/noise/punk/jazz inspired work, breaking from the narrow confines of given music genres, and incorporating a wide array of influences into a unique sound.
Driven by a “Black Flag” work ethic, Zu have played the astounding number of over 1000 gigs all over Europe, America, Canada , Asia, Russia, and even Africa, and have released 14 albums on such labels as Ipecac, Atavistic, Frenetic, Red Note, Public Guilt, Headz (Japan),etc.
Talking of previous recordings, “Igneo” was enginereed by Steve Albini at his Electrical Audio. “Radiale” was recorded by Bob Weston , and went into the polls of NYC Village Voice.
Zu have always been curious and open to collaborations with a vast number of great musicians as: Mike Patton, The Melvins, Dalek, The Ex, Peter Brötzmann, Hamid Drake, Ken Vandermark, Alvin Curran, Nobukazu Takemura, Damo Suzuki, Eugene Chadbourne, Mats Gustafsson, Han Bennink,Paal Nilssen-Love, Fred Lonberg- Holm, Joe Lally (Fugazi), Altered States , Amy Denio, Steve MacKay ( The Stooges! ), etc. , and shared tours and stages with : Fantomas, Lightning Bolt, The Ex, Ruins, Dälek, NoMeansNo, Vandermark 5, The Thing, and many more.
