Sensual richness
The collaboration between Mario Marchisella and João Orecchia has resulted in «Antitopèia», a sound cosmos that is as bold as it is inviting.

To avoid the danger that the inevitably lengthy introductory explanations could ruin the pleasure of listening: Antitopèia offers an incredibly dynamic and atmospheric blend of global influences and local performance, bringing us its experimental boldness with a lot of warmth.
At its core, the band The Sea Around Us consists of the Zurich drummer, multi-instrumentalist and composer Mario Marchisella and the Italian-South African clarinettist, bassist and synth specialist João Orecchia, who currently lives in Marseille. The two met in Johannesburg in 2008, when Marchisella was staying there as part of a Pro Helvetia residency with his life and work partner Marianne Halter - the two are involved in video and other art installations. They quickly recognized a «kindred spirit», which subsequently led to all kinds of other projects in South Africa and Switzerland.
Now the creative exchange has finally found expression in an album. The work began with a week-long meeting in Marchisella's Zurich studio. The daily, hour-long «jams» were all recorded and then - back at home - combed through separately for promising passages.
At a second meeting, they supplemented selected original recordings with additional instrumental parts and electronic arrangements. Now they felt the need for more ingredients. The vocal artist Saadet Türköz, the word performance artist Gilles Furtwängler and the violinist/electronic artist Magda Drozd each spent half a day in the studio and responded to the sound material presented to them with their own contributions.
Not least thanks to a South African-influenced bass carpet pad, resolute drums and atmospheric synth stabs, these pieces are almost carnal in their sensual richness.
The Sea Around Us: Antitopèia. Mario Marchisella, Drums, Guitar, Piano, Bass; João Orecchia, Bass Clarinet, Synthesizer, Bass. Guests: Magda Drozd, Violin, Electronics (1, 2, 3), Saadet Türköz, Lyrics & Voice (2, 4), Gilles Furtwängler, Lyrics & Voice (1, 6). Digital and vinyl. Audioscope/Irascible
