A digital nomad's journey in music, politics, and travel writing.
Discover the world through my eyes, Alex Franquelli, a digital nomad and seasoned writer. My portfolio is a diverse tapestry, from insightful album reviews and live reports to deep explorations of Asian politics. Complementing this is my travel blog, Van Alien, which offers a window into my adventures on the road. Each piece is a narrative interwoven with personal experiences, showcasing a life enriched by curiosity and a passion for storytelling.
Featured reviews
Portfolio
Andy Stott - “Too Many Voices”
This is everything but a claustrophobic piece of sonic art. On the contrary, this is Stott at his best, a composer whose futuristic music is well-rooted in today’s world.
Lewis Pesacov And Wild Up: “The Edge Of Forever”
Lewis Pesacov’s music carries a rare and delicate voice in today’s contemporary classical music.
Denovali Festival @ London (UK)
Two evenings of experimental and daring music transport festival-goers at St John-at-Hackney and Kings Place.
Jodie Landau - “You Of All Things”
You of All Things re-elaborates without overturning or, worse, overdoing.
Exit Verse – “Exit Verse”
One can’t help but being drawn in by the output, rather than the method, by the pure creative act, instead of the artistic potency
Avvenir - “Glyphs”
An overall homage to three decades of glitch make this record one of the most interesting electronic debuts of the year.
Kangding Ray – “Cory Arcane”
Forget the minimal techno you have known so far, because Kangding Ray has managed to manipulate the very essence of the genre to combine the raw (the glitch) with the refined (the melody).
Dan Trueman - “Nostalgic Synchronic”
The notes slip into unpredictable colours, the moods change in a rapid display of pleasant precariousness, but the sound remains rooted to a core that is unchanging and easily identifiable throughout the record.
Sunn O))) + Phurpa @ The Southbank Centre (London, UK) 18.08.15
This is an uninterrupted, dynamic journey to the purity of sound, to decomposition, rather than its opposite, to the destruction of music in the search of silence
Sun Ra & His Intergalactic Research Arkestra – “Planets Of Life Or Death: Amiens ’73”
Afrofuturism and retroactive joys dominate this special Record Store Day release.
At Folsom Prison – “Every Dream And Every Crisis Means The Rise”
Nervousness and talent make the band’s third album a brilliant departure point from which to venture into unknown territories.
Polar Bear - “Same As You”
You of All Things re-elaborates without overturning or, worse, overdoing.
Tristan Perich – “Parallels”
Minimalism, purism, discipline are the three components that make up Tristan Perich's music and this album in particular.
Zu - “Cortar Todo”
It roars, dilutes, squeals, shrieks, pulsates and squawks. Welcome to the world of Zu.
Contretemps – “Pronouncement”
Distressing, awkward, disturbing and almost upsetting, this aura of discomfort, if combined with the sound of the term itself (|ˈkɒntrətɒ̃|) is the essence of the music presented by Joel Ebner.
John Supko And Bill Seaman: S_Traits
This is chance over method: a real post-industrial display of art born out of an immediate flow of ideas, immortalised onto a disk, assembled by the very negation of art that is genuine calculus and roughly adjusted by man
The Sharp Things – “Adventurer’s Inn”
A band at the peak of its career, one which appears to be happily unsatisfied, yet chronically inspired by melancholy.
George Harrison: The Apple Years 1968-75
Listening to the entire production on offer here means delving inside an artist's trajectory. Naivety, genius and clever pop.
Smallgang - “San”
The main discriminant between a bluff and the worthwhile is quality, and Smallgang have plenty of it.
Match & Fuse Festival: 3 October 2014 (London, UK)
Did I know the No Hay Banda Trio before I stepped into Rich Mix in sadly up-and-coming Shoreditch? Yes. Was I at all aware that Clare Savage and Bellatrix were hiding a monstrous talent in their minute figures? I do now.