by Phil Derby - Electroambient Space - USA 2007

InTRO - ad21music

Bruno Sanfilippo’s music often is more cinematic than electronic, using synthesizers as a means of painting sound pictures for imaginary movie soundtracks.
His InTRO album is an excellent example of his signature sound, showing the depth and range of his talent. “InTROworld” starts the album off with a primitive, visceral feel that sounds half tribal and half Middle Eastern.
“InTROmental” is relaxed and introspective, very nice.
Each composition seems simple yet assured, and the titles hint at the intended picture, “InTROsacro” having a touch of the sacred, for example, with soft bells and trickling water. “InTROpiano” is self explanatory, a beautiful piece that may have inspired his follow up album Piano Textures (see review this issue).
The inspiration for “InTROvoices” is less obvious, as the predominant instrumentation is soft melancholy strings, and a similar, somewhat sadder theme follows in “InTROvisions.
” Pretty piano returns for “InTROpassion,” closing the disc with a classical or new age feel. Sanfilippo’s music is emotional and powerful.

InTRO - ad21music

Bruno Sanfilippo is an artist who is quickly developing a well-respected name for himself in ambient circles. With this in mind, the aptly titled "InTRO" is a great place to acquaint oneself with Bruno's talents. Made up of seven distinct pieces, "InTRO" presents a variety of styles and sounds that all showcase Sanfilippo's skills.
"InTROworld" opens the disc with a combination of eastern percussion and woodwinds. Voices, or maybe it's something else, play on the edges of the track, adding a mystical and engaging sound to the proceedings. A very impressive opening and a suggestion of things to come.
"InTROmental" follows, drone textured ambience oscillating through the soundfield.
There are some interesting layers here, each stacked one on top of the other, only visible with careful examination. It's an engaging track, one that begs further listening.
"InTROsacro" has a melancholy beauty to it, the sounds of wind and chimes and all manner of beautiful tones. Slight melodies float through the track, lightly hinting at a theme or an idea, small phrases just on the tips of tongues. Simply wonderful.
"InTROpiano" features lovely piano work set against a drone backdrop.
It's a fascinating blend of natural and unnatural sounds, a very effective meeting of sonic worlds. I imagine that this is a track that may well have inspired or at least influenced Sanfilippo's later release "Piano Textures" as it has a very similar flavor to it.
"InTROvoices" begins with a simple drone, building in volume and strength, eventually joined by the sound of a rainstorm and other sounds from nature. It's a beautiful example of spaces created through the use of sound and imagination, quite simple and quite effective.
"InTROvisions" blends in directly from the last track, a slight melody played through alien strings. Slight variations on the melody play as the track increases, giving it a feeling of being a living organism, slowly undulating underneath the sun's light. Very beautiful.
"InTROpassion" closes the disc, lovely piano and mournful strings overtop a quiet drone.
A delicate blend of sounds and feelings combining to create a full environment and space. Lovely work.
I've often thought that the mettle of an artist is proven in their ability to work equally comfortably in a variety of styles. With "InTRO", Bruno Sanfilippo has shown that he's capable of working in a number of different forms, moving easily between styles and sounds, showing an ear and an ability in all of the areas he presents here.
Certainly Sanfilippo's reputation as an artist to watch is well deserved, and I would cite "InTRO" as a fine piece of evidence to support that claim.

InTRO - ad21music

Bruno Sanfilippo blows all his previous releases out of the water with InTRO, a work of impressive imagination and virtuoso artistry on an assortment of electronic and acoustic instruments. One of the more original works in recent years, InTRO demands the listener's attention in order to reap the rewards of an emotionally satisfying listening experience as the artist explores a wide landscape of musical motifs. Frankly, this CD left me spent the first time I listened to it all the way through (which, by the way, I highly recommend you do).

"InTROworld" starts off with a bass-heavy sensual tribal beat, layers of electronic tones, and an assortment of ethnic instruments, such as what sounds like an erhu (an Asian string instrument) and what might be a duduk (a warm-sounding reed instrument popularized by the artist Djivan Gasparyan). The music throbs with primal energy and raw naked sensuality. At about the midway point of the nine-minute cut, it all starts to quiet down and morphs into a subdued subterranean/tribal hybrid with the drum beats eventually fading into the distance, replaced by the sound of falling rain.

"InTROmental" opens with decidedly Asian influences as bells and gongs are struck echoing and reverberating with a warm melodicism. Synthesizers playing a circular texture emerge from the background along with the familiar buzzing of a didgeridoo, but subdued enough so that non-fans of the Australian instrument can still enjoy this. A two-note refrain with a back-forth cadence to it anchors the track while ebbing and flowing synths and swirling keyboards fill the air with a heady dose of mysticism.

"InTROsacro" (co-composed by the ambient artist Alio Die) moves the album into a more conventional ambient soundscape of layers of electronic tonalities and reverberating effects. The mood straddles the boundary between neutral and brooding, but never crosses over into foreboding. At ten minutes, it is the longest track on the CD (although only one selection here is under six and half minutes long). Assorted bell tones, slightly abstract noises, some sampled ethnic chanting (faint and brief), twinkling synths and what sounds like chorals are added in later in the piece.

"InTROpiano" is a sparse, minimal, evocative and touching piano piece, with the instrument deeply echoed. Background electronic textures, not unlike the sound of gently rushing wind, and the sound of crickets flesh out the song.

"InTROvoices" has a dreamlike quality with soft synth strings, delicate bird song, and an angelic choir wordlessly singing a gentle and serene lullaby (with one brief moment of power and crescendo).

"InTROvisions" features a warm flowing melody played on synthesizers, decidedly electronic but also with a warm organic quality.
"InTROpassion" concludes the CD with a blending of piano with the duduk-like sound and an assortment of background electronic effects and tones. As the song progresses, female chorals are added to dramatic effect, as well as shimmering bell tones.

InTRO's original music and mixture of styles defies easy categorization. I hope the words above give you at least a glimmer of Sanfilippo's brilliant accomplishment. I also hope that open-minded ambient and new age music fans alike will give this album the recognition it deserves and not be dissuaded by its variety of moods or musical motifs. If you dedicate an hour of your time to immersing yourself in this CD, I think you will be as enthralled with it as I was. Highly recommended.

by Matt Howarth - Soniccuriosity.com - USA dec. 2006

InTRO - ad21music

This release from 2006 offers 54 minutes of engaging ambience.
Joining Sanfilippo on this recording is Alio Die on one track.
For the first track: softly drifting textures are augmented by dreamy strings and sedate percussives, generating a lush and pleasant dose of ambience.
Environmental samples enhance this soothing tuneage, contrasting the aerial violin
with placid rainfall.The next track is ushered in by wind chimes winding their way through
cyclic electronics breathing in tandem with didgeridoo.
The serene tones maintain a steady flux that excellently suits an introspective reverie.
The third piece wafts in on a shuddering breeze, orchestral airs vibrating in the distance
while fragile electronics lazily cavort in the foreground amid softly ponged bells.
Stately piano commands the next track, describing pensive chords in an ethereal fog of
wind-borne electronics. Relaxation becomes mandatory.
Heavenly hosts rise in the next track to meet a rain-swept wash punctuated
by pastoral zephyrs.
The next track employs singsong tones to achieve a contemplative milieu that is
as captivating as it is dreamlike.
The melody sways with tender intention, caressing the psyche with tendrils of sweet resonance.
Piano reappears for the final piece, waxing emotional and conspiring with persuasive soundscapes to achieve a sweeping return to externality.
A superb dose of ambience whose power is understated but vibrant,
evoking a series of entries into the inner mind.

por Edgar Kogler - Amazing Sounds - España dic. 2006

InTRO - ad21music

La música de Bruno Sanfilippo es una imaginativa combinación de elementos propios del Ambient Cósmico y otros de carácter vanguardista a veces cercanos a la Nueva Música Instrumental, cuyo resultado en este álbum es una agradable colección de piezas electrónicas sinfónicas, en una atmósfera propia de la banda sonora de un film de aventuras.
La música resulta ensoñadora, incluso onírica, con sonidos etéreos , texturas cósmicas y
una cuidada sensibilidad musical que hacen del álbum un vehículo idóneo para dejar volar la imaginación a través de mundos extraterrenales.

by Mike G. Ambient Music Guide - Australia 2006

InTRO - ad21music

Argentinean composer Bruno Sanfilippo already has eight albums to his name and, even though I've never heard him before, I sense a mature musician's poise and sense of craft all through this exquisite CD of tone colour ambience. A thin veil covers these melodies and impressions, unifying a quite varied sequence tracks with the soft-focus that "pure" forms of ambience always seem to have.
"Intropiano" sounds like a superior Budd & Eno moment. "Introvoices" suggests floating through a glowing nebula or standing on a mountain peak in the Himalayas on a pristine clear day. "Introvisions" sounds like a violin and cello making love in a very large cave. On "Introsacro" layers of bells, guitar delay, whistling winds and very subtle chants gel in such a magical way that it cuts far deeper than a mere impression of something sacred. Exactly what's electronic and what's acoustic on this album is difficult to tell and I'm sure an organic sound was Sanfilippo's intention. Many elements have a familiar old-school ring to them but what Intro proves is that nothing need sound cliched in the hands of the gifted. A sensual and memorable piece of work. Rating 4/5.

por Gustavo Bolasini- Retorno del Gigante Radio Argentina 2006

InTRO - ad21music

InTRO es el título de la nueva experiencia musical del talentoso y fino artista argentino radicado en España, Bruno Sanfilippo.

Se trata de una intrigante, atrapante y encantadora obra de concepto, repleta de belleza
y magia, que continua la línea de su anterior trabajo “ad Libitum”, profundizándolo y bifurcándolo hacia nuevos caminos estéticos.

Ya desde el étnico arranque “alla Passion” de Peter Gabriel, en la hermosa “Introworld” donde están latentes las reminiscencias moras de España en la música de Bruno, para dar paso sutilmente a “Intromental”, casi un viaje interior a la mente, con secuencias iterativas que resuenan modelando un eje por donde se desarrolla la música, a su alrededor.

El viaje continúa con “Introsacro” una pieza escrita por Bruno y Stefano Musso de
línea oscura, reflexiva, con espacios calmos casi en un mismo loop (leit motiv que se repite)
a lo largo del tema.

Luego llega otro pico del álbum, la fantástica suite “Intropiano” adonde las bellas líneas melódicas del piano se diluyen en ecos lejanos, volcando sensaciones melancólicas de grave belleza, que desemboca naturalmente en “Introvoices” en donde el piano es reemplazado por “voces de teclados” que interactúan con diversos ambientes apuntando a los sentidos.

“Introvisions” es otra lograda suite, con “llamadas musicales” como pinceladas que se superponen en un lienzo, finalizando la obra con otro pico, el logrado “Intropassion” otra hermosa línea melódica sumamente delicada interpretaba básicamente en piano, con eclosiones expresivas en medio de pasajes de gran calma, cerrando un trabajo que es una misma línea, como un viaje musical, un concepto, fascinante y bello.

Este trabajo se gestó en Barcelona, España en 2006, con Bruno Sanfilippo interpretando
piano, sintetizadores, samplers, varios instrumentos acústicos, ambientes y computadora.

Dice Bruno desde el interior del CD “El artista sueña y construye sueños, transforma lo imaginario en libre experiencia.
Trabaja allí, en el Intro del azul misterio, dejando volar su alma...”
Sin lugar a dudas el alma de Bruno Sanfilippo ha volado en gran manera para brindarnos este calmo y hermoso disco titulado InTRO.

by M.Christian Burcea- Journeys to the InfiniteRadio - Romania 2006

InTRO - ad21music

Bruno Sanfilippo make a visionary statement of such extraordinary beauty and diversity that it seems to have been conceived by a collective of gifted artists. Each track on his new album deliver a specific mood. InTRO is a subtle work of alchemical invocation which summons the inner worlds.
The soundscapes painted with piano (meditative piano playing a la Harold Budd), duduk, didgeridoo and electronic instruments will soothe, caress and lull you into feelings of extreme serenity.
Bewildering and beautiful by turns, this is one of those records that I can imagine still offering up new insights many years from now.

by Bert Strolenberg - E-dition magaizne The Netherlands 2006

InTRO - ad21music

The beautifully designed “InTRO” marks a new chapter in the nice organic ambient music of Bruno Sanfilippo, of which the impact seems to grow with every new release.
While listening, the seven tracks pleasantly go by as a dreamy, very relaxed journey. Its impact is strongly imaginative and cinematic, featuring nice piano interludes, great synthesizer pads, soft soaring sound textures and transparent soundscapes.
It all comes to a highlight in the closing track “inTROpassion”.
The outcome is an impressive 50 minute painting of both mental and emotional inner soundscaping.
Pure introspective beauty and a real treat for ears and soul. Well done Bruno !

by Synthtopia.com USA 2006

InTRO - ad21music

Sanfilippo claims the like of Wendy Carlos, Vangelis and Mike Oldfield as influences.
The music of Intro, though, is more reflective and ambient than these influences would suggest.

Sanfilippo describes the tracks on InTRO as soundscapes. Sanfilippo masterfully combines synthesizers, keyboard, environmental sounds and a variety of acoustic instruments
to create music that brings to mind the environmental soundscapes of Steve Roach
and the dark ambient music of Brian Eno.

The CD collects seven tracks. Each track's name starts with InTRO and then is completed
by a word or phrase that seems to relate to the track. InTROworld, for example, has a world music feel to it, layering pulsing synths with percussion and exotic string melodies.
InTROpiano, on the other hand, is solo processed piano, with synth and electronic effects accompaniment.

From the start, InTRO sets a relaxing, reflective mood. While each track on the CD has a
very unique feel to it, Sanfilippo maintains a consistent mood, which means the CD makes
an ideal sountrack for relaxing and thinking.

Eno has suggested that ambient music must be listenable as well as ignorable, supporting various levels of attention, and the tracks on InTRO are excellent examples of this idea.
While the music on InTRO is often beautiful, it doesn't have the glossy surface charm
of some new age music, but a deeper, mysterious attraction.

Highlights of the CD include InTROpiano, which recalls Vangelis Memories of Green and the
Brian Eno/Harold Budd classic, The Pearl; and InTROvoices, which uses wordless voice
sounds to create a choral and even orchestral texture.

Bruno Sanfilippo's InTRO is one of the finest ambient releases we've heard this year. It's not widely distributed, unfortunately, but is available via the AD21 Music site, where streaming previews are also available.

por Roberto Vales - Lostfrontier Radio España 2006

InTRO - ad21music

El artista sueña y construye sueños, transforma lo imaginario en libre experiencia. Trabaja allí, en el InTRO del azul misterio, dejando volar su alma, tan desnuda... Como su efecto...
Eso admirable, inútil e inconcreto". Estas son las palabras con las que Bruno Sanfilippo
presenta su trabajo. Y cuánta razón tiene.

Este disco supone precisamente eso, los sueños de un compositor hechos realidad,
sus ideas plasmadas en un soporte accesible para todo el mundo que se quiera
asomar a ellas, una oportunidad que no debemos dejar pasar.

Debo admitir una especial admiración por este compositor. Sus trabajos, desde la primera vez que tuve la oportunidad de poder escucharlos, nunca me han dejado indiferente, además de una anécdota a raíz de un tema suyo que siempre quedará para el recuerdo. Su música,
tiene esa virtud de saber transportarnos, de hacer volar nuestra imaginación hacia esos
lugares imaginarios que nos indica el compositor.

¿Qué es 'InTRO'? Pues es entrar en lo más profundo de sus ideas, en los orígenes de su música, pero en el fondo, no es más que un guía, que nos transporta a lo más profundo de nuestro ser.

Este trabajo es una paseo por siete "introducciones" como si de los siete pecados se tratara
y es que se convierte en un pecado el no disfrutar de este trabajo. Comenzamos con la InTROducción en el mundo, en lo más profundo de nuestro planeta, un tema que nos transporta a esos lugares lejanos que sólo podemos visitar con la imaginación.

Hay compositores que crean su música, Bruno Sanfilippo además nos InTROduce en ella con este disco lleno de sueños y esperanzas, un trabajo para degustar poco a poco, lentamente, mientras nos vamos sumergiendo en todas las ideas que nos va aportando nota tras nota, tema tras tema.
Hay pocos compositores capaces de trasladarnos a otros lugares con su música, a otras dimensiones, el mostrarnos esos paisajes imaginarios hechos realidad, Bruno Sanfilippo es uno de ellos.

by Paul Rijkens - Dutch progressive rockmagazine iO Pages Holland 2006

InTRO - ad21music

The Argentine multi-instrumentalist Bruno Sanfilippo who lives and works in Spain is a master
in creating certain atmospheres. In this way his music is comparable with that of the Spaniard Max Corbacho, with whom he has worked together. Where on his early albums elements of Medieval music, classical music and new age were mixed, his recent releases have a more deeper ambientfeeling, but some dramatics are still present. InTRO is his deepest album until now. The CD opens with a thrusting sequence, over which a cello puts down a warm solo. Though I wouldn't compare Sanfilippo's music at all with that of Klaus Schulze, the mood and sequence has some traces of his album Audentity. InTROmental is a wonderful intense piece
of music. It seems simple but a lot happens here.
On InTRO Sanfilippo varies long-stretched ambientsounds (like in InTROsacro and InTROvoices) with calm Harold Budd-like piano-imagesin InTROpiano and InTROpassion.
In a world where nowadays the amount of beats per minute seems most important,
the music of Sanfilippo is a relief. Therefore we must cherish this music.

De in Spanje wonende en werkende Argentijnse multi-instrumentalist Bruno Sanfilippo is een meester in het oproepen van bepaalde sferen. Wat dat betreft is zijn muziek vergelijkbaar met die van de Spanjaard Max Corbacho, met wie hij heeft samengewerkt. Waar in zijn vroege albums nog elementen uit de Middeleeuwen, de klassiek en new age samenkwamen, hebben
zijn recente releases een wat meer diepere ambientsfeer, hoewel een bepaalde dramatiek nog steeds aanwezig is. InTRO is zijn diepste album tot op heden. De CD opent in InTROworld met een slepende sequence waar overheen een cello een warme solo neerlegt. Hoewel in Sanfilippo's muziek absoluut niet zou willen vergelijken met die van Klaus Schulze, heeft de sfeer en sequence hier wel iets wel van diens album Audentity. InTROmental is een prachtig intens stuk muziek. Het lijkt op zich eenvoudig maar er gebeurt heel veel. Op InTRO wisselt Sanfilippo lang uitgerekte ambientklanken (zoals in InTROsacro en InTROvoices) met kalme Harold Budd-achtige pianosfeerbeelden in InTROpiano en InTROpassion. In een wereld waarin tegenwoordig het aantal beats per minuut het belangrijkst lijkt, is muziek van mensen als Sanfilippo een verademing te noemen. Muziek die derhalve gekoesterd dient te worden.

by Morpheus Music - UK 2006

InTRO - ad21music

STYLE
A mixture of rhythmic and beatless cinematic ambient.
Bruno Sanfilippo brings together a broad range of ethnic instruments, environmental sounds
and digital effects to develop his underlying musical structures here laid down with synthesisers, strings, bells, chimes and pianos.
Ambient zones, soft and faint build into harmonious passages where melody can be dominant, clear and tuneful or at times understated - simple motifs rolling over humming drones.
There are introspective piano lines that reverberate against sonic breezes - curling, unhurried bars of dreamlike music, blissful and quite beautiful.
There are airy pads and meandering mists and hazes of sound - crisp percussives or droplets disturbing the smooth surfaces. The final track is a delightfully wistful piano piece with an eastern pipe dolefully entwining the main theme - truly emotive and achingly heart-rending.


ARTWORK
Sepia imagery covers the outer panels of this CD jewel case - uncertain montages, small photographs overlaid upon an indistinct figure - shadows and bright lights. Track titles are on the reverse in a simple elegant font. The inner booklet contains a monochrome portrait of the artist on stone steps and recording details and credits. Behind the CD is a dual language portion of text expounding the project in poetic language. A coil of copper wire sits in the frame of the jewel case - delicate and ornamental - a nice touch of individuality.

OVERALL
This series of seven contemplative compositions further explores Bruno Sanfilippo's interest in the unfettered possibilities of dreams. Each piece has a title beginning with the letters InTRO - InTROvoices, InTROpassion, InTROvisions ... There is a collaborative piece with Alio Die (Stefano Musso) InTROsacro which can also be found in a remixed form on Alio Die's The Flight of Real Image. Serene and otherworldly - InTRO has moments of haunting weightlessness, pools of comfortable warmth. In general an inviting and harmonious album that draws the listener into restful reverie - on into emotional swells and wonderfully indulgent quiet melancholy.
.

by Thierry Moreau - France - July 2007
InTRO - ad21music

Bruno Sanfilippo est compositeur Argentin vivant en Espagne qui s'inscrit
aux carrefours de multiples influences, on peut évoquer les noms de Steve
Roach/Jorge Reyes, Harold Budd, Laraaji/Eno, Klaus Schulze et David Darling.
Son univers est très emprunt de sensualité teintée de mélancolie.
Ses compositions intègrent avec une homogénéité rare une palette de sons, de timbres,
de séquences, de sources instrumentales world. Déployant avec une savante
alchimie des climats propices à l'introspection, la musique de Bruno Sanfilippo
dégage une charge émotionnelle vibratoire qui va au delà d'un quelconque
effet racoleur.
Le piano prend des couleurs lunaires et crépusculaires, les arboresences et
autres réverbes en suspension créent un halo qui n'est pas sans évoquer le
meilleur de Harold Budd ou Robin Guthrie (Imperial et Mysterious skin).
"InTro" explore une varité de climats mais sait rester cohérant jusqu' à la
fin du disque. Alio Die (Stefano Musso) compositeur ambient italien est venu
apporter sa contribution sur "InTrosacro". C'est tout un univers qui se
déploit avec délicatesse..
Une pierre précieuse dans un monde musicale si formatée...