Exposé print issues (1993-2011)
Fabio Anile — Minutiae
(RareNoise no#, 2026, CD / LP)
by Peter Thelen, Published 2026-04-04
You’ve probably seen his name listed in the credits of numerous releases: The two albums by Fractal Sextet, Stephan Thelen’s Worlds in Collision and Fractal Guitar 2 and subsequent remixes and Fractal Guitar 3, plus he also appeared on a couple albums by Pensiero Nomade in earlier years. Anile is also known as a pioneer of looping and field recording experiments going back to the mid-90s, participating in the Looper’s Delight Community and other groups devoted to such endeavors, and also released a couple digital albums on the Laverna label between 2011 and 2017. A collaboration with Stephan Thelen Music for Piano and Strings appeared as a privately released CD in 2023, but Minutiae is his first ever solo release on physical medium. The seven tracks of Minutiae, an album that was ten years in the making, can be divided into two parts: The first five cuts feature the core trio of Anile on piano, rhodes, sampled marimba, percussion etc., along with string bassist Keith Lowe and drummer Agostino Marangolo. Track five, “More Than Twelve,” features an electric guitar solo from Michael Peters, while tracks six and seven feature even more guitar — the former “Planet Nine” with Samuel Hallkvist, the latter “Shifting Trains” with a full complement of guitarists from Fractal Sextet: Stephan Thelen and Jon Durant, plus Bernhard Wagner from Sonar, and electric bassist Fabio Trentini, who has played with Markus Reuter on the Truce series of albums. If one appreciates the company Anile keeps, then one will surely love this recording — most tracks are characterized by odd and shifting rhythms not at all unlike the Fractal series works, with a couple exceptions like “Foglie Morte” with its almost chamber feel, and the impossible-to-dance-to “Dance” which features that sampled marimba through most of its duration, plus some of the most complex rhythms imaginable. Opener “Compás” doesn’t do a lot for the first thirty seconds or so, but then slowly begins to reveal itself over the remainder of its eight minute duration as a nod to the rhythmic complexity of flamenco styles. But more than any other, it’s the ten-plus minute “Shifting Trains” (co-written with Thelen) with all of its guitar power that’s likely to leave a lasting first impression. Minutiae is superb album that should pique the interest of any music fans interested in rhythmic complexity.
Filed under: New releases, 2026 releases
Related artist(s): Stephan Thelen, Jon Durant, Fabio Trentini / Moonbound, Fabio Anile
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