All things to be sent here:
MASSIMO RICCI
VIA AVICENNA 99
00146 ROMA
ITALY
EMAIL: touchingextremes (at) gmail (dot) com
WARNING: DO NOT DECLARE VALUES ON THE PROMO PACKAGES OR THEY WILL BE TAXED BY THE ITALIAN CUSTOMS AND RETURNED TO THE SENDER (WHO, TO ADD INSULT TO INJURY, WILL HAVE TO PAY FOR THE EXPENSES). ALSO, IF POSSIBLE, AVOID REGISTERED MAIL: PICKING UP A RECORD SENT VIA REGISTERED MAIL FORCES ME TO GO TO THE POSTAL OFFICE AND WAIT HOURS IN QUEUES JUST TO SIGN A MODULE.
Due to the increasingly huge amount of incoming materials, I regret to inform you that I can no longer guarantee reviews, so be advised: you send records in total awareness of the fact that they might be listened to after a long time from their receipt (months, or even years). This is definitely not a rule (I still manage to run reviews of something freshly pressed in decent time every once in a while) but a growing probability. By now it is even difficult for me to remember if a record has been received or not when I am asked. We’re talking 20-to-30 promos received per week, and I’m only writing in the little spare time I’m left with by a pretty complicated daily life. Please be patient and understand that this is a one-man, near-impossible-to-maintain venture. One thing you can be sure of, though: I have no preferences in terms of “label’s prestige”, “illustrious friendship” or similar bullshit. I am the one who decides when a writeup is ready to go online and, more often than not, it depends on pure chance and/or my will of giving equal exposure to those who deserve it.
Regarding promo downloads, I strongly recommend to avoid them, for I tend to forget those files in the “to do” folder, not to mention the constant technical difficulties and waste of precious time related to this operation. I understand that the economy is tight for everybody and saving on postal charges is necessary; nevertheless, a non-review of a download is a strong probability, unless I decide differently in particular circumstances.
Also, “synthesis” has now become a keyword, more than ever. If a record is not genuinely worth the effort, seeing more than 150-to-300 words about it here will be difficult. And those words will mostly deal with how the stuff sounds, purple prose or not. When 800 (or more) words are used to rehash an artist’s career, blather about circumstantial facts (“insight”, as someone would have it) or obsessively describe every single fart, that review is a useless one for me. If I need to learn about an artist/record’s background, I go googling. From a music writer, I want to know how a record essentially sounds via a well-written, possibly concise report (examples: Dan Warburton, Brian Olewnick)
Older (but still valid) instructions here.
