Porcelain Raft

Porcelain Raft is Mauro Remiddi's main music project. The New York-based musician began his long, prolific career in Italy, the place of his birth, playing for small, local projects. After composing the original soundtrack for the 1997 Italian short-film La Matta dei Fiori,[1] and collaborating and touring the world with various bands, Remiddi launched his first solo recording project under the moniker Porcelain Raft, and in 2010 released his first solo EP Gone Blind with Acéphale Records. In 2011 he signed with Secretly Canadian and released the debut Porcelain Raft full-length record Strange Weekend which peaked at #33 on the Billboard Top Heatseekers Albums chart.[2] Permanent Signal, Porcelain Raft's second album was released on Secretly Canadian in August 2013.[3][4]

Porcelain Raft
Also known asMauro Remiddi
Born1972
Rome, Italy
GenresAlternative rock, indie pop, indie rock
Instrument(s)vocals, guitar, sampler, loops, keyboard
Years active2010-present
LabelsSecretly Canadian
Acéphale Records
Volcanic Field

In June 2015, Porcelain Raft released the five-track Half Awake EP via Volcanic Field, Remiddi's label. The EP was available digitally and via limited edition cassette tape.[5]

Mauro Remiddi

Remiddi reportedly began experimenting with music when he was ten years old, playing his grandmother's piano and making make-believe radio programs on a small tape-recorder.[6] He began touring around Italy when he was 20, playing accordion with a klezmer trio. Although he held other jobs to support himself, sometimes doing sound engineering or playing piano in hotels, he continued to tour Europe, and when he was twenty-seven he moved to London. From there, he continued to work with other artists and to tour as the lead vocalist, 12-string guitarist, and sometimes-drummer of Sunny Day Sets Fire,[7] a 5-piece rock band. In 2000, Remiddi spent three months in New York playing piano for an Off-Broadway show, and after spending 12 years in London, performing with rock bands and collaborating with visual artists, he traveled back to the city for the annual CMJ music conference, met his wife, and moved to Brooklyn two weeks later.[8]

2010 to present

In the first year and a half of working as Porcelain Raft, Remiddi self-released a handful of singles and EPs on Bandcamp, put out his first official EP with Acéphale, and began playing local venues as a solo artist. The live shows, for which only one other musician, Michael Wallace (drummer) joined him onstage, featured music from Strange Weekend. In 2011, The New York Times featured Porcelain Raft in a review, describing the sound of one show at the New York venue the Mercury Lounge as an updated form "of shoegaze pop, the spacier side of new wave, contemplative indie rock."[9] In 2012, Porcelain Raft performed two exclusive live-sessions for MTV HIVE[10] filmed a "Take Away Show" for La Blogoteque, and was featured on NBC NY's Non-stop Sound. Consequence of Sound included "Strange Weekend" in a list of 2012's most anticipated albums.[11] The Guardian featured Porcelain Raft as "New Band of the Day" on September 27, 2010 [12] and in November of the same year gave Remiddi another feature in the "First Sight" series.[13] In January 2012, The Boston Globe included Porcelain Raft in their Arts section "annual roundup of artists to keep an ear out for in 2012."[14]

In 2015, Remiddi moved to Los Angeles and started his own label, Volcanic Field, which released the EP "Half Awake" followed by his third album "Microclimate".[15] In 2020, Remiddi self released Porcelain Raft's fourth album, "Come Rain".[16] The title track "Come Rain" was featured in the 2022 documentary "Sam Now", directed by Reed Harkness.

Strange Weekend

Upon relocating to New York, Remiddi immediately began to record Strange Weekend, inspired by his new environment. He describes the record as "a snapshot of [himself] being in New York, in a basement.”[17]

Track listing
  1. Drifting In and Out
  2. Shapeless & Gone
  3. Is It Too Deep For You?
  4. Put Me To Sleep
  5. Backwords
  6. Unless You Speak From Your Heart
  7. The End Of Silence
  8. If You Have A Wish
  9. Picture
  10. The Way In[18]

Critical reception

In February 2012, Pitchfork named “Unless You Speak From Your Heart” Best New Track.[19] The A.V.Club wrote “Assembled in a Brooklyn basement, Porcelain Raft’s debut Strange Weekend has this DIY aesthetic, but tolerates no defects in presentation. Italian native Mauro Remiddi’s solo project is built on meticulously constructed and delicately polished dream-pop soundscapes, delivered with urgency and momentum.“[20]

Permanent Signal

On June 19, 2013, Porcelain Raft announced their second record,[21] Permanent Signal, would be released August 20, 2013. A month later, the first single, "The Way Out," was released as a self-directed visual stream by Mauro Remiddi.[22]

Discography

Albums
  • Come Rain, Not On Label (Porcelain Raft Self-released), 2020
  • Microclimate, Volcanic Field, 2017
  • Permanent Signal, Secretly Canadian, 2013
  • Strange Weekend, Secretly Canadian, 2012

EPs
  • Half Awake, Volcanic Field, 2015
  • Silent Speech, Secretly Canadian, 2013
  • Gone Blind Remixes, Acéphale, 2011
  • Fountain's Head, self-released, 2011
  • Big Orange Studios 5/31/2011, Daytrotter, 2011
  • Gone Blind, Acéphale, 2011
  • Ghosts of the Perfect Language, Sixteen Tambourines, 2011
  • Despite Everything / The Wall, Transparent, 2010
  • Collection of Porcelain, self-released, 2010
  • Curve, self-released, 2010

Singles
  • "Think of the Ocean," Secretly Canadian, 2013
  • "Drifting In and Out," Secretly Canadian, 2012
  • "Unless You Speak From Your Heart," Secretly Canadian, 2012
  • "Come As You Are (Kurtvana cover)," self-released, 2011
  • "Tip of Your Tongue," Acéphale, 2010[23]

References
  1. “Porcelain Raft - Music Biography, Credits, and Discography” Archived 2013-06-24 at the Wayback Machine AllMusic Jason Lymangrover. 2013.
  2. “Billboard Heatseeker Album Chart” 11 February 2012.
  3. "Porcelain Raft's 'Think of the Ocean' Signals Sumptuous August Album" Spin Kyle McGovern, 19 June 2013.
  4. Cohen, Ian. "Porcelain Raft: Permanent Signal". Pitchfork. Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
  5. James, Malia (27 April 2015). "Porcelain Raft announces Half Awake EP, shares "All In My Head"". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
  6. "Catching Up With Porcelain Raft's Mauro Remiddi"Out Magazine 24 January 2012.
  7. "Sunny Day Sets Fire" 2009.
  8. “The Worldly Mauro Remiddi Finds His Place as Porcelain Raft” Archived 2013-07-29 at the Wayback Machine “Blackbook” Jeremy Gordon. April 9, 2012.
  9. "Seduction, Sometimes With A Shout" New York Times Jon Caramanica, 26 September 2011.
  10. "Porcelain Raft MTV News Updates". MTV. Retrieved 2013-08-09.
  11. "2012 Album Guide"Consequence of Sound 11 January 2012.
  12. "No 875:Porcelain Raft" The Guardian Paul Lester. 27 September 2010.
  13. "First Sight: Porcelain Raft | Culture"The Guardian 25 November 2010.
  14. "12 Acts to Listen For in '12" The Boston Globe 22 January 2012.
  15. Bennett, Kim Taylor (27 May 2015). "LISTEN TO PORCELAIN RAFT'S WOOZILY WONDERFUL NEW EP, 'HALF AWAKE' IN ITS ENTIRETY". Noisey. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
  16. "Come Rain".
  17. "Porcelain Raft Shows Off His Mostly Brilliant Self for "First Take" MTV Hive 18 July 2012.
  18. "Check Out: Porcelain Raft - 'Unless You Speak From Your Heart'" Consequence of Sound. Alex Young. 10 January 2012.
  19. "Porcelain Raft: "Unless You Speak From Your Heart" Pitchfork Larry Fitzmaurice. 13 February 2012.
  20. "Porcelain Raft Strange Weekend" The A.V. Club Chris Mincher, 24 January 2012.
  21. "Permanent Signal described as far more organic" Spin. Kyle McGovern. 29 June 2013.
  22. "Porcelain Raft Is Tripping (Way) Out In His New Visual Stream of The Way Out" Filter Magazine. 11 July 2013.
  23. "Porcelain Raft Profile". Discogs. Retrieved 6 August 2013.
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