Giardini Di Mirò / Giardini Di Miro

One of the first Italian indie bands of the 2000s to gain some attention abroad, post-rockers Giardini di Mirò formed in Cavriago, near Reggio Emilia, in the second half of the 1990s. Their first self-titled EP was self-released in 1998, followed one year later by the Iceberg EP on Gammapop. By then the lineup was comprised of guitarists Corrado Nuccini and Jukka Reverberi, Mirko Venturelli on bass, keyboardist Luca Di Mira, and Lorenzo Lanzi on drums, often helped by collaborator Emanuela Reverberi (violin, trumpet). After signing with Homesleep, Giardini di Mirò released their first album, Rise and Fall of Academic Drifting. Considered by many critics as one of the best Italian debuts of the period, the record showed a band openly influenced by post-rock acts such as Godspeed You Black Emperor! and, most notably, Mogwai, but extremely able to create interesting and sonically adventurous soundscapes. The only two proper songs on the album were sung by guests Matteo Agostinelli (from Yuppie Flu) and Tram's Paul Anderson. The Soft Touch EP and the remix collection The Academic Rise of Falling Drifters followed in 2002. Released in 2003,Punk...Not Diet! was a more song-oriented work, thanks to the contributions of singer Alessandro Raina. Guests on the record — which was also released in Germany by 2nd Rec — included Christian Kleine, Styrofoam, and Nitrada. Released in 2004, Hits for Broken Hearts and Asses collected the first two EPs along with tracks recorded during the same time period, while 2006's North Atlantic Treaty of Love included both new tracks and remixes, and was released first on two separate 12"s and then as a CD. In the meantime, Francesco Donadello had replaced Lanzi on drums. In 2006 Nuccini released his first solo album, Matters of Love and Death, and so did Di Mira, whose debut — under the moniker Pillow — was titled Flowing Seasons. Dividing Opinions was released in January 2007. With Raina no longer in the band, vocal duties were shared by Reverberi and Nuccini.