F:A.R.

F:A.R. (Final Alternative Relation) emerged from Savona, Italy, in 1980 and quickly became an important name in the country's early industrial and post-industrial underground. The project was founded by Mauro Guazzotti, who would later become better known through his long-running project MGZ. Although the lineup changed several times over the years, Guazzotti remained the driving force behind every stage of the band's evolution, shaping its sound, visual identity and independent approach.

 
The group's earliest releases appeared on cassette, the preferred format of the experimental underground at the time. Guazzotti also established his own label, Technological Feeling, to release the band's work and support a network of like-minded artists operating outside the mainstream. Early tapes such as 'Duello Sul Cervello', 'Final Alternative Relation' and 'Lust' introduced a collage-based sound built from tape manipulation, found recordings, electronic textures, percussion and fragments lifted from television, radio and everyday life. Their methods reflected the influence of industrial pioneers as well as the cut-up ideas of William S. Burroughs, blending noise, rhythm and spoken word into unpredictable compositions. 

As the decade progressed, F:A.R. expanded their palette without abandoning their experimental roots. Their first LP, 'Da Consumarsi Con Grazia' (1985), mixed concrete sounds with operatic voices, surreal conversations and unconventional song structures, creating an album that shifted constantly between playful absurdity and darker industrial atmospheres. The follow-up, 'Presto I Topi Verranno A Cercarci' (1987), pushed those ideas even further, combining repetitive percussion, electronics and performance-oriented concepts into what many fans regard as the group's defining statement. Their final studio album, 'Passi Uguali' (1990), placed a stronger emphasis on vocals and lyrical expression while continuing to explore unusual arrangements and sound design. 

Live performances were just as important as the records. Rather than playing straightforward concerts, F:A.R. treated the stage as a multimedia space where music, theatrical elements, spoken passages and visual experimentation came together. This approach helped establish the band as a distinctive presence within the Italian industrial scene, standing alongside other artists who were exploring the boundaries between experimental music, performance art and electronic composition.

 
By the end of the 1980s, Mauro Guazzotti had already begun developing MGZ, a project that gradually moved away from the darker industrial sound toward a more synth-driven and surreal style. F:A.R. came to an end in 1990 after the release of 'Passi Uguali', but renewed interest in Italy's underground experimental scene led to a series of archival reissues decades later. Collections such as 'Mechanics & Music – Nastri '81–'85' and 'Il Mito Dei Vinili Parlanti – 1985/1990' brought together the band's cassette recordings, studio albums and previously unreleased material, introducing their work to a new generation of listeners while documenting the evolution of one of Italy's earliest industrial projects.