The United States of Alchemy represents a profound international artistic exchange bridging avant-garde electronics, modern classical structures, and poetic vocal performance. The project unites Dorothy Moskowitz—an underground icon best known for her pioneering work with The United States of America—with Italian electronic composer/filmmaker Francesco Paolo Paladino and writer/biographer Luca Chino Ferrari.
Together, they craft immersive sonic ecosystems: modal melodies, electroacoustic textures, and philosophical lyrics that subvert traditional song formats to explore the deep complexities of human existence.
Releases
SONGS OF COMPASSION
Dorothy Moskowitz & The United States of Alchemy (Silentes)
A masterwork of psychedelic balladry, avant-chamber music, and delicate electronic soundscapes, Songs of Compassionexplores nocturnal atmospheres and complex emotional landscapes. Moving between electroacoustic improvisation, modal melodies, and sonic rituality, the album challenges conventional song architecture while showcasing the remarkable interpretative depth of Dorothy’s voice.
With rich instrumental arrangements by Francesco Paolo Paladino—incorporating piano, synthesizers, woodwinds, strings, and ritual acoustics—and poetic lyrics by Luca Chino Ferrari, the album balances political weight with deep existential meditation. Included on the album is “Charlottesville,” a reinterpretation of a composition by the late Joseph Byrd (co-founder of The United States of America).
- Featured Tracks: Pale Wanderer, Charlottesville, Flying Lullabye, Ship of Fools
- Format: CD (Special Limited Edition with 28-page booklet) / Digital
MONASTIR
Francesco Paolo Paladino with Dorothy Moskowitz, Edward Ka-Spel, & Luca Chino Ferrari (Silentes)
Three years in the making, Monastir is an ambitious sci-fi concept album and modern classical ambient opera created as a tribute to filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky. Merging science, spirituality, and cosmic solitude, the narrative follows a cosmic operator (voiced by Edward Ka-Spel of The Legendary Pink Dots) who discovers the remains of an abandoned monastery floating in the skies of Jupiter—a sanctuary where cloistered nuns attempted to power space travel through the pure energy of prayer.
Dorothy Moskowitz performs the role of Suona Menfrem, giving voice to her diary found among the ruins. Through Dorothy’s poignant performance, the journal reveals the failure, mystery, and eventual spiritual ascension of the mission.
- Collaborators: Francesco Paolo Paladino, Dorothy Moskowitz, Edward Ka-Spel, Luca Chino Ferrari
- Format: CD + 24-page full-color art booklet / Digital
UNDER AN ENDLESS SKY
Dorothy Moskowitz & The United States of Alchemy (Silentes / Digital Release)
The inaugural release from the trio, Under An Endless Sky introduced the unique creative alchemy between Moskowitz, Paladino, and Ferrari. Built around a sweeping 23-minute title suite and concise, surrealist vignettes (“Cut the Roots,” “My Doomsday Serenade”), the album blends avant-garde electroacoustic soundscapes with Dorothy’s home-recorded vocals, establishing a signature sound that bridges ’60s experimental sensibilities with contemporary electronic art.
- Highlights: Under an Endless Sky, My Doomsday Serenade, The Disappearance of Fireflies, Cut the Roots
The Origins of the Project
The collaboration began when Francesco Paolo Paladino invited Dorothy to lend her voice to his compositions after she encountered his 2021 work Barene & Other Works, recognizing a shared passion for radical experimentation. Paladino brought in his longtime collaborator, author Luca Chino Ferrari (biographer of Nick Drake, Captain Beefheart, and Tim Buckley), who contributed evocative, multi-layered poetry.
Working from her California home studio, Dorothy collaborated closely with Ferrari on lyric adaptations and cadence, pairing her modal vocal structures with Paladino’s daring blend of neo-Dadaist sound collages and acoustic chamber instrumentation.
“The coupling of Francesco’s turbidity with my restrained interpretation of Luca’s distinctive poetry echoes the formula that made the USA so unique and memorable.” — Dorothy Moskowitz
Under An Endless Sky represents the interchange that took place between electronic composer Francesco Paolo Paladino and writer Luca Chino Ferrari, and Dorothy Moskowitz, an icon of underground culture who broke all kinds of new ground as a member of The United States of America.
The digital album is available for purchase on Amazon and Barnes and Nobel. The choice preview is available now:
Francesco Paolo Paladino, an avant-garde Italian composer contacted Dorothy, inviting her to sing on some of his compositions. When she heard his 2021 CD release of “Barene & Other Works,” she recognized that they shared a similarly experimental point of view and she accepted his invitation.
Francesco has long collaborated with Italian writer Luca Chino Ferrari, author of biographies of Nick Drake, Third Ear Band, Captain Beefheart, Tim Buckley and Syd Barrett, among others. He submitted lyrics to Dorothy and together they began a profound and unique collaboration on the adaptation of lyrics to music, delving into words and meanings, phonetic properties and their singability.
“Lyrics that have the audacity to deal with complex themes of human existence, real philosophical cutaways that look at reality and question it, often without offering answers.”
Luca Chino Ferrari
Moskowitz’s extraordinary voice and modal melodies float over Paladino’s magical musical textures. There are no guitars, bass, drums or other technological devilry, but only virtual sounds (sometimes without even keyboards) upon which are grafted some acoustic interventions: violins and violas, woodwinds and percussion entrusted to excellent musicians such as Italians Riccardo Sinigaglia, Angelo Contini, Stefano Scala, Trio Cavallazzi and Gino Ape, and English folker Sean Breadin.