The Best Of 2001

Top 10
01 NEW ORDER: Get Ready
02 JOY DIVISION: Les Bains Douches 18 12 79
03 PIXIES: Complete B Sides
04 BJORK: Vespertine
05 PREFAB SPROUT: The Gunman And Other Stories
06 RADIOHEAD: Amnesiac
07 MAX GAZZE': Ognuno Fa Quello Che Gli Pare?
08 VARIOUS: Almost Blue OST
09 LA CRUS: Crocevia
10 VERDENA: Solo Un Grande Sasso

Almost made it:
11 DIAFRAMMA: Il Futuro Sorride A Quelli Come Noi
12 OTTO OHM: Otto Ohm
13 DURUTTI COLUMN: Rebellion
14 MINA: A To B
15 NADA: L'Amore E' Fortissimo Il Corpo No

Unlistable disappointment of the year:
DEPECHE MODE: Exciter

Bjork - Vespertine

After Homogenic, certainly the most innovative pop album of the Nineties, and one of the most beautiful, I just wondered what could have followed such a masterwork. Bjork simply released another piece of beauty and genius, Selmasongs, the soundtrack to her touching acting performance in Dancer In The Dark.
Then I realised Homogenic wouldn't have been an isolated case, but in fact Bjork had evolved into one of the most important artists ever lived, sure enough the greatest woman. Vespertine is just what you can expect from such an artist, she takes further the evolution and stands at unbelievable levels of excellence. And this time without Mark Bell, the producer so essential in the development of her sound! She self produces the work, with the help of other electronic pioneers like Matmos.
The sound is as innovative as Bowie and Eno's Berlin trilogy that started with Low, and finally her vocal interpretation doesn't just sound as great as Billie Holiday's, but even better! This album is like a final renounce to commercial pop, it's contemporary "serious" music, sometimes it could sound difficult for the untrained ears, but a little effort of attention will be hugely rewarded.
After the emotional storm of Dancer In The Dark Bjork tried to produce a more relaxed mood and a minimal sound by composing on her portable computer in her kitchen in Iceland (the album should have been titled Domestika) while outside snowed and you can definitely hear that, though there are still so many special, touching and grandiose moments on this album and orchestras and choirs are such an important part of the instrumentation, like in the single Hidden Place, where Bjork sings of her man he's "the beautifullest, fragilest, still strong, dark and divine": well, I couldn't describe her music better than those words.
On Cocoon she really sounds like Billie Holiday when singing "who would have known a beauty this immense". On It's Not Up To You there are Vince Mendoza's string arrangement and some fabulous electronic noises. Undo, with its wonderful minimal keyboard sounds like a sort of answer to Radiohead, while the orchestration is raising over some amazing vocal editing, one of the best thing of Vespertine is how Bjork played with her voice.
The second single is Pagan Poetry, where Bjork revelas herself also as a great bassist; she sings over a music box, a tool much played on this album, a chorus which is pure beauty. And it's not the best of the album yet, which comes when the music box solo of Frosti ends in Aurora, her most touching song ever with Scatterheart of Selmasongs: her vocals are absolutely extraordinary over a celestial atmosphere, it could easily happen you actually cry tears for this. The comparison with the most experimental Bowie is just appropriate in An Echo, A Stain, a song so dark it would have been perfect for Dancer In The Dark, as the soundscapes of Sun In My Mouth and Harm Of Will. God knows what she would do with Craig Armstrong, the string composer who also worked with Massive Attack...
Over the deliciously weird electro of Heirloom Bjork sounds some of her weirdest lyrics ever first in first person ("I have a recurrent dream"), and then plural doubling voice ("We have a recurrent dream"). After the serene final of Unison you're left with another splendid masterwork from a genius who seems to never run out of the most excellent inspiration.

Download Monaco unreleased tracks!

You can download four unreleased tracks from Monaco's official site! http://www.monaco.uk.net

New Order - Get Ready review

01: CRYSTAL I already reviewed this song, the difference from the single edit is here you have a wonderful intro and a strong final, while from the demo a really beautiful piano interlude was added. I love how the sound is balanced between the keyboard, guitar, the strong rhythm and bass. That, and the kind of tune, makes this song a classic New Order song.
The backing vocals come like an answer to Bernard's verses: "we're like crystal [oooh] / we break easy [yeeah]" and that makes a kind of swinging rhythm which is very cool put together with the regular 4/4 base rhythm. The verse is rather calm, and then comes a storming chorus: "I don't know - what to say / you don't care - anyway" above a touching keyboard; the end of the chorus is fabulous, the first "you shock me to the core" has a dramatic dissonance that's put straight with a sense of release in the second (this is just an apparently easy song), while Hooky enters with a nice bass tune. Another great moment is the keyboard echoing chord answering to "keep it coming", it grows very intense.

02: 60 MILES AN HOUR also sounds very improved from the demo circulating with the title 60 MPH. It's not one of their best songs, maybe it's the least good of the whole album, and it's still so good. I love the sequencing beat which might recall that of Temptation. Hooky sounds like Joy Division on the bit of "why don't you run over here and rescue me...", and he's at its best in the interlude, which is almost as powerful as the one in True Faith. Again a powerful final has been added.

03: TURN MY WAY is one of their best songs ever. It's the one where Billy Corgan (a long time friend of the band, he knew them as a fan when he was only 16) guests in the first verse and some backing vocals, but it sounds like a New Order classic. Simply, all the instruments are at the top, the tune is wonderful, the lyrics are great: " I don't wanna be / like other people are / don't wanna own a key / don't wanna wash my car / don't wanna have to work / like other people do / I wanted to be free / I wanted to be true", and there's a touching guitar solo.

04: VICIOUS STREAK is my favourite of this album. There are some excellent keyboards here, and a beautiful minimal guitar. Bernard's voice is at his best, singing a moving, extremely melancholic melody, it's mixed perfectly, I adore its sound when he starts "So what am I gonna dooo / I feel like I'm on fiire..." and you fall instantly in love with the chorus "I keep hanging on... I keep hanging on". But the gems of the songs are yet to come: first come some of the coolest keyboard chords ever played, and then the closing verse, with Bernard perversely singing "You've got a vicious streak / for someone soyoooung", and I like the final touch, an echo which recalls some of Martin Hannett's producing work. There's three dead people who'd have liked this album: Hannett, legendary manager Rob Gretton (to whom the album is dedicated) and Ian Curtis.

05: PRIMITIVE NOTION in fact has a storming beginning which really sounds like Joy Division, with Steve playing an amazing rhythm even for his own standards. On the second verse some excellent keyboards come, and Hooky makes a spectacular duet with his bass and Bernard's voice and the song even becomes techno at some point, just representing well the whole album: new wave, punk, synthpop, sad songs, euphoric songs, everything of the band's history is in Get Ready, the only album other than Power, Corruption And Lies (which is my most favourite ever), to have an amazingly constant quality, no weak songs, all masterworks.

06: SLOW JAM is pure rock'n'roll, I adore Bernard's tone of voice at the start "as I look at the morning sky", the fabulous repetitive melody might remind Morrissey but at the chorus the song explodes and it's Happy Mondays or Stone Roses euphoria: "I don't want the world to change / I like the way it is"...

07: ROCK THE SHACK really rocks the shack! Here we're at punk, but not the watered down thing you see today, this is raw energy like The Stooges. "I've been accused of everything / from Timbuctou to old Berlin" starts Bernard and then "I stand accused of being me" and the chord change is punk like if this band was called Warsaw! Here the guest is Bobby Gillespie, currently the leader of Primal Scream, but previously drummer of The Jesus And Mary Chain and, more importantly, bassist of The Wake (a great Factory band very influenced by New Order) at the start of his career.

08: SOMEONE LIKE YOU is the second best song of the album. There's a beautiful filtered guitar with a wondefrul echo and a very powerful rhythm, the song grows and grows, Hooky plays just three notes, but so great, as in the best Joy Division songs and then Barney starts "This can't be real", and you finally realize what a great job producer Steve Osborne did on the whole album and how beautiful bernard's voice is... the chorus is extraordinary, with all its "oooh"s and "yeeeah"s and especially with Dawn Zee's sublime backing vocals, who sounds a bit like Gillian in The Other Two.

09: CLOSE RANGE is a genuinely uplifting song, a beautiful keyboard before the great chorus: "You've got to pull yourself together, man / you've got to get back on your feet again", and one of the best performances ever played by Hooky in the final, an epic tune a bit like the final of Perfect Kiss. You just think songs like this should be hit singles insted of the lifeless retro dominating the charts... this album is a great lesson to all the contemporary musicians: music can be made like this, catchy tunes with strong instrumentation, a lot of passion and every instrument played at its utter potential.

10: RUN WILD is an amazing closing track, unlike the rest of the album is very quiet and acoustic, the final bit where Barney sings "Good times are round the corner" might be a bit too cheesy, but again there are great lyrics: "If Jesus comes to take your hand / I won't let go" and a melodica (mouth organ) which plays a serene tune like on Your Silent Face. Get ready is an album which goes beyond my most optimistic expectation, the sound of a band being young and rocking again in their mid-40s. It's much better than Republic, which was already great, and it can only be compared, as for sound, to the first part of Brotherhood, to Joy Division and Technique mixed with Electronic's Twisted Tenderness, as for quality, it's simply one of their best albums ever.

BJORK live at the Regio Theatre in Parma, Italy: 8 November 2001

I couldn't believe it: Bjork in Parma, my town, just a two minute walk from my home! I already missed the Homogenic tour, this time, after Vespertine, her third masterwork in four years, I had decided I would have seen a concert even if it meant a long trip, in fact it wasn't necessary! An unique chance: Bjork in one of the most beautiful theatres of the world, with the orchestra and an Eskimo female choir. The ticket was a bit expensive, but such a show is priceless.
The support was of course Matmos, the producers of the album who on their own sometimes make Aphex Twin sound mainstream. They make very experimental noise, also, it seems, by passing a jack plugged to filters on their faces, and you see it on the screen. An innovative and interesting performance.
The plane from Brussels is late and so is the orchestra, so Bjork in the first part of the concert performs the songs where the orchestra is less needed. What I could see from my seat was luckily almost exactly the same of the picture on this page, which was taken in Paris from Bjork's site, except the image is unfortunately blurry. The concert began with white petals or snowflakes falling on Bjork in her swan dress playing Frosti on the music box.
The first touching moment was the excellent Pagan Poetry, so wonderful with the beautiful voices of the Eskimo choir. Then Anchor Song, with the absolutely excellent harpist Zeena Parkins playing a small organ. Bjork's voice was really on splendid form, especially on Cocoon. Matmos, who also played the electronic part of the music, made Human Behaviour and especially Army Of Me even more powerful. Great audience response, as always.
Bjork came back wearing a red dress with bells ringing each time she shaked it, and luckily the orchestra came and played bravely without any soundcheck, and so began the most emotional part of the concert. And she didn't sing Scatterheart or Aurora. If she did I'd have easily been moved to tears. But we had I've Seen It All, Hyperballad and Bachelorette (wonderful orchestra). It's Not Up To You (fabulous choir), Unison and Isobel were other great moments.
The first encore was a superb Joga, and then came two new songs: Who Is It (featuring an intro by an Eskimo singer), played for the very first time, and It's In Our Hands, a great euphoric song with handclaps from Bjork, the choir and finally the whole theatre.
I've seen what I expected: I already saw Bjork during the Post tour (with a great support perfrormance by Goldie!), so I already knew her voice live is actually as good as on the record. This time the whole performance was unique and of the highest quality, from a genius, definitely one of the greates artists ever.


The whole setlist:

Frosti
Unravel
Pagan Poetry
Anchor Song
Possibly Maybe
Generous Palmstroke
Cocoon
Human Behaviour
Army Of Me
____________________
All Is Full Of Love
I've Seen It All
It's Not Up To You
Unison
You've Been Flirting Again
Isobel
Hyperballad
Bachelorette
____________________
Joga
____________________
Who Is It
It's In Our Hands

NEW ORDER live at Liverpool Olympia, 18 July 2001

This was the third time I've seen New Order, it's amazing how we've been lucky again, meeting them and witnessing another excellent performance. Once again the first fans to arrive at the venue, Manuel and me crossed Steve and Gillian (on splendid form, looking even better than in 1998), got to know a very kind bouncer and new manager Andrew Robinson, an extremely nice person, and then met Bernard Sumner, who was really in good mood. Lately we met Ken, another great guy of the New Order posse, but no recognizable trace of other Ceremony list members. We obtained the passes for the true aftershow party we learnt to be located at the Cream club (thanks to Manuel who had the intuition of doing the right thing at the right time).
We received a promo folding card reproducing the artwork of the CD, doors opened and we succeeded in running to the front of the stage, even if that meant that I didn't see some stairs and funnily ran virtually on air for endless seconds before falling down to the floor (with no consequences luckily, and immediately getting up), but that earned me an applause from the few already inside and it was worth it, since I don't think there have been many concerts in the last 14 years where you could see New Order so amazingly close. The support bands (from Manchester, of course): Hanky Park make a very positive light guitar pop (but it's not Britpop), inserting sometimes great bass and drums, the rhythm section giving a good flow to the tune. Nothing special and nowhere near to the amazing excellence of Gabrielle's Wish or Doves (who supported New Order in 1998), but pleasant enough. Elbow play something more original, the melodies are rather epic, but they don't become boring like, for example, Manic Street Preachers; the instrumentation is intense, the guitarist especially has some talent. They have some intuition and talent.
And now the band we came to see: New Order, introduced by Alan Wise as in the 1998 concerts, after a dedication to Rob Gretton they started with Atmosphere. Billy Corgan has been a discreet presence, didn't have any of the protagonisms I feared and played like a normal session musician, so respect to him, and especially to the very young looking Phil Cunningham who did a great job on keyboard and guitar. Him and Corgan together didn't succeed in replacing Gillian, and this confirmed just how important she is to the sound of the band, the sound was definitely not the same as if she'd been there, but played a great performance anyway, and one of the reasons is just they didn't pretend to replace her sound but created one of their own. Even more than the fabulous Barney and Steve, hero of the night has been Hooky, a true rock beast jumping from side to side of the stage and playing with amazing energy, clearly having fun.
It's been exciting hearing completely new songs to us, now we're happy we didn't hear the whole promo. Close Range especially is a very powerful song, with excellent strong rhythm and a great ending by Hooky. I don't know how it was behind us, but there's been a problem in a couple of songs with the mixing of Bernard's voice. A mixer should be placed in the middle of the audience to realize what we hear just in case to adjust something, but this time I think the mixer guy worked at the side of the stage with headphones, so he didn't realize Barney's voice sometimes has been covered when the bass and three guitars were playing at the same time, at least that's what it was heard at the front, where we also had a hard time surviving because of the pogo, the crowd surfing and the pressure of the fans, all part of the charm anyway. The best moments of the concerts were Crystal, which live is even better, a great vocal performance by Barney, and old rediscoverings Love Vigilantes and Your Silent Face, the unexpected Ruined In A Day... I also adored Turn My Way, Isolation, True Faith... well, everything really, maybe except the messy guitar stuff played by Corgan in the final part of Blue Monday, but we appreciate the effort anyway. I think the Apollo concert will remain untouchable but this has been anyway one of their best concerts ever (probably Hooky's best performance), maybe the most exciting because we were so close to the band and heard the new songs. I hope the video gets released also because a camera man filmed us as well. Of course they have no intention to do it, apart from maybe, but just maybe, putting something on the Internet (reliable source).
After the gig that kind bouncer gave me Barney's set list, here it is:

Atmosphere
Slow Jam
Crystal
Regret
Love Vigilantes
Isolation
KW1
Turn My Way
Close Range
Touched
Bizarre Love Triangle
True Faith
Temptation
Love Will Tear Us Apart
____________________
Ruined in A Day
60 Miles An Hour
Blue Monday

KW1 is Your Silent Face (acronym for KraftWerk 1 because it was inspired by the German electro pioneers) and Touched obviously is Touched By The Hand Of God. The last three songs are the encore.
After buying the T shirt we went to Cream without going to the Grafton Room, were there was the "fake" aftershow party for the audience, a clever but cruel invention, I hope someone of the band passed there as well. I was happy to see such an historic venue. There were projections of the Get Ready artwork, of the New Order logo and promo pictures of the band and cards with the red bar. We met Arthur Baker (a nice smiling giant), Billy Corgan (who was also kind and kept an admirable low profile at the party as well), Mani from Primal Scream appears in a picture taken with Bernard, spotted were also Phil Cunningham and Bobby Gillespie. Andrew Robinson confirmed himself as the friendliest of the bunch. From what I've seen, if someone must replace Rob Gretton I'm happy it's him, he's a classic down to earth Manchester guy, a bit like a less eccentric Tony Wilson (hopefully with better businness intuition...). The music played was techno underground, very loud. Only negative thing of the whole night (apart from not meeting Hooky), I lost the wristband somewhere, it's a pity because it didn't look anonymous like the average, but featured the New Order logo. Of course this doesn't make the experience we had less glorious and brilliant!

Artisti Vari - Almost Blue (colonna sonora)

I protagonisti principali di questo CD sono i Massimo Volume, che presentano sei brani nuovi, tutti strumentali e bellissimi, che mostrano un ulteriore evoluzione del suono. Corsa A Vuoto è breve e travolgente, Qualcosa Da Dichiarare è la migliore: uno splendido basso accompagna una chitarra delicata ed una tastiera eterea e malinconica. In Morte Indolore il basso profondo scandisce come un timpano apocalittico il ritmo per un’atmosfera davvero inquietante, Volti è troppo breve, viene sfumata proprio quando la melodia della meravigliosa chitarra sta diventando ancora più interessante, c’è da sperare che venga ripresa nel prossimo album. L’atmosfera onirica di Tema Di Misero ha suoni dilatati in bilico tra il sogno e l’incubo, mentre Quasi Blu è un suggestivo noise jazz con elementi shoegazing da scenario suburbano notturno.
Gli altri brani dei Massimo Volume sono già apparsi sugli album precedenti, si riascoltano volentieri, hanno testi che raccontano poeticamente scene che si adatterebbero benissimo ad un film, soprattutto Avvertimento, La Città Morta e Pizza Express, tra l’altro tre dei loro migliori brani in assoluto.
Il CD è aperto da Almost Blue di Elvis Costello, struggente jazz moderno, di cui Chet Baker rese una straordinaria interpretazione. Interessanti anche i brani di Lory D, tra atmosfere ambient e ritmi alternative techno.

Voto: 9/10

New Order - Crystal (UK CD singles 1 & 2)

CRYSTAL: the edit
This is an absolutely fabulous comeback single. The Edit version on CD1 cuts off the wonderful beginning and final you can hear on the album version. The main difference form the demo I previewed on The Neworders main page is a really beautiful piano interlude. I love how the sound is balanced between the keyboard, guitar, the strong rhythm and bass. That, and the kind of tune, makes this song a classic New Order song.
The backing vocals come like an answer to Bernard's verses: "we're like crystal [oooh] / we break easy [yeeah]" and that makes a kind of swinging rhythm which is very cool put together with the regular 4/4 base rhythm. The verse is rather calm, and then comes a storming chorus: "I don't know - what to say / you don't care - anyway" above a touching keyboard; the end of the chorus is fabulous, the first "you shock me to the core" has a dramatic dissonance that's put straight with a sense of release in the second (this is just an apparently easy song), while Hooky enters with a nice bass tune. Another great moment is the keyboard echoing chord answering to "keep it coming", it grows very intense.
A melancholic guitar/keyboard/bass song in New Order's best tradition, it's nothing innovative, but we must not expect this at this point, after eight years with New Order in their mid 40s, the age of your father when you were 20, probably. If they do what they can do at their best that's great, and it's just what's happening. This song also puts again in perspective the side projects, it's better than any of their songs, though they all made excellent tracks, once again when the four unite together the result is a magic, better than the simple sum of the parts. It won't win many new fans, no hip garage, no new metal, just New Order at their best (though not at the level of Blue Monday, Perfect Kiss or True Faith of course, but there are just like half a dozen of songs so good they won't ever be like that again and we should never expect it), probably one of their top 15 or 20 songs and that's an excellent result. But it's conquering back some old Joy Division-only fans, with its new wave sound under a contemporary perspective, thanks also to the excellent production by Steve Osborne.
The video is very funny, a band of actors mimes the song, they look like those stupid Britpop artists of the 90s. All very ironic, but let's hope the younger audience of music TV channels don't mistake them for the true New Order.

BEHIND CLOSED DOORS
As in their best times, just like in 1981 with Cries And Whispers which even was the only one to not be included later on Substance, New Order waste one of their best songs ever as a B side. This alone makes worthy the single, it's maybe even better than the lead track. Arthur Baker produces here and does a great job with the wonderful instrumentation. It's a very melancholic song, Bernard's voice at the beginning, sounds like trying to imitate Hooky in Monaco, on "the things that you will see will open up your eyes" there's an amazing dissonance. The song grows and grows dramatically to the fabulous chorus with excellent lyrics: "I don't know what makes me stay / the city life just ain't the same / there's something wrong with kids today / I blame the parents anyway... please don't take my drugs away / I'm gonna give them up some day". Bernard examples boring himself with listening to The Corrs and Hooky's on great form in the final over magnificent synths, piano and samples.

crystal: THE REMIXES
The first CD is closed by the Digweed & Muir "Bedrock" Mix Edit, and you have to wonder how long the full version is, since this is already 10.06... nothing special, really, but pleasant enough with its work on noises and rhythms.
What's really great on CD2 is the Lee Coombs Remix: you gotta have patience with the first two intro minutes, but then it becomes excellent. Great rhythm, deep bass and a wonderful sampling of a beautiful guitar tune which is too buried in the original. The piano interlude, with its four touching notes, receives also a smart treatment, with the "keep it coming" bit growing and growing. Essential.
The John Creamer & Stephane K Main Remix Edit sounds harder, but also less inspired, though there's a good booming sound in the rhythm and at some point nice keyboards reminding Depeche Mode arrive.
The Digweed & Muir "Bedrock" Radio Edit is shorter and better than the mix on CD1, with its marvellous atmospheric keyboard, the dry electro rhythm, and the voice effects.

Prefab Sprout - The Gunman And Other Stories

A great comeback from Paddy McAloon, confirming himself as a well ageing genius, though unfortunately always more lonely: after Neil Conti, another member of the band is lost, and this time it's really an enormous waste. Angelic vocalist Wendy Smith does not appear on the album, so Paddy's brother Martin, who does a great job on bass, is the only member left. Luckily the songs are good enough and Paddy's voice is excellent enough to make this album surivive anyway.
The album is country/western themed, though you can hear influence of country music only on Cowboy Dreams, which flows very well and is better than any modern alternative country artist, and on the supremely weird closing track Farmyard Cat, where there are also strong echoes of musical and opera, a funny and solemn miaowing at the same time, a shocking end for many.
The other songs are classic mature Prefab Sprout, divided into two groups: quiet and touching ballads following the path of the already good Andromeda Heights, only with a far better instrumentation and melodic intuition, and more solid and sophisticated tracks going back to the sound of Protest Songs and Jordan: The Comeback.
Some of the songs have already been released, mostly for other embarrassing artists like Jimmy Nail or Cher, and it wouldn't seem a good idea to make an album of them, and still the genius is on disc and you can't resist, how can you to the extremely simple but moving melody of I'm A Troubled Man, one of the songs of the first group, where Paddy asks forgiveness from his woman, son and God unbelievably without sounding bad taste. The same is valid for the even more beautiful Love Will Find Someone For You where, after an awesome dialogue between the voice and a synthtetic armonica Paddy sings "Love may do the cruelest things, may bruise those angel wings...". Melancholy and hope continuosly meet on this album, as in Blue Roses, where Paddy finally explains himself: "this nursery rhyme is corny, it is stranded out of time, yet it's simple and it's honest, and since when was that a crime?". Though's not so simple, you can find very comlpex composition on this only apparently simple songs.
And then come the solid songs like Wild Card In The Pack, with its piano chords and very clever ripetitions ("Where d'you learn to play this game / play this game") which enforce the impact of the song, and the absolutely lovely Cornfield Ablaze, that should have been the single and a sure hit, powerful rhythm and vocals.
And the two masterworks of this album: The Gunman is almost progressive (and yet so fantastic), divided into sections: a storming spoken beginning, a wonderful guitar duet, a great verse and an extremely emotional chorus, especially the change of melody between the first and last time he sings "Love is a gunman, and no mercy has he", a perfect guitar riff in the interlude... All this and more for eight minutes and forty seconds of pure genius. Hard to believe Cher did sing this song!
He reaches once again total perfection on the cover of a folk song, The Streets Of Laredo/Not Long For This World: after a very powerful beginning with the chorus, there's a major chord verse that eventually collapses to minor in its final with a wonderful guitar echo, making a big impact. The grand finale is the peak, with Paddy's trademark bass backing vocals making a comeback (there's a wonderful minimalism in the change from the two times he sings "scatter roses over the clay") and the song reaching its instrumental and melodic best.
Wether it's a folk cover, a country musical, a love ballad, or his sophisticated pop, Paddy always find the way to make music at his best on the album, so let's hope this time he came back for good. The pistolero is a hero.

Rating: 10/10

La Crus al Fuori Orario

Ieri sera splendido concerto dei La Crus al Fuori Orario di Taneto (RE). Ospite Cristina Donà. I momenti più intensi, oltre alla magnifica cover di Estate di Bruno Martino, sono stati il duetto nella cover di Annarella dei CCCP e Gocce della Donà accompagnata dal gruppo con Joe all'armonica.

New releases from Section 25 and The Wake

FROM THE HIP - IN THE FLESH (LTMCD 2325) is an 11 track live recording from SECTION 25's legendary North American tour in January and February 1985, digitally mastered from newly-discovered original soundboard tapes. The 74 minute CD includes the entire set from the Cotillion Ballroom (University of Louisiana), Baton Rouge set on February 2nd, and three tracks from the earlier show at Club Lingerie in Hollywood on January 31st. To pre-order contact James Nice at LTM on (fax) 44 (0)1362 861009, or by e-mail: jnice@ltmpub.freeserve.co.uk 
COMING SOON! THE WAKE - "Harmony + Singles" (LTMCD 2323) 74 minute CD reissue of the classic 1982 Factory mini album by the Scots Factory band, featuring a host of bonus tracks including the debut single On Our Honeymoon, the Factory Benelux 12" Something Outside and the first BBC radio session for John Peel from July 1983. Check out the webpage at:www.ltmpub.freeserve.co.uk/newrelease.html

New Order to release 60 Miles An Hour

From www.nme.com : NEW ORDER are to release '60 MILES AN HOUR' as the second single from their comeback album 'GET READY' on 22 October. Released on two CD singles, a number of remixers have been approached to make the rock-based track suitable for clubs. The single will be backed by a new song, 'Sabotage'.

Nuovo romanzo di Emidio Clementi

Il 28 settembre sarà disponibile nelle librerie La Notte Del Pratello, il nuovo romanzo di Emidio 'Mimì' Clementi, leader dei Massimo Volume ( www.massimovolume.it ). Il libro sarà pubblicato dalla Fazi Editrice.

Gli Ustmamò a Modena

Ieri sera gli Ustmamò hanno chiuso il loro tour estivo con un ottimo concerto a Modena. Hanno particolarmente sorpreso i brani del nuovo album, che approfondiscono un discorso personale, sia dal punto di vista strumentale che melodico, orientato a melodie di chitarra e voce di ampio respiro e forte impatto emotivo.

Pottsy's new band RAM

RAM is the new band of Monaco's singer Pottsy ( www.monaco.uk.net ) and will support New Order on some of their live dates.

Gli Africa Unite a Reggio Emilia

 Ieri sera gran bel concerto degli Africa Unite alla Festa dell'Unità di Reggio Emilia, diviso in due parti: una prima, più lunga, dedicata all'album di cover di Bob Marley "20" e l'altra per brani loro.