Cicciput è l'angelo dei soldi, secondo il televeggente Gennaro D'Auria... chissà se il "Maestro" può metterci in contatto anche con l'angelo del genio musicale... è probabile che Elio E Le Storie Tese siano ispirati già da tempo, perchè è difficile spiegare in modo semplicistico come siano riusciti a produrre l'ennesimo capolavoro, e allora affidiamoci alla fantasia, fantasia che certamente non manca neppure a loro...
Quest'album arriva a quattro anni di distanza dall'enciclopedico Craccraccriccrecr dove, allo scadere del millennio, in pratica ogni genere musicale era rappresentato da una canzone. In Cicciput il suono torna a farsi un po'più omogeneo, sebbene sempre incredibilmente caleidoscopico, e appare la naturale prosecuzione di Eat The Phikis, il primo album dove si percepì chiaramente la compiutezza della maturazione musicale del talento ineguagliabile di questo gruppo.
Non è un semplice discorso di bravura di esecuzione, è troppo ovvio lodare la competenza tecnica di questi musicisti (formatisi al Conservatorio, alcuni fanno pure parte di una band tributo ai Weather Report e la fusion può piacere o meno, ma è certamente un'ottima palestra per uno strumentista...), è da dare per scontato che gente come Faso, Cesareo e Tanica siano tra i migliori al mondo nel loro ruolo.
Quello che stupisce davvero è che Elio E Le Storie Tese mescolano varie influenze, oltre alla fusion, al pop sofisticato, alla tradizione italiana, al soul, al progressive, e il risultato è un suono assolutamente unico e ricchissimo. Si tratta quindi di talento compositivo, di libertà di rompere gli schemi, anche grazie al pretesto dell'umorismo: è ovvio che le cervellotiche evoluzioni di Cani E Padroni Di Cani sono più giustificabili nell'ambito di una canzone "demenziale" che non in una canzone destinata ad un target più "tradizionale". Il tentativo è quello di far ridere l'ascoltatore col testo e l'interpretazione, in modo che possa sopportare soluzioni musicali talmente ambiziose che sarebbero ben più difficili da digerire per l'ascoltatore medio di un artista pop. La visione del caleidoscopio di Elio è vertiginosa, viene da chiedersi a chi somiglia la loro musica, ovviamente la risposta è impossibile: potrai trovare un frammento di strumentazione sontuosa come quella dei Toto, potrai trovare un brano di psichedelia come quella dei Pink Floyd, ma non troverai mai un altro gruppo al mondo che riesca a fare tutto quello che fanno Elio e soci.
Ecco perchè ogni loro album è un evento preziosissimo, sai che per ascoltare qualcosa di simile dovrai aspettare ancora anni, sino al loro prossimo disco... i testi, complessivamente, si mantengono su ottimi livelli e talvolta rivelano ancora soluzioni davvero esilaranti e geniali (per non dire dei divertentissimi spezzoni parlati tra un brano e l'altro...), anche se ovviamente non possono più avere la freschezza degli esordi. Ma, mentre passano gli anni, cresce l'interesse per l'aspetto musicale: se prima Elio E Le Storie Tese erano un gruppo che faceva ridere e suonava anche bene, ora divengono un gruppo che fa musica ineguagliabile e fa anche ridere. Per esempio in Budy Giampi (dove ritroviamo lo spassosissimo architetto Mangoni) l'ammirazione per la bellezza della musica è nettamente prevalente rispetto al divertimento per il testo quando Elio canta "un uomo non dovrebbe essere ucciso mai". Già in questo brano si può constatare che i cori, guidati dall'esperta Paola Folli, sono stati curati splendidamente.
Nell'album manca Al Mercato Di Bonn, un brano che si basa su Tanti Auguri A Te a cui partecipava Paola Cortellesi, per problemi di diritti d'autore (ebbene sì, la popolarissima canzoncina appartiene agli eredi delle compositrici...). Comunque il gruppo ha trasmesso il brano a Cordialmente, il loro programma su Radio DeeJay, invitando esplicitamente gli ascoltatori a non diffonderlo tramite file sharing... come no...
Sono tante, comunque, le gemme di questo album, dal meraviglioso funky di Gimmi I. e La Chanson (che ci parla di un garcon ancien qui ne va plus a la discotheque... mais le jeune filles sont a la discotheque...), alla ripresa del commento alla barzelletta del Fantasma Formaggino con Claudio Bisio prima di Fossi Figo, al delizioso inserto a metà tra Crosby Stills Nash And Young e Pink Floyd in La Follia Della Donna ("cosa sono i milioni quando in cambio ti danno le scarpe?").
Poi naturalmente c'è Shpalman, il singolo che si basa su Achille E Polissene di Collasse, che si può ascoltare in sottofondo durante l'intervento di Bisio, una dimostrazione che le radici del power pop vanno ricercate indietro di tre secoli, seguito da un esilarante appello di Crozza che ci invita a non disperdere la Toscana per il mondo tenendoci sassi come souvenir. Pagano è un delirio tra progressive e soul in cui risolviamo una crisi mistico-esistenziale imparando a costruire un ponte grazie ad un bootleg di Giulio Cesare, e come se questo non bastasse segue l'allucinatissima Abate Cruento, ripescata dal 1994, con un elegante intervento vocale di Rocco Tanica.
Viene da chiedersi come reagisce un ascoltatore medio a questo micidiale uno-due, tanto splendido quanto lontanissimo da ogni canone commerciabile... in compenso c'è il finale dell'album che riporta il tono su livelli più familiari, con Pilipino Rock, un divertentissimo rock'n'roll dove Elio interpreta magistralmente un domestico filippino che si prende la sua rivincita, e Litfiba Tornate Insieme, una marcetta populista che si avventura gustosamente nella tradizione cubana.
Un album così ricco da non stancare mai, neppure dopo ripetuti ascolti, suscita sempre divertimento per i testi e soprattutto per l'inventiva musicale. Sarebbe bello se ci fosse qualcun'altro che ci proponesse un disco così speciale, e invece Elio E Le Storie Tese restano assolutamente unici, ineguagliabili e insostituibili, probabilmente solo il sublime capolavoro dei Marlene Kuntz impedisce a Cicciput di essere l'album italiano dell'anno.
Voto: 9/10
Thursday, 28 August 2003
Wednesday, 27 August 2003
My Life With Morrissey, the movie!
Interesting: "My Life with Morrissey is a dark comedy that chronicles the adventures of an off-kilter office girl whose life unravels when she meets her idol (British rock icon Morrissey) and sets off on a journey of obsessive self-delusion." Check the site about the movie.
Tags:
Morrissey
,
The Smiths
Early New Order recording released on Kevin Hewick compilation
Some work with The Sound is also included. From Darla.com:
KEVIN HEWICK Tender Bruises and Scars - The Factory and Cherry Red
Records Studio Recordings 1980-1983
The Rarities Collection marks 25 years of Cherry Red Records. This
series will include a collection of rare and hard to find tracks that
were released on Cherry Red Records in the 1980s marking Cherry Red's
ability to forge a distinct style out of introspective, willowy pop.
This is the forth release in the Rarities series and is compilation of
Kevin Hewick's Factory and Cherry Red Records studio recordings made
between 1980-1983. Kevin was originally signed to Factory Records
beginning his career supporting the likes of Joy Division, whose first
post-Curtis recording is exhibited here in 'Haystack' as they backed
Kevin, before becoming the seminal band known today as New Order. By
February 1983 Kevin had signed with Cherry Red and was recording the
'Such Hunger For Love' album, he also went onto record with The Sound,
re-recording tracks such as 'Neath the Dancing Waves' and 'Amber' for a
Cherry Red 12" EP. This album includes not only these tracks but also
the Factory single, the Cherry Red single b-sides and an enhanced video
for the Factory Records single Ophelia's Drinking Song.
KEVIN HEWICK Tender Bruises and Scars - The Factory and Cherry Red
Records Studio Recordings 1980-1983
The Rarities Collection marks 25 years of Cherry Red Records. This
series will include a collection of rare and hard to find tracks that
were released on Cherry Red Records in the 1980s marking Cherry Red's
ability to forge a distinct style out of introspective, willowy pop.
This is the forth release in the Rarities series and is compilation of
Kevin Hewick's Factory and Cherry Red Records studio recordings made
between 1980-1983. Kevin was originally signed to Factory Records
beginning his career supporting the likes of Joy Division, whose first
post-Curtis recording is exhibited here in 'Haystack' as they backed
Kevin, before becoming the seminal band known today as New Order. By
February 1983 Kevin had signed with Cherry Red and was recording the
'Such Hunger For Love' album, he also went onto record with The Sound,
re-recording tracks such as 'Neath the Dancing Waves' and 'Amber' for a
Cherry Red 12" EP. This album includes not only these tracks but also
the Factory single, the Cherry Red single b-sides and an enhanced video
for the Factory Records single Ophelia's Drinking Song.
Tags:
New Order
Tuesday, 26 August 2003
Morrissey resurrects Attack label as his own subsidiary at Sanctuary Records
Before he hadn't got a contract with a record label, now he has a sub-label of his own! Moz rules again!
From http://www.morrissey-solo.com/:
Sanctuary Records Group and Morrissey have announced that they have resurrected the Attack label to release the forthcoming new album by Morrissey.
The label will be distributed via BMG in the US, Pinnacle in the UK and Sanctuary Records Group's various distribution partners in the rest of the world.
The Attack label - part of the legendary Trojan Records family - released records by The Pioneers, Gregory Isaacs, The Upsetters, Big Youth and I Roy amongst many others between 1969 and 1980.
The Sanctuary Group Inc Chief Executive Officer Merck Mercuriadis commented, "Morrissey is one of the most important artists of the last 20 years and we are delighted that he has given us the opportunity to lead the charge on this significant next phase of his career with a deal that is as innovative as his music. Early on in our discussions Morrissey proved himself to be a connoisseur of our Trojan Records catalogue and expressed an interest in using the Attack label for the release of his records much as he did the HMV label when he was with EMI. We are very pleased to accommodate and hope that he will also find new artists to release on Attack. Attack Records will be a reflection of his creative vision and his exclusive domain. "
The Sanctuary Records Group's labels and artists include Rough Trade Records, Fantastic Plastic, Trojan Records, The Strokes, Spiritualized, The Libertines, Ween, Death In Vegas, British Sea Power, Pet Shop Boys, The Beatings, Tricky and The Futureheads.
From http://www.morrissey-solo.com/:
Sanctuary Records Group and Morrissey have announced that they have resurrected the Attack label to release the forthcoming new album by Morrissey.
The label will be distributed via BMG in the US, Pinnacle in the UK and Sanctuary Records Group's various distribution partners in the rest of the world.
The Attack label - part of the legendary Trojan Records family - released records by The Pioneers, Gregory Isaacs, The Upsetters, Big Youth and I Roy amongst many others between 1969 and 1980.
The Sanctuary Group Inc Chief Executive Officer Merck Mercuriadis commented, "Morrissey is one of the most important artists of the last 20 years and we are delighted that he has given us the opportunity to lead the charge on this significant next phase of his career with a deal that is as innovative as his music. Early on in our discussions Morrissey proved himself to be a connoisseur of our Trojan Records catalogue and expressed an interest in using the Attack label for the release of his records much as he did the HMV label when he was with EMI. We are very pleased to accommodate and hope that he will also find new artists to release on Attack. Attack Records will be a reflection of his creative vision and his exclusive domain. "
The Sanctuary Records Group's labels and artists include Rough Trade Records, Fantastic Plastic, Trojan Records, The Strokes, Spiritualized, The Libertines, Ween, Death In Vegas, British Sea Power, Pet Shop Boys, The Beatings, Tricky and The Futureheads.
Tags:
Morrissey
,
The Smiths
Monday, 25 August 2003
Frank Black And The Catholics: new single and album
From Sound Generator: Frank Black & The Catholics will be releasing a limited edition CD single, "Everything Is New" (FRYCD161) on 8th August, which is taken from the forthcoming album "Show Me Your Tears", due for release on 8th September. The album features guest appearances by Stan Ridgway, Joey Santiago (ex bandmate in the Pixies), Van Dyke Parks, Eric Drew Feldman, Rob Laufer, Jack Kidney, and the Pale Boys.
Tags:
Frank Black
,
Pixies
Tuesday, 19 August 2003
Steely Dan - Everything Must Go
The original inventors of sophisticated pop come back only three years after their magnificent return which followed a twenty years split, and this time it sounds like all those years have passed, after all...
Two Against Nature was an amazing comeback, they were as good as they never went away, it was just up there at the level of Aja and Gaucho. There were some songs, especially the superb final of the record with Negative Girl and West Of Hollywood, which made you wonder just how could human beings compose that music... were they aliens?
Well, Everything Must Go sounds more, like, human, sounds like a band finally distant from the ambition of the Seventies. It's still an excellent record, especially by anyone else's standards. Of course no one else can sound like this, I'm still convinced the only other one ever coming somewhere close to this quality of instrumental and melodic composition has been Prefab Sprout's Paddy McAloon, in his own way...
Anyway, by Steely Dan's standards, we were left with the stellar West Of Hollywood closing their last album, so it's a bit surprising listening to the very down to earth blues of The Last Mall as the opening of the new record. We had read the interviews, where they declared they wanted this to be a simpler thing and well, it really is. It's still sophisticated music (and very intelligent lyrics), but a lot simpler, it seems like they wanted to go back to their blues roots in their elder age, though luckily this shouldn't mark the end of their adventure, as the title of the album apparently refers to the recession of the Western economy...
There are still some songs at the level of their more ambitious music, like the touching Things I Miss The Most (like "the Audi TT... the hous on the gulf coast... the '54 Strat"), or Godwhacker ("you better get gone poppie, Godwhacker's on the case"), which sounds a bit like the follow up to Green Earrings... and Walter Becker, who already proved to be a good singer on his excellent solo album, 11 Tracks Of Whack, sings the wonderful Slang Of Ages.
Above all, there's the only song when they're truly at their most ambitious best, Pixeleen ("rave on my sleek and soulful cyberqueen"), which is worth the CD alone, it's really emotional. There's an absolutely excellent central part with a touching duet, when Donald Fagen and Carolyn Leonhart sing together "symmetrical and clean" and the sax comes in you'd really think you're hearing Steely Dan's best album., it doesn't sound like the same record including songs like Blues Beach, which are just plainly pleasant...
Of course you look at todays pop music, and this towers as an absolute masterwork, but you look at what they were able to do three years ago, and wht they did, at their age, on Pixeleen on this very album, and you just know Everything Must Go is a great album, but we can even expect more.
Rating: 8/10
Two Against Nature was an amazing comeback, they were as good as they never went away, it was just up there at the level of Aja and Gaucho. There were some songs, especially the superb final of the record with Negative Girl and West Of Hollywood, which made you wonder just how could human beings compose that music... were they aliens?
Well, Everything Must Go sounds more, like, human, sounds like a band finally distant from the ambition of the Seventies. It's still an excellent record, especially by anyone else's standards. Of course no one else can sound like this, I'm still convinced the only other one ever coming somewhere close to this quality of instrumental and melodic composition has been Prefab Sprout's Paddy McAloon, in his own way...
Anyway, by Steely Dan's standards, we were left with the stellar West Of Hollywood closing their last album, so it's a bit surprising listening to the very down to earth blues of The Last Mall as the opening of the new record. We had read the interviews, where they declared they wanted this to be a simpler thing and well, it really is. It's still sophisticated music (and very intelligent lyrics), but a lot simpler, it seems like they wanted to go back to their blues roots in their elder age, though luckily this shouldn't mark the end of their adventure, as the title of the album apparently refers to the recession of the Western economy...
There are still some songs at the level of their more ambitious music, like the touching Things I Miss The Most (like "the Audi TT... the hous on the gulf coast... the '54 Strat"), or Godwhacker ("you better get gone poppie, Godwhacker's on the case"), which sounds a bit like the follow up to Green Earrings... and Walter Becker, who already proved to be a good singer on his excellent solo album, 11 Tracks Of Whack, sings the wonderful Slang Of Ages.
Above all, there's the only song when they're truly at their most ambitious best, Pixeleen ("rave on my sleek and soulful cyberqueen"), which is worth the CD alone, it's really emotional. There's an absolutely excellent central part with a touching duet, when Donald Fagen and Carolyn Leonhart sing together "symmetrical and clean" and the sax comes in you'd really think you're hearing Steely Dan's best album., it doesn't sound like the same record including songs like Blues Beach, which are just plainly pleasant...
Of course you look at todays pop music, and this towers as an absolute masterwork, but you look at what they were able to do three years ago, and wht they did, at their age, on Pixeleen on this very album, and you just know Everything Must Go is a great album, but we can even expect more.
Rating: 8/10
Tags:
Steely Dan
Sunday, 10 August 2003
New Order DVDs to be released in America
As World In Motion reports, New Order are going to release 316 and 511, their live DVDs, in America. Tower Records offers three exclusive tracks to download when ordering both.
Tags:
New Order
Sunday, 3 August 2003
Marlene Kuntz - Senza Peso
I Marlene sono protagonisti, con questo CD, di un ritorno straordinario. Dopo Che Cosa Vedi, che aveva ottenuto un buon successo commerciale ma aveva diviso la critica e i fans più intransigenti, propongono uno di quei rari capolavori ben difficilmente discutibili, destinato a recuperare parecchi scettici e a convergere i consensi. L'aspetto migliore è che questo avviene senza neppure che ci sia un'intenzione particolare da parte del gruppo, se non quella di essere i Marlene Kuntz al meglio. La qualità e l'emozione sono assolutamente centrali rispetto ad ogni discorso di stile, ed è questo ciò che alla fine rende questo CD così essenziale.
Il ricordo torna all'unico album che se la può giocare con Senza Peso per essere il miglior album dei Marlene, Ho Ucciso Paranoia, che pure era stato preceduto da un singolo, L'Odio Migliore, che mi aveva lasciato perplesso, ma l'album si era rivelato il loro migliore in assoluto, riuscendo persino a superare Il Vile che ritenevo ineguagliabile. Canzoni come Infinità (tuttora la mia preferita dei Marlene), L'Abitudine, Questo E Altro, In Delirio, e mi fermo per non citarle tutte...
E così Senza Peso è preceduto da A Fior Di Pelle, che comunque dopo un po'di ascolti apprezzo un po'di più (inoltre il singolo è da avere almeno per la splendida B side, La Lezione Che Fece Male)... ma include gemme preziosissime, tra i loro momenti migliori... ci sono un altro paio di canzoni non del tutto coinvolgenti (Danza e Secondo Chi Vorrà), e una spora che forse poteva essere realizzata meglio...
Ma, signore e signori, inchiniamoci davanti all'inizio sublime di Senza Peso, con le chitarre di Sacrosanta Verità... all'intensissima Notte, che conferma che dietro questo album c'è un eccellente lavoro di produzione (qui siamo ben oltre PJ Harvey... o forse è semplicemente Berlino che porta fortuna, come a Bowie ed Eno, ma credo che dobbiamo anche salutare il ritorno di Marco Lega...), e non penso proprio che si possa dire che il passaggio integrale ad una major ha penalizzato il suono dei Marlene, perchè quest'album sarebbe potuto uscire tranquillamente per il Consorzio e non ha proprio nulla di commerciale...
E che dire della sconvolgente parte centrale dell'album? Schiele, Lei, Me è commovente, a un pelo dai livelli di Infinità. Ricordo è un altro brano di bellezza sconcertante, soprattutto a livello strumentale (molto bella anche la tastiera)... come in tutto l'album Riccardo, Luca e Dan fanno un ottimo lavoro per sostenere al meglio Cristiano. Questo attacco centrale all'ascoltatore, che non può che concludersi inevitabilmente con la vittoria dei Marlene, prosegue Con Lubricità, un pezzo dal groove straordinario impreziosito da atmosfere ipnotiche.
Quando arriva Laura, avvolgente ed emozionante, i capolavori presenti su questo album sono già più che sufficienti per renderlo un ottimo album, che se non è proprio bello in tutte le sue canzoni, quando è bello, è bello davvero, e tanto... i Marlene non si adagiano su uno standard consolidato, ma proseguono l'innovazione melodica di Che Cosa Vedi (già più che buono in alcuni suoi episodi), ma con esiti decisamente migliori, qualitativamente paragonabili solo a Ho Ucciso Paranoia, mentre raggiungono una perfezione pressochè completa a livello strumentale.
Se c'era qualcuno che immaginava una china discendente dovrà aspettare ancora un bel po', i Marlene sono in ottima salute e semmai hanno "rischiato" di toccare il loro vertice creativo proprio con Senza Peso.
Voto: 9/10
E così Senza Peso è preceduto da A Fior Di Pelle, che comunque dopo un po'di ascolti apprezzo un po'di più (inoltre il singolo è da avere almeno per la splendida B side, La Lezione Che Fece Male)... ma include gemme preziosissime, tra i loro momenti migliori... ci sono un altro paio di canzoni non del tutto coinvolgenti (Danza e Secondo Chi Vorrà), e una spora che forse poteva essere realizzata meglio...
Ma, signore e signori, inchiniamoci davanti all'inizio sublime di Senza Peso, con le chitarre di Sacrosanta Verità... all'intensissima Notte, che conferma che dietro questo album c'è un eccellente lavoro di produzione (qui siamo ben oltre PJ Harvey... o forse è semplicemente Berlino che porta fortuna, come a Bowie ed Eno, ma credo che dobbiamo anche salutare il ritorno di Marco Lega...), e non penso proprio che si possa dire che il passaggio integrale ad una major ha penalizzato il suono dei Marlene, perchè quest'album sarebbe potuto uscire tranquillamente per il Consorzio e non ha proprio nulla di commerciale...
E che dire della sconvolgente parte centrale dell'album? Schiele, Lei, Me è commovente, a un pelo dai livelli di Infinità. Ricordo è un altro brano di bellezza sconcertante, soprattutto a livello strumentale (molto bella anche la tastiera)... come in tutto l'album Riccardo, Luca e Dan fanno un ottimo lavoro per sostenere al meglio Cristiano. Questo attacco centrale all'ascoltatore, che non può che concludersi inevitabilmente con la vittoria dei Marlene, prosegue Con Lubricità, un pezzo dal groove straordinario impreziosito da atmosfere ipnotiche.
Quando arriva Laura, avvolgente ed emozionante, i capolavori presenti su questo album sono già più che sufficienti per renderlo un ottimo album, che se non è proprio bello in tutte le sue canzoni, quando è bello, è bello davvero, e tanto... i Marlene non si adagiano su uno standard consolidato, ma proseguono l'innovazione melodica di Che Cosa Vedi (già più che buono in alcuni suoi episodi), ma con esiti decisamente migliori, qualitativamente paragonabili solo a Ho Ucciso Paranoia, mentre raggiungono una perfezione pressochè completa a livello strumentale.
Se c'era qualcuno che immaginava una china discendente dovrà aspettare ancora un bel po', i Marlene sono in ottima salute e semmai hanno "rischiato" di toccare il loro vertice creativo proprio con Senza Peso.
Voto: 9/10
Tags:
Marlene Kuntz
Upcoming compilation of music produced by New Order
LTM Records is going to release a new compilation in October, titled Cool As Ice, featuring bands produced by New Order like Section 25, Quando Quango (of future M People leader, DJ and Deconstruction founder Mike Pickering), 52nd Street, and even Thick Pigeon which were rumoured to be drummer Steve Morris and keyboardist Gillian Gilbert themselves, a sort of earlier incarnation of The Other Two... See details on this page of The Crepuscule And Factory Pages: http://home.planet.nl/~frankbri/ltm2377.html
Paddy McAloon - I Trawl The Megahertz
Prefab Sprout have always been a truly special band, their leader Paddy McAloon is one of the greatest geniuses contemporary music has ever had, creating original, intelligent, sophisticated and emotional pop songs, taking much further, in an Eighties post-new wave enviroment, Steely Dan's intuitions about pop being accessible and yet amazing through unpredictable chord changes, soul and jazz attitude and rich instrumentation. His music is where you can hear Burt Bacharach, Stevie Wonder and The Go-Betweens (and much more) at the same time.
There is also a soundtrack element in many Prefab Sprout songs, the tunes and the way they're orchestrated wouldn't be out of place as an intense score for a movie, and while Prefab Sprout's more recent releases were made more and more of perfectly well formed pop songs about love, this first Paddy McAloon solo album is mostly instrumental, magnificently orchestrated and finally reveals the genius as the potentially greatest soundtrack writer ever, the dream of a movie director... if I made a movie I'd write a contract with my blood to have music like this scoring it.
There have been many rumours in the past of McAloon having hours and hours of unreleased adventurous music projects, like a box set about the history of the world, or an instrumental album called I Trawl The Megahertz about voices from the radio. At some point it was believed they were just legends and there was nothing true. Well, now we have this album and we can see at least one rumour was founded. Here there aren't pop songs, this is contemporary music of the highest quality.
The concept behind the album is really emotional and I'd let explain it to the words of Mc Aloon himself, from the booklet of the CD:
Paddy Mc Aloon: I Trawl The Megahertz seems to be a portrait of a woman who is trying to make sense of her life by reviewing selected memories. She is like someone with their hand on a radio dial, tuning into distant stations, listening to fragments of different broadcasts... In 1999 I went through a period of ill health that meant I was unable to write music in my usual manner... the problem was eye surgery followed by shingles followed by eye surgery... so, unable even to read I passed the time by listening to and taping all kinds of TV and radio programmes, concentrating on phone-ins, phrases that originated in different time zones and different frequencies would team up to make new and oddly affecting sentences... it was organising what I had collected into something that was part love song and part lament. Have you an idea how many sad stories are floating over the airwaves after midnight?
So we have the touching title track, 22 minutes long, with a superb orchestration, a really melancholic theme recurring and evolving and the voice of Yvonne Connors reading phrases which speak of really sad and poetic stories... "I said: your daddy loves you very much, he just doesn't want to live with us anymore" or "Oblivious to the opinions of neighbours I will bark to the moon like a dog"...
This masterpiece is followed by wonderful shorter tracks which are entirely instrumental, where sometimes a theme returns but mostly there are amazing melodic evolutions, they have all great orchestral performances and reveal McAloon as the Morricone of the 21st century.
Anyway there are two more tracks with voices, one is I'm 49, which seems like an appendix of the title track, voices from the radio start saying "Do you feel completely abandoned and lost? What's wrong? I'm 49, divorced...".
The other track is Sleeping Rough, and this time the voice is the sublime voice of Paddy McAloon, singing "I'm lost... I'll grow a long and silver beard... and let it reach my knees. I'm lost... and duty will not track me down... asleep among the trees", and while we see now the beard has finally gone, at the turn of the millennium he actually did grow a very long and silver beard...
Believe me, it's one of the most touching moments in music history, the melody, the lyrics and the way he sings, rarely music has seen such emotional music... I think of Billie Holiday singing I'm A Fool To Want You at the end of her glorious but troubled life, or Bjork singing Scatterheart in Dancer In The Dark... I don't think there's anything else that can be compared to this. Sleeping Rough is an unvaluable precious gem, it's just a pity it won't be heard from the pop masses usually purchasing Prefab Sprout albums.
Mc Aloon says this album is a one off, he doesn't plan a solo career, he's working on the next Prefab Sprout album, and while I can't wait for it to listen again to their perfect pop I also hope more of those legendary solo works will surface one day, if only they're as good as a small fraction of I Trawl The Megahertz it's unfair they stay unreleased.
Rating: 9/10
There is also a soundtrack element in many Prefab Sprout songs, the tunes and the way they're orchestrated wouldn't be out of place as an intense score for a movie, and while Prefab Sprout's more recent releases were made more and more of perfectly well formed pop songs about love, this first Paddy McAloon solo album is mostly instrumental, magnificently orchestrated and finally reveals the genius as the potentially greatest soundtrack writer ever, the dream of a movie director... if I made a movie I'd write a contract with my blood to have music like this scoring it.
There have been many rumours in the past of McAloon having hours and hours of unreleased adventurous music projects, like a box set about the history of the world, or an instrumental album called I Trawl The Megahertz about voices from the radio. At some point it was believed they were just legends and there was nothing true. Well, now we have this album and we can see at least one rumour was founded. Here there aren't pop songs, this is contemporary music of the highest quality.
The concept behind the album is really emotional and I'd let explain it to the words of Mc Aloon himself, from the booklet of the CD:
Paddy Mc Aloon: I Trawl The Megahertz seems to be a portrait of a woman who is trying to make sense of her life by reviewing selected memories. She is like someone with their hand on a radio dial, tuning into distant stations, listening to fragments of different broadcasts... In 1999 I went through a period of ill health that meant I was unable to write music in my usual manner... the problem was eye surgery followed by shingles followed by eye surgery... so, unable even to read I passed the time by listening to and taping all kinds of TV and radio programmes, concentrating on phone-ins, phrases that originated in different time zones and different frequencies would team up to make new and oddly affecting sentences... it was organising what I had collected into something that was part love song and part lament. Have you an idea how many sad stories are floating over the airwaves after midnight?
So we have the touching title track, 22 minutes long, with a superb orchestration, a really melancholic theme recurring and evolving and the voice of Yvonne Connors reading phrases which speak of really sad and poetic stories... "I said: your daddy loves you very much, he just doesn't want to live with us anymore" or "Oblivious to the opinions of neighbours I will bark to the moon like a dog"...
This masterpiece is followed by wonderful shorter tracks which are entirely instrumental, where sometimes a theme returns but mostly there are amazing melodic evolutions, they have all great orchestral performances and reveal McAloon as the Morricone of the 21st century.
Anyway there are two more tracks with voices, one is I'm 49, which seems like an appendix of the title track, voices from the radio start saying "Do you feel completely abandoned and lost? What's wrong? I'm 49, divorced...".
The other track is Sleeping Rough, and this time the voice is the sublime voice of Paddy McAloon, singing "I'm lost... I'll grow a long and silver beard... and let it reach my knees. I'm lost... and duty will not track me down... asleep among the trees", and while we see now the beard has finally gone, at the turn of the millennium he actually did grow a very long and silver beard...
Believe me, it's one of the most touching moments in music history, the melody, the lyrics and the way he sings, rarely music has seen such emotional music... I think of Billie Holiday singing I'm A Fool To Want You at the end of her glorious but troubled life, or Bjork singing Scatterheart in Dancer In The Dark... I don't think there's anything else that can be compared to this. Sleeping Rough is an unvaluable precious gem, it's just a pity it won't be heard from the pop masses usually purchasing Prefab Sprout albums.
Mc Aloon says this album is a one off, he doesn't plan a solo career, he's working on the next Prefab Sprout album, and while I can't wait for it to listen again to their perfect pop I also hope more of those legendary solo works will surface one day, if only they're as good as a small fraction of I Trawl The Megahertz it's unfair they stay unreleased.
Rating: 9/10
Tags:
Paddy McAloon
,
Prefab Sprout
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