• Voto:
"Mia madre non mi ha mai detto che l'amore e' uno sport sanguinario" (Chris Corner)
Gia', e la mia non mi ha mai avvertito che e' difficile resistere ai luoghi comuni.
Faccio un esempio: diciamo che negli anni '90 nell'ambiente elettronico a farla da padrone e' il Trip-Hop e prendiamo due ragazzi (che poi diventeranno quattro) di Reading, Inghilterra con una passione per la nobile arte del Disc-Jocking (passatemi il neo-logismo) e una viscerale attrazione per i Depeche Mode, pensiamo che dopo un po' di underground in vari club e cantine riescano a metter su un progetto e per renderlo appetibile(dati i tempi) spruzzino qua e la sonorita' trippy e affidino il cantato a una dolce donzella come vuole la moda del tempo (1996).
Incredibile a dirsi ma se dentro l'album in questione (Becoming X) la canzone di punta si chiama "6 Underground" il gioco e' fatto: passaggi in Heavy-rotation, un jingle pubblicitario, la presenza in una colonna sonora (Il Santo) e una collaborazione, con un altro pezzo, con il Reverendo Manson nella colonna sonora di "Spawn", si, insomma, le cose vanno bene… e poi… e poi.. e poi niente gli anni '90 finiscono, il Millenium Bug porta via con se il dominio dei club calcistici italiani in Europa, il grunge e anche il Trip-Hop.
Peccato che i nostri di queste origini ne abbiano ben poche ma il rischio di collassare con tutto il sistema e' grande, e poi si sa, anatomicamente e mentalmente la verginita' non si ricrea, ma i nostri ci provano lo stesso: allora via Kelly Dayton(la cantante), che a dire la verita' mal si adattava al suono del gruppo e al suo posto il fondatore Chris Corner, ben piu' adatto all' interpretazione delle proprie liriche e Liam Howe (l'altro giovanotto di cui si parlava prima) di nuovo ad un lavoro piu' da tastierista che da disc-jockey.
Ma ormai la frittata e' fatta e i Sneaker Pimps gia' belli archiviati (e dimenticati) nel calderone Trip-hop… Una disdetta, perche' i lavori successivi degli ex Frisk qualcosa da dire pur ce l'hanno: infatti, se comunque non e' presente in questi un cambio trascendentale di suono, l'abilita' nel muoversi nell'elettronica e una ricerca piu' articolata nelle melodie fanno si che un calore nuovo avvolga i nuovi lavori. Il risultato e' che la voce piu' duttile di Corner e un arrangiamento finalmente un po' meno "artificiale" e piu' strumentale contraddistinguono sia "Splinter"(1999) e, soprattutto, "Bloodsport" (2002).
Qui scattano i miei dolori: "quale recensire prima?", beh! Dopo un rapido esame di coscienza prendo atto che il "su e giu'" emozionale che propone il secondo lo rende favorito in una mia potenziale scala affettiva. "Su e giu'" emozionale si diceva e in effetti quello che si nota gia' ad un primo ascolto e' il costante cambiamento d' umore da una track all' altra, se infatti il suono rimane sempre in ambiente dark-elettronico (ampi riferimenti ai gia' citati Depeche Mode, ai Joy Division ma anche ai Cocteau Twins) ci sono canzoni come "Loretta Young Silks" che propongono ritornelli accattivanti, ma anche pezzi come "Small Town Witch" e la stessa title-track che invece puntano piu' su "rebounds" ritmici, si orecchiabili ma sicuramente intrisi di una malinconia che ha il suo apice nella bellissima "Grazes".
Altra caratteristica fondamentale di questo lavoro e' il suono uptempo che lo riveste, da prima aggressivamente (le iniziali "Kiro Tv" e "Sick") per poi attenuarsi gradualmente nel corso dell'opera, fino a diventare un contorno che serve solo a contestualizzare meglio un lavoro che altrimenti suonerebbe un po' troppo retro'. Dentro a questo apparente concept spicca la diversita' di "Fuel", canzone che propone ritmi veramente taglienti e in cui si nota una certa riverenza per il sound di Gore & co., ma il bello e' che rimane appunto citazione e non sicuramente plagio. Molto interessanti le liriche che per lo piu' parlano di frustrazioni sentimentali e si trovano bene nell' ambiente musicale costruito dal quartetto inglese.
Insomma, un album diverso, poco convenzionale ma sicuramente non ostico, in cui ci trova spesso a battere il tempo involontariamente, grazie ai vari riferimenti dance che comunque si trovano abbondanti ma mai invadenti.
Purtroppo, come gia' detto, il disco non ebbe troppa fortuna commerciale, anche se registro' qualche buona critica, ma forse allora (e probabilmente anche adesso) i tempi eran poco adatti. per fortuna l'LP non corre il rischio di invecchiare precocemente percio' resta in paziente attesa, intanto Corner ha intrapreso un altro progetto chiamato "IAMX" e chissa' che un giorno…
Elenco tracce testi e video
01 Kiro TV (03:46)
Ok, you had sedatives and cold champagne
They say 'that must be the price of fame'
It's not a joke if you can choke on the thought of it
You're not my friend to defend if you're loving it
So Kurt I heard that you squeezed somebody's hand
It doesn't hurt if you think about your fans
Kiro TV
They've got their visions again like it's oxygen
Kiro TV
They've got their visions again like it's oxygen
Kiro TV
They've got their visions again like it's oxygen
Kiro TV
They've got their visions again want your heroes dead
So high, if you think of the fans
So high, if you think of the fans
Ok, they got your file down at the CIA.
They say you're worse than Manson for the USA
It's not grief if you can see through the source of it
It's only true if you're bruised by the force of it
So Kurt I heard that you opened up your eyes
They call it work but it don't make it civilised
Kiro TV
They've got their visions again like it's oxygen
Kiro TV
They've got their visions again want your heroes dead
Ok, time takes your cigarette
They say it puts it in your mouth then you'll forget
No longer "live 105" can you hear me
The life expectancy of any popularity
So Kurt I heard that the side-show bet your life
It doesn't hurt but the worst go nevermind
Kiro TV
They've got their visions again like it's oxygen
Kiro TV
They've got their visions again like it's oxygen
Kiro TV
They've got their visions again like it's oxygen
Kiro TV
They've got their visions again want your heroes dead
Kiro TV
Kiro TV
Kiro TV
They've got their visions again like it's oxygen
Kiro TV
They've got their visions again want your heroes dead
So high, if you think of the fans
So high, if you think of the fans
02 Sick (04:16)
i'm playing games with your sex, with your 'lectric shocks
learn to let myself loose and be the dummy in your snapshots
i'm playing games learn to get on with your backward fans
stick my body in the sun and help to get rid of the white tan
And maybe then you wouldn't get so sick of me
And maybe then you wouldn't get so sick of me
And maybe then you wouldn't get so sick of me
And maybe then you wouldn't get so sick of me
i'm playing games, marking names with the blackest thoughts
if you're building me up to be the target for your cheap shots
i'm playing games keep a blind eye on the main chance
strip my body of its skin and try to cancel out the white trash
And maybe then you wouldn't get so sick of me
And maybe then you wouldn't get so sick of me
And maybe then you wouldn't get so sick of me
And maybe then you wouldn't get so sick of me
i'm playing games if your aim is for the quick fix
cos I know what you wanted and i know how you got it
i'm playing games if you play i'm in the fast lane
learn to jump into the road and learn to save a little lost face
And maybe then you wouldn't get so sick of me
And maybe then you wouldn't get so sick of me
And maybe then you wouldn't get so sick of me
And maybe then you wouldn't get so sick of me
04 Black Sheep (04:02)
Don't look now, we're branded, we're the black sheep
Sewn apart and Siamese � the black sheep
When the water seems too deep
The shadows always wait beneath
But laughing loud we brave the role of black sheep
If you see me you'll be crossing the street
Or kick me and then leave me to bleed
If looks could kill wouldn't need all the pills
But I take what it needs to be easy with the black
sheep now
Don't look now, we're stranded here as black sheep
Swallowed whole and out of reach � the black sheep
Unsafe enough for now
We're shepherded from higher ground
But drowned all out we save the role of black sheep
If you see me you'll be crossing the street
Or kick me and then leave me to bleed
If looks could kill wouldn't need all the pills
But I take what it needs to be easy with the black
sheep now
05 Loretta Young Silks (06:00)
Got answers for everyone - endless excuses
Not habit for anyone cos I'm trying to break your click track heart
Seen a vision of perfect grace - airbrushed and lifeless
All contempt and aftertaste, it's like I'm waiting for the scars to heal
You sew Loretta Young Silks - fashioning your self-escape
You sew Loretta Young Silks - trading on yoursuperwaif
All style before content - using me as bait
You sew Loretta Young Silks - swapping your love for hate
Soft-focus for full appeal - pictured as flawless
No context for self-esteem - I'd be pushed to give you love on that
As far as the eye can see - too much perfection
Pure substance for wannabes - keeps you beating to a click track heart
You sew Loretta Young Silks - fashioning your self-escape
You sew Loretta Young Silks - trading on your superwaif
All style before content - using me as bait
You sew Loretta Young Silks - swapping your love for hate
07 The Fuel (04:52)
I've got the fuel in my head from the flash, I need to break sweat
I've got the feeling I might get offensive, I might be some threat
I want back doors, want blood on the sheets again
Give me back doors, give me blood on sheets again
I feel the fuel like a thorn, cuts in deep
I want to see cheap
Like a rose on a bed without scent I need my self-respect
For shames sake by any other name
When the seeds take, it grows like weeds and spreads like flames
I've got the fuel but the fuel got me burning me up when it fires again, fires again
I've got the fuel but the fuel got me
Bringing me off when it cools again, cools again, cools again, cools again
I've got the fuel but the fuel got me burning me up when it fires again, fires again
I've got the fuel but the fuel got me
Bringing me off when it cools again, cools again, cools again, cools again
10 Blue Movie (04:10)
Get on that gospel train for my lord is coming soon
Get on that gospel train for my lord is coming soon
So you had me going too, any day I've the taste just laughed
On a week of solar wing, getting off on electro-flesh
All the boys and all the girls, making out and taking turns
The sound was going down, I could see how Jesus wept
Get on that gospel train for my lord has come too soon
Watching movies, true blue movies
Get on that gospel train for my lord has come too soon
Watching movies, true blue movies
Exposure on a TV screen, technicolour rainbow kiss
Bruises on his solarplex, baby faced the biting lips
All the boys and all the girls, cutting nice with instant thrills
Insects on incest friends, heaven dressed the Judas spit
Get on that gospel train for my lord has come too soon
Watching movies, true blue movies
Get on that gospel train for my lord has come too soon
Watching movies, true blue movies
So whatever happened to love talk and polite remarks
Mind willing and her body weak, she's a star in a galaxy of real go fast
I'm the boy on all the girls, taking off their Bible belts
Storm girls on self destruct, and I can see how Jesus felt
Get on that gospel train for my lord has come too soon
Watching movies, true blue movies
Get on that gospel train for my lord has come too soon
Watching movies, true blue movies
Get on that gospel train for my lord has come too soon
Watching movies, true blue movies
Get on that gospel train for my lord has come too soon
Watching movies, true blue movies
Get on that gospel train for my lord is coming soon
Get on that gospel train for my lord is coming soon
Get on that gospel train for my lord is coming soon
Get on that gospel train for my lord is coming soon
Carico i commenti... con calma
