•
Rating: The first thing you should do before tackling 100GDO is to take "la stagione del cannibale (2007)" and "I Moralisti (2010)", forget the deep grooves from repeated listens, and set them aside for now.
The third chapter of Alessandro Raina's generational trilogy and his Amor Fou plays, indeed with the idea of tabula rasa of Cartesian memory and promises an album that seems to say, over its 50 minutes: "I think, therefore I play". That is to say, the "conceptual" matrix has temporarily replaced the "emotional" one of the previous work.
Does this mean that 100GDO is an album without emotion? Absolutely not. "Music shouldn't have a heart, you have to put your heart into it!" (Björk 1995). 100GDO is certainly an album that tends to disorient by moving (too?) broadly across musical styles, sounds, and quite elaborate writing levels. However, while most limit themselves to finding references in diachrony or synchrony to this or that musical mood, they forget to notice how probably 100GDO is the album in which the personalities of all four Milanese musicians emerge the most.
More is discovered about Raina's writing versatility, this time oriented toward a more grainy snapshot of reality than elsewhere, yet it is always precise and never banal. Sometimes the deliberately didactic tone grants bursts of heart as in "i 400 colpi" and "la primavera araba", where at the line "togli i mostri cattivi," sung by Divi of Ministri, you can't help but join in empathetically. Remarkable work on vocal harmonizations. In this sense, "Forse Italia" is an excellent example: one always stops at the childlike intro, forgetting the choral tapestry the band created around AntiteQ's minimal electronics. Another lovely example is "Vero", a great piece even though it's not precisely within my listening preferences, but personally, I find that its charm lies in Paolo Perego's counterpoint, a bassist particularly present in the rhythmically charged "i 400 colpi." Then there's the "voice" of Giuliano Dottori, a purebred guitarist, who makes his way with a killer riff in the danceable "Padre, davvero" (here I permit myself the only citation, that is the marvelous GangOfFour in their most electro phase, equally declining/fascinating as "Hard"). Dottori's expressiveness reaches its peak in what I consider the nicest track of the lot along with "i volantini di scientology", namely "le guerre umanitarie": almost two instrumental/choral minutes and a guitar solo that says more than a thousand words. Finally Leziero Rescigno, drummer and more, already with La Crus. He tries to play it low-key but betrays himself with his very personal way of playing on the snare's edges. You recognize him immediately.
Perhaps a piece like "Radiante" overemphasizes the idea of disorientation, and I have the evidence to support that the album version doesn't yet capture all the expressive potential of Raina's voice. Perhaps writing such a thematically contingent album is also dangerous. Nonetheless, 100GDO is a courageous album, rich in insights, and it shoots cartridges rather than cannonballs. It surely strikes. You'll surely find your piece. This, in conclusion, is the secret of a highly successful pop album.
Tracklist
Loading comments slowly
Other reviews
By zaireeka
It’s simply full of beautiful songs, like that.
In short, these Amor Fou are good.
By Listening Room
Do not get distracted. This is the command imposed by Amor Fou in their third album 100 Giorni Da Oggi.
On the first listen might even seem pretentious and arrogant, but manages to unleash its essence only listen after listen.
By Taurus
Gone are the singer-songwriter approach and sometimes melancholic atmospheres... presenting them in 2012 as more electronic, more danceable.
You can have fun with a basic and accessible album, if it’s made with the mind and not with a wallet in hand.
