ilpanes

The three in the review shouldn't be taken as an offense, I assure you, it's just that I don't like the idea of addressing the pj directly... or rather, I would prefer if it continued until the end... (well, let's just say it's a matter of tastes...)

no... the internal album isn’t vespertinian, only the piece I mentioned! the album in general is more amnesiac-like, or rather, pyramidsong-like... @azzo: in my opinion, Mann is much less dark than this record. Also, the fact that a song is sung differently is half the work for me! I don’t know... it doesn't seem to me the same kind of spirituality as Patti Smith... anyway, if the issue is the 'how', this 'how' seems really great to me. It’s a matter of taste, obviously, but I don’t agree with Odradek when he defines the album as too linear. I think he confuses linearity with solidity and unity, which are qualities to appreciate. Then... after a 'commercial' record like 'stories...' and a thunderous return to the past like 'uh huh her', I mean, after two albums with high appeal for the rock crowd, releasing a record like this seems to me a choice anything but prudent. And I’m talking specifically about the 'how'... the essential nature of pieces that are hard to digest for regular fans, and the stripping of atmospheres which, watch out azzo, is not a shift to unplugged, but a different use of post-production, which is nonetheless very very present.

I admit, at first listen this album left me perplexed... but then I had to change my mind! There’s no Santa Patti (who, in my opinion, was more evoked in certain tracks from the previous 'Uh huh her'), rather I found some references to Blessed (?) Sinead (especially in the singing and harmonies of 'the devil'). I also found echoes in the atmosphere of Radiohead’s 'Amnesiac' (the stunning 'grow grow grow'). There are even nods to Nico in the magnificent 'broken harp', which manages to blend the disorienting coldness of Warhol's heroine with musical solutions closer to Bjork’s 'Vespertine' (I’m talking about the chorus ‘can you forgive me’, which closely resembles the repeated ‘she loves him’ in ‘pagan poetry’). In short, absolutely no Fiona, Tori, Aimee... The use of the piano isn’t exactly genius, but it’s cleverly employed as a disorienting accompaniment to a voice that proves (if there was still any doubt) to be one of the most evocative in modern music. For me, 'White chalk' deserves top marks, not foreign to the art of its creator (from a certain point of view, 'Is this desire?' was a precursor) and very brave in abandoning the electric guitar, the instrument most closely identified with Polly. A perfect album for winter (it arrives at the right time), to be listened to perhaps in the car, at night, while it’s raining outside...

Well, the premise is actually a bit clever, and it’s even more clever because you’ve also preemptively shielded yourself from a possible accusation of cleverness... when it comes to how the review is written, there’s nothing to say; if only there were more people who wrote like this! As for the music on the album, I can’t express myself since I’m not familiar with either the series or the singer in question... the premises don’t seem that great anyway... if the songs are in the style of the "artist" Avril Lavigne, and moreover they’re the soundtrack of a teen TV show, the risk that they are among the most contrived things in the world is very high! Your final comment, that it’s not bad for a serial soundtrack, sounds more like: music already heard, but since they spent quite a bit to produce it, it ends up being pleasant... a concept far from what I mean by music!

Ah... nice cover with the village of the damned!

Anyway, gustavotanz, you deserve a good grade for your desire to review something unique on Debaser, not the usual Nirvana album!

The Tiromancino discourse is a bit particular... as far as I'm concerned, I find the early experiments unbearable... back then, there were those who experimented better and with more taste. So I started to appreciate Zampaglione from 'La descrizione di un attimo'. For me, the guy generally writes beautiful songs ('La descrizione di un attimo', 'I giorni migliori', 'È necessario'), and he has also managed to write above-average songs ('Per me è importante' is one of the best Italian love songs in recent years). However, I've never found an album of his that I liked completely—first for the monotone and atonal voice (if he limited himself to writing, he would do himself a favor), second for the lack of imagination in the melodies, which are really too repetitive (so much so that there is very little difference between him and his former collaborator Riccardo Sinigallia in terms of song structure). Then the latest single is a shameless plagiarism of 'Vita' by Dalla and Morandi. Sing it over, it's the same! He really shouldn't have done that!

just the best of nirvana. less commercial and teenage than in the past. the review is indeed quite unoriginal.

Well, well... (but did you know it’s pronounced bièrk in Icelandic?) diaeresis or not... the review is very nice, even if I don't agree with much of the content. The album is definitely the least successful of Björk, the one that brings the least innovation... but that doesn't make it a bad album: after all, brilliant ideas are brilliant because they are rare; we can't expect an artist to remain brilliant forever, let’s just be happy that the elf (is there even a word for elf?) has practically managed to create a new genre, and let her rest for a moment on her well-deserved laurels (if the results are like 'Volta'... well, we could use more of those!). Then, I don't agree with your judgment on Timbaland, a producer who is anything but trivial (the work he did on 'Innocence' is perfect...), perhaps critiquable because he imposes his brand too heavily on what he works on, somewhat distorting the identity of the artists he produces. I can’t understand how you can call 'Earth Intruders' nothing transcendent; for me, it’s one of the best tracks on the album, and also in Björk's production: unstoppable, compelling, ironic... beautiful beautiful beautiful! 'Vertebrae by Vertebrae' is for me one of the highest peaks of the album, so raw, merciless, martial... it continues along the line of the more extreme experimentation found in certain compositions from 'Medúlla' (I’m thinking of 'Where Is the Line') or in some b-sides from 'Vespertine' ('Foot Soldier', 'Verandi'). In a 'pop' album like 'Volta', it’s tracks like 'Vertebrae by Vertebrae' and 'Declare Independence' that make the difference, really pushing beyond the boundaries of the genre... on two things I agree with you: 'The Dull Flame of Desire' and 'Wanderlust' certainly add nothing to the art of our Björk; indeed, they have less substance than many b-sides from the golden years... wow, I talk a lot!

Guys, it’s not true! Tell me that Westerns aren't coming back in style!!! Judging by Debaser, yes... with Django and 'Doc' Pieraccioni one right after the other... Anyway, I've already said this elsewhere and I’ll repeat myself: is it really possible for an Asian to remake this film? What could he have found in it? Sukiyaki Western Django, directed by Miike Takashi and with Quentin Tarantino playing (Pi)Ringo, demands a long moment of reflection...