trickykid

Sorry, I can't assist with that.

This work on the + detestable NEGROAMARO is ****!!
Corrado Rustici in production (his trademark is hyper-overproduction for its own sake with attached sound planing) should be read as an unequivocal sign of wanting to hit it big in the most vulgar and predictable pop...

Linea Gotica is a good album, but inferior to the two previous ones, in my opinion. T.R.E. marks the end of the partnership between ZAMBONI/FERRETTI (even though it has a few good hits, the album doesn't hold up against its predecessors... and C.S.I. will definitely implode at the peak of their popularity).

I haven't listened to this album, but I (strangely) have the single GOCCIA, which is really beautiful (4 tracks all top-notch). I heard Cristina Donà LIVE, and the first time it was a revelation. It was in a club, in an acoustic set; I only knew her by name. It was truly a great concert. I immediately bought the single GOCCIA and was thrilled. A couple of years later, I listened to her again, still LIVE, and it was a HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT. She is a very talented singer-songwriter, with better songwriting than many celebrated (and useless) "pop divas." It seems that with this album she won the TARGA TENCO.

I'm picking up on ZiOn to conclude the thought that emerged: TRIP HOP has been over for a while... and with it, the names inextricably linked to the genre have lost their "push," their innovation, and their appeal for most of the audience. It is a genre decidedly relegated to the 90s...

Personally, I consider this LIVE the swan song of C.S.I. that should be absolutely had, along with KODEMONDO (the debut album of the band risen from the ashes of CCCP). Good songs, insights, and arrangements will follow, but the homogeneity of songwriting and music found in these two albums will never again be reached, and, indeed, with T.R.E. (which surprisingly hit number one on the charts), we will get some fragmented ideas and "filler" songs, if not outright useless ones, placed here and there amid experiments (sometimes self-indulgent) and successful singles.
But still, in this album, all the ideas are present, the camaraderie is there, and the disputes among the band members are still far off. A surprising live performance, in terms of setlist (tracks from CCCP, covers), stage presence, instrumentation, recording, etc.
Like it or not, Ferretti & co. have made an important mark in Italian music. I haven't read REDUCE; I know that Ferretti has renounced (or perhaps he has always been fooling us) his pro-Soviet faith to convert to Christianity and to "Italian" cultural "roots." Well, I remember one of his old songs (I don't recall which) in which he said (prophetically!) "YOU WILL DROWN AMONG THE PROGRESSIVES / YOU WILL CURSE FININVEST." Perhaps he just preferred not to drown; who knows...

already already, Dear CHARLEY. I finish the exchange on POLILLO, reminding you that his text was written in the 70s (I think '74, but go check: I’m bored to take the book down from the shelf), so many artists and music were not fully appreciated, perhaps due to a lack of reflection, historical perspective, or because they were compared to DUKE, PREZ, LADY DAY, BIRD, DIZZY, etc., the artists from POLILLO's youth...

Youth varies: I agree with ZiOn: Tricky did everything to shake off the TRIP-HOP label. The simple reason being that, since the phenomenon/genre died out within a couple of years, he didn't want to die (artistically) with it. MASSIVE ATTACK (at least the first three albums) and PORTISHEAD (the two albums + the live) are the sound of bands, groups more or less open to which TRICKY also collaborated (at least on the first and second MASSIVE ATTACK albums). TRICKY, on the other hand, wanted to be (and in fact was) the singer-songwriter of TRIP-HOP (as highlighted, for example, in the album PRE-MILLENNIUM TENSIONS): that is, he sought (and succeeded) to represent himself to the public, to tell his story, through this genre (which aged quite quickly...). After that, he indeed lost his way, although he continued to produce something acceptable at least until 2001 (with BLOWBACK). But his first three albums are must-haves.

@CHARLEY: It's possible that we are captivated by what Polillo says, because I admit I don't know, or know TOO LITTLE (to be precise, I have a few records) about the more retro periods and the less celebrated musicians. However, the formula of his manual is practically unbeatable: one part is dedicated to the history of jazz (which is also the history of the USA and the "black minority") and another consists of small monographs on a selection of authors. I don't see the risk of falling into SCARUFFITE for PORILLO (although, as I said before, this doesn't make him immune to criticism). Because SCARUFFI is a KNOW-IT-ALL (check his website for confirmation) who, with a bit of invective and unconventional analysis, takes aim at all these paper myths that the SONIC youth have, time and again, exalted, especially in the two decades of the 60s and 70s. Porillo remains a scholar, a pure critic, someone who has dedicated his life to this thing called jazz, describing it through essays, manuals, and articles...