azzo

Where to drive? Instead, I drink a lot; can you drive for me too?

Drink less beer, you, let alone two in the morning...

Premised that I don't believe Brondi needs defending from me, but since I threw the stone, and after about ten months, he's the only one who is holding onto his 5... Randomly: partly Cap, you are right, there are a couple of things that don’t add up 1) built? Come on, let’s not say nonsense: this is a twenty-year-old who started singing his songs and drove Canali crazy until he wore him out to work together. He didn't go to Caterina Caselli or Morgan. He picked up the guitar and played dozens of concerts, moving around in his Uno and with a little backpack, sleeping wherever he ended up. Why did he become famous? Very simple: because he’s good and word of mouth still works, thank God, more than Myspace 2) the comment from the blogger that you adopted is quite idiotic. Brondi's writing style is just that: images captured in short sentences. After all, he grew up on bread and Ferretti. He’ll have to change it, because it will get boring. But in the album, there are dozens of beautiful images. Does he appeal to teenage girls? Well, then let’s return to the old wise man discussion. My thirty/fourty-something friends and I have all found things that captured our lives, like we hadn’t in years, perhaps since the last albums of Csi (yes, of course some Afta and some Marlene from a decade ago too) @ Ale: you are absolutely right about the point that Italian music must be, without the adjective Italian. However. However, you must have seen that I posted at 4, coming back from a night in Mantova (where Cap saw 3 happy people..) to see three Italian bands. The first played the usual post derived from Chicago Touch & Go, the second were identical to At The Drive In (who have been broken up for about 8 years). Finally, the Agathas, who I find quite likable, are still a chaotic mix of L7 and Babes in Toyland. Is this Italian music? Thankfully I was in good company and I wasn’t driving. I filled up on beers and on the way back, we had Zen Arcade and at one point we turned the volume up, the car got quiet and memories flowed for everyone. Secondly: Italian songwriting is a genre unto itself, one of the few we have, along with dance. It was influenced by French songwriting, but then it found its own way. For example, Neil Young, who I think is better than Dylan, Italian songwriters don’t even know what that is. And indeed, who did Brondi listen to? Boris Vian. So my argument stands. And in Italy, songwriting had been dead for years, and for me, Vasco turned the light back on. So much so that even Lolli has come back into fashion. Paolo Benvegnu...but for heaven’s sake, I’ve seen him live twice and I have both his albums. It’s a bore, with lyrics that indeed seem evocative but then are of an exasperating repetitiveness. A bore with the scisma (I remember a concert where they supported Afta and the crowd made them run away, because they couldn’t take it anymore) and a bore is what remains. All of this, of course, according to my humble opinion.

Paolo Benvegnu? No, say it, Paolo Benvegnu? Ah, well, then I’m at ease.

Well, Lewis, around this time last year you were enchanting with the review on Mt. Zion, and it became one of my favorite albums of 2008, so, like in ten months, I’ll be getting this one too and it will surely be one of my favorite albums of 2009...

:-) Here we have the chosen lineup. From stars to stables. The best album of Italian singer-songwriter music of the 2000s. I would be curious to know who did better.

Yes, but really Don, what were you thinking inviting the Cap to debate, when you can't make heads or tails of what he says. And he doesn't even do any kind of drugs.

Well, Ale, you know that on this point I think you're too radical, and when you reach my age, you'll think like me (even if the idea horrifies you now), just as I thought like you at your age. If we're talking about respect, it's clear that we both think that Fugazi are the best in the world. But they are the only ones who managed to embody the do-it-yourself ethos of '77. And it took them twenty years. The arc seems very simple to me. You start playing in your city. Then you want to go out. Then you make your first demo. Back then, you made a 45. Then you want a record deal. You sign anything. Then someone comes along and tells you: I'll give you a nice check and a lot of people will listen to your music. Then you want your album to be number one. It's very simple, and I don't see anything sinful in it. It's not necessarily opportunism. If you go to a party with your girlfriend, and there's Laura Chiatti giving you the eye, don't you think about it? Said by someone, that is me, who doesn't give a damn about climbing the career ladder and is only interested in managing my time (and having the money to buy a lot of records :-). And then it's a matter of talent. I could spend twelve hours a day playing, but I’ll never have Cobain's talent. Or Corgan's, for that matter. He can be criticized for everything, but not for knowing how to write decent songs and sometimes beautiful ones. And finally, it seems to me that one thing is forgotten: that all the bands before '77 were on major labels, and nobody can reproach the Velvet for being too melodic or the Stooges for not always being radical. @ Don, I was probably so worked up that I got angry... the chick was genuinely one of the worst in my life, and damn, I even wasted a lot of time on it. But I was young and avant-garde and I stole from chicken coops, to quote that lovely person Jannacci.

An extremely interesting discussion. After all, some of the most knowledgeable grunge thinkers on the site are participating (and this is not flattery, just respect). Generally speaking, I agree with much of Don’s lengthy post, but I must reiterate that we already addressed this issue together some time ago, and we were on the same wavelength. When it comes to understanding whether or not a band will sell, I’d like to share an anecdote that may make you think I’m a huge pretentious person, but that’s just how it is. The first time I listened to the Pumpkins was with the track that’s on "Singles", which I believe is "Drown". Well, it’s a song that lasts about eight minutes, with the last four being an instrumental feedback outro. We were in the car, and I told the girl who was with me: “These guys are going to break the world next and sell millions.” She, who didn’t understand a thing, told me it was impossible with all that noise. We know how that story ended. The point is simply that there are moments when bands have moments of grace, and if you listen to a lot of music, you understand this (I already know Ale will say that the Pumpkins suck, but that’s not the point of my argument). Even if they play four minutes of feedback. And then, it’s their job. If the folks at Wea Italy back then didn’t release Nirvana, it’s simply because they were incompetent (on the other hand, just think about the "rock" critics in the newspapers; what the hell do they understand? So I imagine Geffen also went to see Nirvana live more than once and realized they would sell much more than Mud, and that’s the only thing that could matter to him). That said, regarding the Sting/Cobain issue, I’d just like to highlight one last point. Cobain spent a lot of the last months of his life in a state of acute drug addiction. That doesn’t seem like a circumstance to overlook. Lastly, I’ve been playing guitar for 25 years, but I’ve never managed to write a song worthy of even the worst of Nevermind. And that, too, says something.

Finally, someone is reviewing my favorite album of 2007! It took a year and a half, but finally someone has done it, and done it well. Can I come to the party?