Purpulan

DeRank ™: 2,92

DeAge™ : 6836 days • Here since 21 september 2007

The Dirty Projectors Bitte Orca

11 mar 10

Voto:

They have a fundamental problem for me, which doesn't seem negligible: essentially, they're trying to sound "Pop," but if you don't listen to them "intellectually," they struggle to be rewarding. As soon as you loosen your grip a little, the nuances and excellent combinations fade away, and... even the melodic "seatbelts" don't work at their best. In short, they don't pass the car radio test or the casual listening experience with flying colors.

Eluvium Similes

10 mar 10

Voto:

"Copia" for me is not a masterpiece... On the contrary, it's the most cloying from Cooper, who has overdone it with orchestral bases, strings, and so forth, inflated, pompous, and syrupy (the full title should have been "Copia... and Paste"). Here he returned to a more essential sound, relative fullness and semi-pushed emptiness, only sporadically "epicizing," with the novelty of the narrating voice, vaguely evocative, which has the merit of making everything less scattered (3.5).

Zyklon World Ov Worms

9 mar 10

Voto:

I don't follow the minute evolutions of the genre with meticulous attention, but I approach it only when I hear about some "new" project that is "original" in its own way. Has anyone happened to lend an ear to "Swarth" by Portal, released last year?! In the "Sdraangh Extriim" realm, it struck me as a fascinating blow, fundamentally different from the usual in terms of "refinement of the medallistic amalgamation" (even though it seems they have been active, albeit underground, for about fifteen years, but with only 3 complete releases).

Mariposa Mariposa

4 mar 10

Voto:

Their first album ("Portobello Illusioni", 2000) I believe is actually self-produced and self-distributed, but in 2002, the second one, "Domino Dorelli," found distribution support from "Santeria"/"Audioglobe" (which maybe, back then, didn't yet enjoy "Clara Fama" at the level of "dark productions illuminated by the damp and humid undergrowth" ; ).

Calibro 35 Calibro 35

2 mar 10

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Come on, she’s just got those bright little eyes... Although, after a couple of beers, she might give the impression of winking a bit too much ; ). Super funny anyway, not to mention a musician of Calibro even better than 35.

Yeasayer Odd Blood

24 feb 10

Voto:

In the long run, it seems to me that these "artsy" groups from Brooklyn all start biting the same tail, and what makes a difference becomes a mere question of nuances rather than expressive urgency (I say "mere" because the search for underlying combinatories intrigues me, but only in the presence of a substratum that has its own significance, and this is what lately seems to be lacking: "O.N.E." is an embarrassing piece!). Anyway, it's less bad to try to take slightly different paths, like they do, rather than sticking to the repetition of a watermelon-smashing canon like Vampire Weekend.

Converge Axe To Fall

23 feb 10

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Great are great, and indeed so much. But they strike me as slightly oversaturated in terms of 'critical incense, frightfully biased. The Botch, in terms of "Post" deconstruction, masterfully combined with "Math" architectural planning, balanced the scales a bit earlier. And among last year's releases, I preferred "Ox" by the revived Coalesce, who haven't lost an ounce of their "healthy" schizophrenia from daring, seemingly unlogically rigorous combinations typical of the best productions in the genre, whereas Converge lately give me the impression of being increasingly concerned with fitting everything into the "song" format (i.e., every piece must have an understandable meaning from the first listen, beyond the expressive fury "in discontinuous bursts") (3.5).

Pupo, Emanuele Filiberto, Luca Canonici Italia amore mio

23 feb 10

Voto:

Boycott the Savoiardi! And the whole sweet biscuit industry! And these (Ghin)azzi!

Cold Cave Love Comes Close

21 feb 10

Voto:

@ Kosmo: um, I really don’t know if Omar-S is your cup of tea, very old-school "Detroit sound," straight and punchy kick + synths and analog oscillations, etc. You either love it or hate it right off the bat (I believe, by the way, that along with Villalobos he’s the only megalomaniac who has compiled a Fabric with completely original material). Meanwhile, since you also asked me about Carl Craig in the past, his Fabric (#25) could be an interesting disk (but here all of his mixes are of other people's material).

Health Health

21 feb 10

Voto:

Well, lately the constant mention of Kevin Shields & Co. whenever there's even a hint of distortion gives me random snake-like itches. I don't have that yet, but I've worn out the following "Get Color." The "Valentine" album is a bit tangential, since they could have easily done without the rhythm session, while Health have, among other things, a drumming style reminiscent of Damon "Che" Fitzgerald's early work, an electronic approach akin to the early days of Parts & Labor, and a grasp of song structure comparable to Animal Collective (also in their old style). Not bad, huh? A great counterbalance to the disappointment that is "Cold Cave," still under the CasaPagina label.