luca reed

I correct myself: over time, even this overwhelming album begins to show more and more signs of remarkable greatness (alongside others that are rather verbose and by-the-numbers, okay). Standout track, those 30 minutes that almost feel like a skin graaft band, really not bad at all. I have the impression that it needs to be listened to often; in fact, I'm starting to reconsider my stance and forget my eternal idiosyncrasy for certain progressive music.

I'm quite undecided about this album... drawn in by a strong dose of testosterone and instrumental wankery, I bought it a few days ago, and I feel the temptation to say it’s a real drag: they have no sense of moderation, they overflow to the point of sounding – at times – like a progressive-experimental version of The Darkness, or Ozric Tentacles when they go acid... There are moments on the album that make me want to vomit, me who isn’t exactly a fanatic of progressive (to hell with Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Yes, and their ugly friends) and wankery (but you don't mess with Dream Theater, ever) could easily throw these albums like frisbees. Yet... yet in the end, I have to admit that the album isn’t that bad: it gives you the same feeling as the first time you see St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, great visual impact (in this case, musical) but also an incredible disproportion of things. However, when The Mars Volta forget to be Rick Wakeman and aim for experimentation, I’m reminded of Miles Davis's Bitches Brew, an album that has influenced more generations of rock, or in the splendid ballads and still that unusually Latin flavor that makes it feel like you’re listening to Puya from some time ago... Of course, smoothing the edges, making essential what is imposing, that’s out of the question. The progressive manifesto of recent years is light-years away from the newfound lo-fi essence of people like Devendra Banhart, Cocorosie, and Giant Sand. Sure that the spacey whoosh of Hawkwind-esque style is really out of time (and they’ve forcefully brought it back to life), but all in all, there are some moments of genius here. As much as At the Drive-In were truly something else.

Sanremo is always Sanremo: since it’s generally that festival of Italian musical crap that it is, just a nonconformist chick (anti-what?) with a good folk voice, and everyone thinks they’re seeing the Italian version of Joni Mitchell or Rickie Lee Jones (who?). Excuse me, but I’m biased: after all, it comes back to Sanremo, punctually, as if it were a falsely indie phenomenon that can't exist without the Ariston stage.

A nice routine album, let's say... Madonna is better than her persona, and the albums are worse than what she could do (in Ray of Light - really a must, she nailed it there). But she's fine too, as a media phenomenon she now mainly requires to be listened to for the songs... am I wrong or is there an intense track dedicated to her son here?

A true exercise in modern marketing... I'm not quite ready to hear an album before it comes out, but I absolutely love the queens.

The album is a true masterpiece in its genre, a summary of all the electronics and punk-funk from the days of Talking Heads and PIL to the present. I'm not an admirer of synthetic sounds, but I must admit that this is truly a great record.

The review makes it seem like Banhart is an acid trip, one of the Ozric Tentacles... that seems too much to me. I find that "nino rojo" is his most balanced album, very beautiful, even though I preferred "rejoicing"... I can't understand how one could choose between Cocorosie and him, even if they navigate on the same wavelength with a different apparatus (maybe Cocorosie use their voice as an instrument).

Masterpiece... beautiful: in an age of gimmicks and overdubs, there are still artists capable of evoking infinite emotions with just four chords. A very low-fi record, indirectly, Springsteen's Nebraska has taught a lot about production. p.s. Micheal Gira is a genius.

A record closed in its sound hermeticism... the incomprehensibility with the listener... More than boring, I would say pretentious. Fennesz is not a suitable name for Sylvian. I give it a passing grade only because Sylvian has always been my idol. But I really can't defend this record completely.

It will be... I really like Mercury Rev, even the ones from their early years... although their absolute masterpiece remains deserter's songs.