Mr_Iko

Look, Easycure, I didn’t say the story about the priest; it was a quote from Guccini. In this regard, I remind dear exclamation point that I extracted it from a different context and inserted it with good reason; in my opinion, the allegorical connection is very clear. Plus, I've already talked enough about Scaruffi, and if you like, I can tell you that I even had a heated exchange of emails with him personally. He always responded in a way that made it seem like he was "not responding" to me; unfortunately, I deleted them, and I hope I can recover them so I can let you read them. Furthermore, I know the Arcana editions well, and I like them, especially Nicholas Pegg's book on a certain David Jones... And don't get stubborn; I didn't touch upon your person at all; I simply criticized THIS review of yours, which I find bland. That's all, nothing more. "The problem for hedgehogs in cold winter nights is to approach each other to the right degree to warm up. This moderate distance is difficult to discover: too close, they hurt each other with their spines; farther apart, to avoid pricking, they would die of cold.” If you want to understand...

You demand to transform into words that which is by its nature unutterable, namely the genius of the VU, with so few words. You expect to make readable what is hardly listenable unless one possesses an immense open-mindedness. You haven't succeeded in evoking even one (and I mean one) of the sounds of this record appropriately. This record that has the voice of the city, of traffic, of organized chaos. I'm sorry, but there will always be a priest to spout nonsense...

I conclude by recalling what Guccini said in "Avvelenata" about a critic who had slammed "stanze di vita quotidiana," a certain Riccardo Bertoncelli: "... and there will always be a Bertoncelli, a priest to spout nonsense...". Sorry, easycure, now for me you're a priest.

Here it is that if the VU, incredible artists, independent inside and not outside, artists independent not by concept but by creativity, are labeled as indie because "they sold few records" or because they haven't enjoyed mass distribution "Beatles style," I get angry as a beast! This review provides no explanation of them, of their way of making music, it says nothing about the raw but poetic "pre-punk art," about melody as a not-occasional choice, or the two opposing souls following different narrative paths of society... it just says there are screams and noise :(

The opposition between the aforementioned labels and the major, which semantically distinguishes the theoretical freedom of the artist liberated from commercial constraints that, in common stereotypical thought, would stifle their creativity, is increasingly blurred. One of the systematic methods of market control by the majors is indeed to strike agreements with the indies: distribution and/or production in exchange for a share of the sales rights. When they have a significant catalog, the indies are mathematically incorporated or acquired by the majors themselves! Therefore, the existence of "independent" labels is a utopian and disenchanted illusion as they are themselves functional (in their role as talent scouts) to the development of the market as desired and directed by the majors themselves!

Exactly, independence. And here I take out another pebble from my shoe, since you all fill your mouths with "indie labels" and such, and you have no idea what you’re talking about. To avoid falling into egocentrism and claiming merits that are not mine, I want to quote (not verbatim) the thoughts of Gianni Sibilla (and please, read his book "i linguaggi della musica pop") as he explains very clearly what sort of utopia you live in when you talk about the independence of artists under contract with "indie" labels. And I hope you will no longer confuse, equating their meanings, the artistic independence of extraordinary artists like the VU with the mere fact of belonging to the catalog of indie labels.

Second note. I understand all the difficulties in verbalizing the musical contents of an album, especially the "unorthodox" practices of the VU, but (goodness gracious!) your account didn't evoke the slightest sensation I feel when I listen to this record! You wrote clichés that anyone could have penned even without knowing the album! You could have used narrative devices to try to tell us something, but your clumsy attempt to "interpret" the music of the VU does you and (even less) the VU justice, as it stifles their true independence.

First note (and first rap on the knuckles for easycure): the fictitious opposition between the Beatles and the VU. How can you claim to formalize a dichotomy between the interpretative sentimentality (exalted) of the Fab Four and the provocative dimension (equally exalted) of the acid rock of the VU? It's as if you were trying to say whether a trip to Paris or the Nobel Peace Prize for Nelson Mandela is more important! In other words, a "nonsense," a silly thing, an unnecessary distortion...

I have read and re-read this review dozens of times, chewed on it and digested it thoroughly, deconstructed and reconstructed it several times. I let some time pass before commenting out of the profound respect I have for the VU. I have already "dismantled" others who claimed they had enough words to describe the VU, and I wouldn’t want to come off as an obsessive bully. So, forgive me if I’m brutal, but I can’t hold back. When it comes to talking about the VU with me, it’s like when Kosmo talks about QOTSA, so... forget about it!

You see, Nick, you've gone too far, the kid doesn't understand the meaning of the word "neuron." Not to mention, we still don't know if he can count to three.