donjunio

DeRank ™: 7,00

DeAge™ : 7455 days • Here since 11 january 2006

Franz Ferdinand You Could Have It So Much Better

24 jan 06

Voto:

He definitely deserves credit for some insights, but it's a shame that other groups gave organic completeness to these. The Liars and the early White Stripes well before them, and then, the TV on the Radio. Also from New York, but apparently not cool enough to end up on the cover of NME and consequently in the Italian magazines that don’t write a word without checking their assumptions.
Regarding Boss Hog, the comparison I made was indicative to show you that even in the '90s many groups were handling the same raw material (with decidedly better results, think of Royal Trux for example), without achieving appreciable commercial recognition. But you're right. You can't make comparisons. Since the days of Iggy Pop from Ann Arbor, true rock and roll is a street music, from a bubbling suburb. It's impossible to compare Royal Trux to five posers from Manhattan.

Franz Ferdinand You Could Have It So Much Better

24 jan 06

Voto:

I won’t say anything about the Velvet Underground because I’ve always considered it blasphemous to compare the greatest band ever to 5 hacks who have the audacity to release indecent songs like 12.51 and then claim they wanted to mix them with the Pixies on that album... copying them verbatim - like in, for example, you talk way too much - or drawing inspiration from their New York communication (how cool it is to be from New York, I've read entire reviews on the subject... too bad that Lou Reed's New York was a bit different from Casablancas's) doesn’t mean capturing their spirit; otherwise, even Ligabue could be called a follower of Neil Young. Is This It had freshness on its side and, as you mentioned, came after a musically extremely elaborate decade, which brought it success. Everyone was fed up with electronics and Limp Bizkit, and especially in England, they were waiting for something else... in front of the affected and pompous guitars of Linkin Park and Staind, the “toy” guitars of The Strokes were definitely a novelty... but the subsequent, awful record attempts of Casablancas and company have shown just how flimsy their musical baggage was.

Franz Ferdinand You Could Have It So Much Better

24 jan 06

Voto:

Dear Easy cure, we simply have a different perspective and it's obviously pleasant to debate.
This is how I see it.
For you, in Is this it, the Strokes have made a synthesis; for me, they have trivialized the sound of "Marquee Moon," although a piece like "Soma" is enjoyable to listen to on the car radio, just as "Take It or Leave It" is. But nothing more.
When I think of brilliant guitar sound, I mean something far more INTENSE, while for the Strokes' march-like style, I believe Spencer's definition fully applies.
Of course, a guitar can sound brilliant even if it's "light": to me, Joey Santiago from the Pixies was a phenomenal guitarist, but the Pixies were the product of three musical geniuses. They truly performed a miracle, synthesizing the noise of Sonic Youth and fitting it into an exciting, varied, and (they truly are) oblique pop form like few others.
You, who brilliantly reviewed "Doolittle," must at least agree on this...
Equally brilliant were the Queens of the Stone Age with "Songs for the Deaf," who revived the more visionary forms of stoner and psychedelia, filtering them through punk's urgency.

Soft Cell Non - Stop Erotic Cabaret

24 jan 06

Voto:

I saw him in concert in Quartu S.Elena on December 1st... he played for just under an hour but he was still great. A very beautiful sparkling version of "Caroline Says" by Lou Reed.

Soft Cell Non - Stop Erotic Cabaret

24 jan 06

Voto:

what a drag these tags are, sorry

Soft Cell Non - Stop Erotic Cabaret

24 jan 06

Voto:

For Gabbox. In fact, I was undecided about the star rating for the cabaret, thinking it’s the classic 4.5-star album: my rock side prevailed. Almond was certainly a musical mind, much like Michael Stipe in R.E.M. I just wanted to highlight how in the cabaret it was Ball's mastery in using the synclavier, keyboards, and combining them to create the foundations of that sound so influential throughout the 80s. Then Marc shaped everything with his showmanship, and the two aspects are nonetheless inconceivable without the other. …The art of falling apart is another amazing album, and perhaps it is in this album that Almond fully sides with Ball in pointing out the musical direction… indeed, the sound is wonderfully baroque and a bit schizophrenic, and it’s no coincidence that soon after, our friends would separate due to obvious differences. I believe they always created the best things together. Cruelty without beauty was an excellent return. But even with the Grid, Ball proved to be great (just ask Underworld for confirmation), just as Almond as a solo artist confirmed he has a truly complete musical baggage.

Soft Cell Non - Stop Erotic Cabaret

24 jan 06

Voto:

Imagine, mike76, your observation was relevant because indeed the temporal discrepancy you noted existed. The fact is that for debut albums, it’s increasingly difficult to contextualize them since they are almost always a "greatest hits" collection from the period between the band's formation and their first contract. For example, "bedsitter" is a snapshot of Almond's student period in Leeds, and the places he seeks an escape from are surely those of Leeds in '76. However, it is also true that some tracks are from after '79. My idea is that the social change brought by Thatcher, her grim image, and her social repressions would start to be felt a couple of years after her installation, so in terms of timing, I think we’re there. At least for me.

Soft Cell Non - Stop Erotic Cabaret

24 jan 06

Voto:

Okay Mike, but keep in mind that Thatcher went to Downing Street in June '79, Marc Almond had started writing songs around the same time, and they were published only when he and Ball found the contract with Some Bizarre... the context he refers to was immediately prior to the Iron Lady and/or had not yet been altered by Margaret. Thanks for the compliments!

Franz Ferdinand You Could Have It So Much Better

24 jan 06

Voto:

Musically, these groups are all the same: they boldly and unabashedly reinterpret 40 years of English pop music, with a particular preference for the five-year period from '77 to '82, and they all end up resembling each other a bit. Anyone who has ever listened to a record by the Police or the Talking Heads cannot come and rave about the songwriting of Alex Kapranos.

Let’s be clear, there’s nothing wrong with that. Pages could be written on the cycles and recurrences in the history of rock... moreover, some bands like Bloc Party do actually have a few good songs in reserve... the fact is, it's exhausting to keep reading lavish praises for this whole series of groups, even in specialized magazines. Therefore, one must be consistent with their own grandeur. Between Kapranos's overwhelming ego and the Stalinist iconography, everything revolves around grandeur in the world of FF. It’s impossible to be accommodating towards such a pompous band.

Franz Ferdinand You Could Have It So Much Better

24 jan 06

Voto:

As for the social character of the Franz Ferdinand… every group has its own social significance. The Blur of Parklife represented young Brits on holiday in Ibiza, for example… My idea is that this phenomenon will end up like the MTV crossover or neo-grunge. They become subgenres where the band playing doesn’t matter anymore, but rather the fact that the genre is being played. So, Limp Bizkit were succeeded by Linkin Park and then Hoobastank, and from Bush we moved on to Staind and Nickelback. Just like that: no one is paying attention to Franz Ferdinand anymore; for the next five months, all anyone will talk about is the Arctic Monkeys. Notice this: the latest single from the Arctic Monkeys, "When the Sun Goes Down," is practically the same as "Jacqueline" by the FF.

At this rate, I believe we’ll end up missing Mötley Crüe and Whitesnake, who at least didn’t take themselves so seriously…