easycure

Great. I had forgotten to tell you... I downloaded this album and some of the early singles, and I liked them quite a bit... listening to it, I think that Christine remains their masterpiece for me, absolutely unmissable... the rest of the album has a few other peaks (like Fisherman's Tale) and some slightly embarrassing tracks :-); overall though, it’s permeated with that naivety typical of many products mainly from the Rough Trade or Creation era. A naivety that, while it reduces certain songs to the rhetoric typical of many English proposals, is overall much more a strength than a weakness.

I had always underrated the Beach Boys of the '70s (in fact, even in "Friends" there are a couple of decent tracks and that's it)... but from your review, at least this seems definitely worth reevaluating.

Um, I don't really remember if I mentioned it to you.. definitely to Reverse :-)

for me this is better than Psychocandy :-D ..let's be clear, we are obviously talking about one of the most influential records ever, which, however, suffers a bit from staticity and even naivety, while still remaining a masterpiece. but what I admire immensely is the blatant audacity of an approach that is absolutely timeless, yet 360°.. it has a myriad of references, even more than it may seem at first, but in the end it doesn’t give a damn about everything and everyone.. it stands completely apart; outside of any logic yet unique and personal. The more I think about it, the more I reaffirm: a small masterpiece and a beacon in this dark moment of meaning-less music :-) bye!

Ah bastard! :-D You liked the recommendation, huh? ;-D ...great review, nice way of outlining the various identifiable references in the album; I would give it a 3.5 though, because as usual I'm obsessed with uniqueness and they are too much rooted in a certain period and approach.

I agree, bjorky :-) it had the exact same effect on me. It's terribly out of fashion but it's worth ten times the average of various revivals today. Bye!

oh dear, I’ve decided to listen to it and I just can’t stand it.. I don’t like this approach at all. If this is supposed to be today’s psychedelia, I find our own Jennifer Gentle and even Beatrice Antolini to be infinitely more creative.

I've always appreciated his lo-fi, somewhat surreal approach. Maybe he's made a few too many albums, but this one, from how you describe it, seems worthwhile.

Well, how to talk to donkeys :-D ..as already explained, I certainly don't speak on behalf of the music I make (but I notice your persistence in refusing this topic), rather I would say that given their trajectory, we should be happy that there are opportunities like the one they had in Italy.. however, I continue to repeat, I find it absurd to make this "success" a banner of their quality: for about a century now, the two things have not gone hand in hand. I hope that the underlying concept is finally (after the third clarification) not misunderstood to make absurd claims of "style."

X andrea brindisi: I don't understand the controversial logic of your reasoning. If I thought I could make better stuff than theirs, I shouldn't write about it. And why? Because otherwise, I would give the impression of someone who's just bitter. What does that mean, what sense does that make? :-D … Moreover, I never said that I feel like making better stuff than theirs; I said, a slightly different concept, that I KNOW there is better stuff than theirs because I have listened to many Italian bands that I consider better than them. Is that so hard to understand? Finally, I don’t care about their success, just as I couldn’t care less about their being nerds and getting tics at concerts; what has interested me from the start is the, forgive me, absurdity of your statement. Because saying that such a band is the best in Italy can only mean that either, as usual, Italy is tragically poor musically (which I don’t believe at this point) or that evidently there are certain realities that you don't know, and perhaps the ONLY difference lies in the greater media coverage and all the stuff that Baustelle have had the luck to participate in. Do you get the gist now? I hope I won’t be further misinterpreted.