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Rating:
I still can't understand how and why it happened. Given the musical premises, nothing suggested such a total falling in love.
Yes, because that's what it is: I think I have a soft spot for the Espers. No, not a momentary infatuation, like dozens happen during a year of listening, but by now a long-lasting relationship, always growing, at least since late 2006. I had heard them briefly at the time of their debut, dismissing them as "boring". But, thanks to a user of our dear DeBaser, I tried to recover the second album. I haven't thanked them enough yet.
I can listen to the Espers at any time, even though they are essentially a nocturnal and melancholic/psychedelic band, as soft as the female voice is, as disturbing is the hyper-distorted guitar. A strange combination of feet firmly planted in America (the band is from Philadelphia) but with heads lost in the misty moors of Albion, so many are the references to the varied British folk scene. So good as to enchant even with an EP of rearranged traditionals and covers, often taken from unexpected sources compared to their music.
I swear I often get moved when I listen to the cellos and voices dueting straight to the night sky of "Black Is The Color", or the pastoral breath that transfigures "Afraid" taken from Nico's repertoire. Different but always with an open heart are the feelings of the two best tracks on the album: "Blue Mountain" by Michael Hurley (never seen or heard), is a rural mantra, but in a moor frequented by synth-disguised ghosts; "Flaming Telepaths" by the Blue Oyster Cult, is twice as long as the original, starting gently, only to burst into the white noise of a six-string foaming with anger. And they even find a way to lighten their atmospheres with a cover of the Durutti Column, "Tomorrow", something to open the windows at 7 a.m. and smile at the new day, as if we were at Mulino Bianco.
Don't try to listen to the Espers with the cynical ear of the connoisseur, or of "one who knows it all," they won't give you anything, and they might even irritate you. But if you try to open the doors of your heart and mind to them, or less emphatically, if you try to listen to them without preconceptions, a world of emotions you thought lost will be revealed to you.
Download them, listen to them, buy them.
In a word, love them.
Tracklist Lyrics and Samples
01 Rosemary Lane (04:38)
When I was in service in Rosemary Lane
I won the good will of my master Amberdine
Until a young sailor came there to stay
And that was the beginning of my misery
He called for a candle to light him to bed
Aand likewise a silk hankerchief to tie up his hair
To tie up his hair as sailors will do,
"And third my pretty Polly, will you come too?"
Now this may seem young and foolish, she thought it no harm
To lie on the bed to keep herself warm
And what was done there, I shall never disclose
But I wish that short night had been seven long years
So early next morning this sailor arose
And into my pockets 3 guineas did throw
Saying"Tthis I will give and more I will do
If you'll be my Polly wherever I go"
Now if it's a boy, he'll fight for the King
And if it's a girl she'll wear a gold ring
She'll wear a gold ring and a dress all aflame
And remember my service in Rosemary Lane
When I was in service in Rosemary Lane
I won the good will of my master Amberdine
Until a young sailor came there to stay
And that was the beginning of my misery
02 Tomorrow (04:06)
( Durutti Column Cover )
All I wanted was your time
All you ever gave me was tomorrow
All I wanted was your time
All you ever gave me was tomorrow
And tomorrow never comes
Tomorrow never comes
Tomorrow never comes
Tomorrow never comes
Tomorrow never comes
People stood in a line with flowers
They were only waiting for the moment
And I know the feeling so well
I've been waiting for you for so long
And I know the feeling so well
I've been waiting for you for so long
And tomorrow never comes
Tomorrow never comes
Tomorrow never comes
Tomorrow never comes
Tomorrow never comes
04 Afraid (03:11)
( Nico Cover )
Cease to know or to tell
Or to see or to be your own
Cease to know or to tell
Or to see or to be your own
Have someone else's will as your own
Have someone else's will as your own
You are beautiful and you are alone
You are beautiful and you are alone
Often the adolescent plague
Reward your grace
Often the adolescent plague
Reward your grace
Confuse your hunger capture the fake
Confuse your hunger capture the fake
Banish the faceless reward your grace
Banish the faceless reward your grace
05 Blue Mountain (04:47)
Yonder stands blue mountain
Oh, yonder stands blue mountain
Oh, yonder stands my home
Oh, yonder stands my home
Where the blueberries are a-bloomin'
Where the blueberries are a-bloomin'
I'm gonna make some blueberry wine
I'm gonna make some blueberry wine
If I ever ride again
If I ever ride again
I'm riding back to my blueberry land
Well, I'm riding back to my blueberry land
06 Flaming Telepaths (09:58)
( Blue Ã-yster Cult Cover )
Well I've opened up my veins too many times
And the poison's in my heart and in my mind
Poison's in my bloodstream, poison's in my pride
I'm after rebellion, I'll settle for lies
Is it any wonder that my mind's on fire
Imprisoned by the thoughts of what you do
Is it any wonder that the joke's an iron
And the jokes on you
Experiments that failed too many times
Transformations that were too hard to find
Poison's in my bloodstream, poison's in my pride
I'm after rebellion, I'll settle for lies
Yes I know the secrets of the iron and mind
They're trinity acts a mineral fire
Yes I know the secrets of the circuitry mind
It's a flaming wonder telepath
Well I've opened up my veins too many times
And the poison's in my heart and in my mind
Poison's in my bloodstream, poison's in my pride
I'm after rebellion, I'll settle for lies
Is it any wonder that my mind's on fire
Imprisoned by the thoughts of what you do
Is it any wonder that the joke's an iron
And the jokes on you
And the joke's on you...
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