Giovanni Lindo Ferretti
A Cuor Contento

Where did we leave the good Giovanni Lindo Ferretti? For years now, between the definitive dissolutions of yet another incarnation of CCCP and often unfortunate social-political outings, our public image seemed to have faded, becoming more an object of debate on social networks than an icon of a certain way of understanding rock and singer-songwriter music in Italy.

Overlooking Giovanni the man, for the writer, however, rather consistent with himself, it is interesting instead, after some time, to be able to deal with Giovanni the artist again, a figure who, through various names and projects, was an undisputed protagonist of the best Italian music of the last thirty years. In today's often stifling landscape where it is increasingly difficult to find truly valid groups and projects, lost as they are in the sea of myspace and various profiles, one occasionally feels the need to return to something certain, known, a safe harbor, where memories of our adolescence are docked, for those who were twenty at the time of various "Linea Gotica" and "Ko de Mondo," or from which to (re)start toward new and unknown destinations, and therefore even more fascinating, for those who have recently discovered those grooves. Of course, one should ask more than one question about why, thirty years after its founding, there are as many as three shows on tour dedicated, in whole or in part, to CCCP, just as if, years after the various quarrels and splits, it wouldn't be the case to try something together again, even just for pure nostalgia of what was and never will be again.

Coming to the CD reviewed here, it must be said from the start that it is a partial account of the tour, which frankly would have deserved something else, given its intensity. In times of a black crisis in the record market, however, perhaps this was, also for purely cash reasons, the wisest and least risky choice, also because most likely a nice double CD+DVD box set would have remained in the hearts of a few enthusiasts and on the shelves of many record stores (do they still exist?). Published in collaboration with XL (brrr..), the packaging immediately presents itself as very sparse, with few notes and no booklet: naturally, it is assumed that, in case of landing in stores, the "package" would present itself richer, given the times. Leaving aside pure marketing operations, let's instead move on to the actual content. If Massimo Zamboni on one side and the revived Umberto Negri on the other bring to the stage shows in which, with their respective differences, each gives life to what were their "own" CCCP-CSI, Ferretti instead presents an absolutely minimalist show, almost singer-songwriter-like. The reasons for this return? No beating around the bush, it is said clearly: they had been still for too long and with a tour like this entire families earn their living. Long live honesty. "A cuor contento" has been around for a couple of years now, with a variable setlist: if during the spring of last year much importance was given to more recent material, meaning that by PGR, in the last tranche the choice was to go back and reread the glorious pages of CCCP and CSI. And to be clear, they are rereadings we are talking about. Where once there were "all-eating basses," "harmonious and distorted guitars," and "angel voices," today we find an evocative violin, bass, and a guitar never too intrusive and a drum machine called into play only on rare occasions.

"Depressione Caspica," with the violin of Ezio Bonicelli, is a clear example of the arrangements prepared for this show, but perhaps it is still too similar to the original and doesn't convey the idea well. To better understand it may be a case of listening to "Annarella," absolutely "deconstructed" in structure, as well as "Amandoti," while the remaining tracks, even if revisited, more closely adhere to the original pieces. Presenting such stripped-down versions of the various classics, the results could only be two: either total boredom, as it was for some, or an extremely suggestive updating of some of the most beautiful and poignant pages of our recent musical history. And the entire weight of this evocation could only be on the shoulders of good Ferretti, a voice sometimes dark, sometimes tender, speaking of hopes and despairs of the human race, sometimes sarcastically, sometimes chanting, but always extremely charismatic. From the Yellow Sea to Kabul, from that Electric Tabula Rasa that is Mongolia to the Units of Production, the places, physical and of memory, that have marked and fascinated, in Italy and sometimes abroad, more than one generation come to life again.

Really a pity for the truncated format, which fails to capture the atmosphere and suggestions of the live concert, but perhaps it was really difficult to ask for more, especially if we talk about a person who has always considered himself "lent to music" and who in recent times seems more interested in expressing himself through writing than anything else. And truly, in the end, the thousand controversies and considerations surrounding the Ferretti man of recent years disappear, or at least they go into the background: as long as there is the possibility of seeing such shows in Italy, let us enjoy them. And ultimately, he said, and repeats it, in closing the CD: "del resto mimporta 'nasega." And if it doesn't matter to him, why should it matter to us?

Live In Concert, A Cuor Contento:1. Depressione Caspica2. Narko'$3. Amandoti4. Morire5. Neukolln6. Contatto7. Annarella8. Radio Kabul9. Unità di Produzione10. Per me lo so11. Mimporta 'nasega
Giovanni Lindo Ferretti: voiceEzio Bonicelli: violin, electric guitarLuca A. Rossi: bass, electric guitar, electronic drums