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Rating: Few know them, even fewer could name any of their titles... Yet these Danes (yes, Denmark!) are the Radiohead if Yorke and company hadn't ventured into new musical paths... Perhaps I'll be accused of musical heresy, but I assure you that the Radiohead have nothing to envy them (at most their bank account...).
Active since 1994, with four albums and several EPs behind them (including the splendid "Zitilites" from 2003 and the previous "The Good Life" from 1999), Kashmir are a band that knows how to create music of excellent craftsmanship, with meticulously crafted sounds where every instrument finds its space, without excesses and without protagonism; a biting bass that leaves its marks on walls of electric guitars, which spread like a light veil over a convincing and above all engaging rhythm and then, on this artistic musical fresco, the voice of Kasper Eistrup, the group's leader, leaves light strokes, but which can also be heartrending and leave a gray halo, as if we were seeing this fresco through a winter mist.
A bit rock and a bit noise-pop (if you'll allow me the audacity), the tracks float between melody and experimentation and the lyrics sometimes need to be overturned, to reveal their real meanings to us. And then... And then how could we not mention "The Cynic" and "Black Building"... two tracks on which two music giants collaborated: respectively a certain David Bowie and a certain Lou Reed! The former even candidly defined himself as a fan of the band (one could easily be overwhelmed with emotion after such a statement for a still semi-unknown group!!). In short, these four Danes really know their stuff and it's no coincidence that Tony Visconti, already the producer of the White Duke, wanted to oversee the production of this latest effort... few know them, even fewer could name any of their titles... Who knows, maybe things will change... they truly deserve it!!
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Kalifornia (05:26)
Kalifornia, have you gone wild?
I'm sifting through your dark miles
reaching out for you
in the headlight's glare
but you're way to devious
to be aware
Restles, restles
windswept road
take me someplace
unfold
Kalifornia, in a bleak road song
old nick warned me
against the storm
but I'm your slipstream
you're my trail
drive wild with me
full sails
Restles, restles
windswept road
take me someplace
unfold
sometime
get there sometime
02 Jewel Drop (04:20)
...and in the corner of this room
lucifer's now observing
I'm swaggering past the wall of fiends
surely it makes her nervous
What a grand spree
just like the old times
everyone is here
what's in the bag exchanging hands
the actions are somewhat cloudy
don't wanna know so let's just dance
billy is screaming loudly
let's turn it 'round
bring ceilings down
and fall in love again.
Who was that actor next to her
that everyone seems to know of
an angel is whispering (well deserved)
you made the choise to blow it all up
that's a new dress
she's heaven sent
she wasn't sent for me
Let's turn it 'round
bring the ceilings down
and fall in love again
04 Ophelia (03:56)
yes the black magic worked
and it might be well deserved
with a pin through my third eye
but the long frozen stare
shooting holes in stagnant air
sends me off to die
waltzing out through your clouds
and I know there is no doubt
venus is your star.
[chorus]
ophelia...
you're falling out
too tedious...
to talk about?
disappeared in the park
left me probing through the dark
put me off the path
you're the pebble in my shoe
and the beauty in my view
beaming through the glass.
[chorus]
ophelia...
you're falling out
too tedious...
to talk about?
insurmountable...
always colourful
I don't want to know
how you do what you do.
07 She's Made of Chalk (05:05)
a butterfly is in your hair
reminding us it is that time of year
a cool shade and a spot in the sun
a cold struggle
but the tiresome brawl is won
how could you talk about suicide
how could you possibly see it as right
the long road through a deep ravine
is leading out into the sun beams.
[chorus]
let's go out tonight
you don't need to be frightened
don't say it isn't right
move on, jump in, fall out.
the old smoke is coughed away
a new breeze is blowing in our way
tough luck, you've got to change
for such a long long fall
you've been out of range.
look in the mirror, there's still good news
don't need the make up
you won't look used
can't wake the dead up
no what you need
is just a bar and some debauchery.
[chorus]
let's go out tonight
you don't need to be frightened
don't say it isn't right
move on, jump in, fall out.
I passed the church on my morning walk
crossed my mind she's made of chalk
and more white than the holy saints
but not quite immune to this black malaise
I grabbed a smile off the midday sky
got me thinking, do you wanna know why
it's all there and it's right outside
come on kick the door and go face the light.
[chorus]
let's go out tonight
you don't need to be frightened
don't say it isn't right
move on, jump in, fall out.
08 Ether (05:21)
When it feels like you’ve been cancelled
Like someone took your breath away
To replace it with ether
And you stagger in eadwind all day
It’s too easy to go crazy
Way much harder to stay clear
Tough you’re pleading (come save me)
No one or nothing comes near
Refrigerate your fire
The grim faces that you’re passing
In your freefall from the ground
Won’t remember, won’t be asking
And they won’t be making a sound
Hold your soldiers
And keep them in the woods
Until it’s over, it will be
Wait see
The sun sets
And morning
Puts you back into place
The right place
Refrigerate your fire
09 Snowman (03:14)
3am and 7 blocks away
we can see him sigh
and feel im sway
speaking out his frozen sympathy
penning down a sense
he doesn't feel
stroke his cheek
the man is made of snow
plain to see his eyes are merely holes
reaching out
impatient for the goal
melt my friend
a warm wind is going to blow
11 No Balance Palace (08:02)
I wish I knew where
This devious road ends
Dog fights in the street lights or indifference?
Death hangs patiently under the mirrorball
And no one seems to notice him at all
This room exudes with fast love and imagery, unflagging wished and jealousy
Mike says it's okay
We all need a break
A grand spree we're on a roll here once again
I wanna go
When she says go
Don't say where
We don't want to know
It's alright
No one's lost
I wanna rock
Where you don't rock
'cause I can't feel you anymore
It's alright
Nothings lost
You are my song
So empathetic and so strong
You've waited forever
And though you did quiver
You came along
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