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Rating: Tribute to Kirsty MacColl (1959-2000).
"Tropical Brainstorm" is the simplest and lightest album by Kirsty MacColl and unfortunately also the last...
English, daughter of an artist, and wife of Steve Lillywhite (producer of XTC, to be clear), she was known to the public mainly for collaborations during the '80s and '90s with big names like the Smiths and the Talking Heads, for a cover of Fairytale of New York by the Pogues but also for 5 (it would be 6 with the reviewed one which, however, must be considered separately as we will see) albums in which she showed an intriguing Irish Folk Singer-songwriter streak (Billy Bragg said of her «She writes songs with the power of a playwright and then sings them like an angel») especially worth remembering "Kite" of '89, "Electric Landlady" of '91 and "Titanic Days" of '94.
After this last album, MacColl disappeared from Showbiz for at least 6 years (due to never fully explained personal reasons) until she reappeared in 2000 with "Tropical Brainstorm", a totally different album from the previous ones, but which, ironically, would probably be destined to remain, if not the most loved, certainly the most remembered of her career, which was cut short along with her life in 2000 by a pirate speedboat that, in the warm waters of Yucatan, struck the poor Kirsty while she was swimming.
The fundamental difference between the early albums and this one is that here MacColl surprised her audience by proposing a decisive change in direction, abandoning her typical Pop-Folk Melodies and leaning towards Caribbean Rhythms, interwoven with abundant Pop Calls and Electronic Undertones. In those 6 years of eclipse, it happened that the sweet Englishwoman fell in love with Brazil during one of her trips, and especially with Cuba, and from these experiences, she became profoundly involved until she elaborated this album, an elegant passage between typically British singer-songwriter interference and enveloping Equatorial Sirens...
"Tropical Brainstorm" is a deeply Sunny and absolutely Easy Listening Album, yet by no means predictable because it is the result of 3 years of research in the Musical Scene of the Latin Continent and especially because it is always passed through the filter (much more rigorous than one might be led to believe) of the unfortunate Kirsty's Pop Attitude, Pop that skillfully touches on trends that were fashionable at the time (Lounge, Ambient etc.), but also the Blues.
An intriguing work, therefore, but never cerebral because of a disarming simplicity that reveals the intentions of the Author, which were, as she candidly admitted, purely for entertainment and aimed to try to immerse the listener as tenderly and engagingly as possible into the same experiences she had in South America.
Each song offers a unique experience and blooms into its own microcosm (born from mixing the cited influences in different proportions each time), offering very varied and differentiated listens even in the small details highlighted by a high-level production. One obviously cannot avoid mentioning the famous and danceable "In these Shoes?" when discussing this work, but no song should be underestimated, from the elegant "Mambo de la Luna" to my favorite "Autumgirlssoup"...
... all served according to the Motto "Lightness", not Emptiness, remember, Lightness...
The album had a fair commercial success and shortly before the start of a promotional tour the tragedy occurred, Here you can read an interview released not long before...
Mo.
"No le gusta caminar. no puede montar a caballo
(I don't like to dance, I can't ride a horse)
Como se puede bailar? es un escandolo
(how can I dance? it's a scandal)"
K. MacColl
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
03 Treachery (03:51)
I'm stalking a fan
He lives in a high rise block
And here I am
He shouldn't have turned my rock
He's brushing his teeth
He doesn't look bad from this far
I'm hailing a cab
And I'm gonna follow his car
Wherever he goes
I won't be too far behind
Just hanging around
Driving him out of his mind
Treachery made a monster out of me
Treachery made a monster out of me
I'm stalking a fan
He used to write all the time
How lovely I am
He really made me feel fine
But how they forget
He needed a wake-up call
And he will regret
Having been so shallow
He made me believe
That I was some kind of myth
So here I am
How could he treat me like this?
Treachery made a monster out of me
Treachery made a monster out of me
Treachery made a monster out of me
Treachery made a monster out of me
Wherever he goes
I won't be too far behind
Just hanging around
Driving him out of his mind
I'm stalking a fan
He's gone to the record store
To buy a CD
By some other girl not me
He's taking her home
Getting her out of her box
And putting her on
And dancing around in his socks
Treachery made a monster out of me
Treachery made a monster out of me
Treachery made a monster out of me
Treachery made a monster out of me
Getting her out of her box
Treachery
And dancing around in his socks
Treachery
Treachery
And dancing around in his socks
Treachery
Driving him out of his mind
06 Celestine (03:35)
Oh she is hot, she's hot, she's hot
She's just a wild and wicked slut
And she lives inside my head and stops me sleeping
And when I think she's finally gone
Some guy arrives and turns her on
Then she parties until dawn
This can't go on
Celestine
Get out my dreams
You're killing me so slowly
So many men, so many fights
So many parties and late nights
She plumbs the depths and hits the heights
That Celestine
She pretends that she can't hear me
She pretends she's nowhere near me
She just goes quiet and pretends that she's not in
But Celestine I know you're there
In your exotic underwear
And you are fixing up your hair now, Celestine
Celestine
Get out my dreams
You're killing me so slowly
My lover looked into my eyes
And I could tell by his surprise
It was not me he saw in there but Celestine
And now it's her that he lusts after
I can hear that wicked laughter
Still he comes to me but I know where he's been
Celestine
Get out my dreams
You're killing me so slowly
Celestine
Get out my dreams
You're killing me so slowly
My lover hasn't got a clue
He doesn't know that he's untrue
And it's not me he makes love to but Celestine
Oh yes she's hot, she's hot, she's hot
I guess she's everything I'm not
And she lives inside my head and stops me sleeping
10 Us Amazonians (04:09)
Here in the country we dance and we play
And we pray to our saints and we make love all day
I fell in love with a real city boy
Who's afraid of his nature, afraid of his joy
I punched him out and brought him to this hut
But I know he'll thank me when he wakes up
We got trees, we got snakes, we got acres of sky
His life in the city was making him cry
Come on, come on darling, be brave for a while
You don't look afraid when you laugh and you smile
I'll be good, I'll be strong
I'll be just what you needed all along
Here in the country we dance and we play
And we pray to our saints and we make love all day
I fell in love with a real city boy
Who's afraid of his nature, afraid of his joy
Us Amazonians know where we stand
We got kids, we got jobs, why do we need a man?
Us Amazonians make out alright
But we want something to hold in the forest at night
Come on, come on darling, be brave for a while
You don't look afraid when you laugh and you smile
Breathe in deep, stick with me
You'll still be free as you let yourself be
If you're certain, if you're true
I'll be the only country girl for you
I'll be good, I'll be strong
I'll be just what you needed all along
Here in the country we dance and we play
And we pray to our saints and we make love all day
I fell in love with a real city boy
Gotta teach him about nature, and teach him about joy
Us Amazonians know where we stand
We got kids, we got jobs, why do we need a man?
Us Amazonians make out alright
But we want something to hold in the forest at night
Here's my boyfriend, he's small, he is blue
He is cold, he is rough, he's appalling that's true
But he's got the power, he's got the fire
To be just like us is his only desire
He'll learn to hunt and I'll teach him to fish
We'll boil up our rice in a satellite dish
We'll plant cassava wherever we can
Us Amazonians always get our man
Us Amazonians know where we stand
We got kids, we got jobs, why do we need a man?
Us Amazonians make out alright
But we want something to hold in the forest at night
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Other reviews
By Danny The Kid
“Tropical Brainstorm is my island of Ogygia, a place far from the world where I can unplug from everything and everyone, a ritual, a spell.”
“This marvelous Englishwoman manages to talk about urges and spicy situations openly, without hiding behind metaphors and allusions, with an irony, naturalness, and charm that I have never, ever found elsewhere.”
