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Rating: NECESSARY INFORMATION BEFORE USING THE MEDICINE:
From an idea by Joe Raggi and Betty Cembrola, “What Ever Happened to Baby Love?” is the oblique story of “R” and “C” (two spouses-actors who decide to stage their latest show at the City of Traunitz Mental Health Center) and their imaginary daughter “Baby Love” (a silent and inquisitive protagonist of the show).
COMPOSITION:
Betty Cembrola and Joe Raggi: Voices and sonorous words.
Alexander Hellwing: Hexaphonic iron and nylon strings.
Paolo Baltaro: Bass- Electric noise.
Paolo Tubia: Electro-acoustic rhythms. 20 modified release capsules.
Excipient track: Field Invasion (from a text by Mario Sgalambro).
Dosage and directions for use: 20 capsules a day in the prescribed order.
Side effects: Morbid desire to know their next work.
Warnings: No contraindications.
14 tracks interspersed with brief flashes that serve to connect the tracks with each other, the altercation between the two spouses begins immediately violent, the voices bounce between the right speaker and the left one, exchanging mutual accusations: “she is your daughter, she is sick, she is crazy, she is not sick.”
The two song-actors perfectly blend their voices always supported by the sounds of the band, the genre is indefinable, a sort of electronic post-punk, or simply pop… … The subdued advance of Transfiguration suddenly leads us to the announcement of Baby Love's presence, but it is just a moment then we are absolutely overwhelmed by the electric guitar of If It Were a Game a doubtful and fast track that lasts about a minute. Between one song and another there is never a second of silence, the tracks are presented to us one after another without a moment of respite, mixing genres and voices, and even the Advertisement arrives. I Hate Advertisement and between these two flashes, Con-Forme fits in, where Betty and Joe skillfully rap and mix the lyrics of Comprami by Viola Valentino and Mi Vendo by Renato Zero.
Overwhelming in Vegetali it might remind one of the CCCP for the construction of the track (live halfway think halfway Everything normal). And so between absolutely violent tracks and others, perhaps more melodic the capsules descend into your stomach giving you new sensations then at the end of the treatment you would want to visit the Traunitz center and be treated by these Chinese Roulette, while everything “spreads opens insinuates slowly fights the shadows, spreads like penetrating virus insinuates into the mind fights.” The work closes with the excipient track from a text by Sgalambro.
Some questions to Joe Raggi via email:
Q. Your musical references?
J. Among the foreigners: Björk, Lali Puna, Massive Attack, Kraftwerk, Einstürzende Neubauten, Radiohead, Bowie, Diamanda Galas. Among the Italians, Battiato, Fausto Rossi, CCCP/CSI, the splendid voice of Fiamma, the Italian new wave of Underground Life, Garbo, and Faust’ o himself, quite a mess, right?
Q. Why the choice to make such an alienated concept album?
J. "What Ever Happened to Baby Love?" is not really a concept. The idea was to give the listener (but also the viewer of our concert-shows) cues to derive a personalized plot, in order to also have their own "creative space". The characters R and C are very Fassbinderian ("Chinese Roulette" is also the title of a Fassbinder movie) and the alienation that emerges from the album is given by the surreal situation experienced by the characters: two crazy people putting on their last show (singing the songs of Chinese Roulette) at the Traunitz Mental Health Center
Q. How difficult is it, in Italy, to get known?
J. Very, but I don't want to make the usual victimizing speech (when I hear others do it, it bores me to death!!!)
Q. How useful do you think a review made by an amateur on Debaser is?
J. I think it is better to have one made by an amateur than none from a professional!
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