•
Rating: The third album since 1995 by Steve Albini's band, who was in Big Black until 1987 (let's remember a great cover of "The Model" by Kraftwerk) and then became one of the most sought-after sound engineers in the indie scene for Nirvana, PJ Harvey, Pixies, Helmet, Wedding Present. Then in 1995, unexpectedly with "At Action Park," he started making his own records again, naming the band after the resin used to make old 78s, those heavy ones that don't bend, weighing 177 grams. And with this image, the music of Shellac is best explained: simple, spartan, minimal, analog rock, recorded without overdubs, live, a bass/guitar/drums combo that isn't afraid of silences, that fills the void with void, with the guitar coming out of the amp untreated, with the courage to be naked. Songs based on dynamics, devoid of any technical virtuosity but based almost entirely on dynamics, built on relentless staccatos, with the sound seeming to be remodulated by the speakers with each listen. This "Mille Ferite" is an exemplary work of Albini's approach to production and songwriting; everything originates around an abrasive and penetrating riff repeated endlessly, with the bass going in countertime and following its melodic lines (in "Song Against Itself" this is theorized with the verse "This is the song against itself/It's of two minds of its own"). In the song that opens the album, "Prayer to God," Albini's voice submerged in the mix after the introduction "To the one true God above: here is my prayer/not the first you've heard/ but the first I wrote/not the first, but the others were a long time ago/There are two people here, and I want you to kill
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Prayer to God (02:50)
To the one true God above,
here is my prayer.
Not the first you've heard,
but the first I wrote.
(not the first, but the others
were a long time ago...)
There are two people here,
and I want you to kill them.
Her, she can go quietly,
by disease, or a blow
to the base of her neck,
where her necklaces close.
Where her garments come together,
where I used to lay my face...
that's where you oughta kill her,
in that particular place.
Him, just fucking kill him.
I don't care if it hurts.
Yes I do -- I want it to.
Fucking kill him but first
make him cry like a woman
(no particular woman)
let him hold out, hope that
Someone or other might come and
Fuckin' kill him.
Fuckin' kill him.
Kill him already, kill him. (x5)
Kill him already,
Kill him already,
Kill him, fuckin' kill him.
Just fuckin' kill him.
Fuckin' kill him.
Kill him already, kill him.
Fuckin' kill him.
Kill him.
Fuckin' kill him already, kill him.
Kill him.
Fucking kill him.
Kill him, just fucking kill him,
kill him already, kill him already,
kill him,
Amen.
03 Mama Gina (05:43)
Oh, My Mama Gina
Had a Sister, Angelina.
If There Is a Heaven
(Though I Think That There's no Heaven)
She's Probably Dancing With You...
She Liked to Dance; She Would've Liked You.
When She Heard You Died
My Pretty Girlfriend Cried
And Cried and Cried
And Cried and Cried
And Cried and Cried and Cried and Cried...
She Liked to Dance and She Would've Liked You.
07 Canaveral (02:38)
Call it Canaveral
I won't say his name
could've had anyone and he did
what do you think could make him stoop so low
What do you think could make him
stick his hands in my life
what on earth could make him stoop so low
what do you think would make him
stick his cock in my wife
what on earth would make him stoop so low
Like to put him up up there in one
Like to see his face
Like to put him up there in one
Blow him up in space
He'll fertilize the rice in China
With the cinders of his remains
Want to start a country somewhere on an island or an archipelago
or a peninsula or an ipsmuth or a fjord or an inlet
even a mountain
Print up stamps and money there
and they'll all have Oswald's face
08 New Number Order (01:39)
Ok
Here's what we're going to do
We all know the numbers right?
From zero to infinity
Whatever
Some other number with a mess of zeros behind it
Here's what we're going to do
We're gonna change the order
of these numbers
to make things interesting
Ok here we go:
1 Million and 1
Sixty-six
1 Billion, twenty-five, seventy-five thousand
1 Billion and eight, six, something
Zero
1 Million 1
Loading comments slowly
Other reviews
By alessioIRIDE
Do you ever feel lonely? Lonely in the middle of the crowd...
Somewhere in the world there’s someone who understands you and this seems to me the only possibility of survival: socialism of pain.
By Kurtd
"'Squirrel Song' so Rough and Heartbreaking."
"'Mama Gina' explodes in Noise rhythms and I never got bored."
