The Raincoats
Odyshape

Ladbroke Grove stretches within Greater London, a pulsating artery of the alternative urban fabric, a crossroads for artists who, in the '80s, invade the capital in search of affirmation and fortune. Musicians with high hopes, new bohemians of the nascent post-punk scene, and quirky individuals in search of happy havens flood the area during weekends, following trails of cheap pints (better if free!) and one of the many squats where they can spend the night sleeping off a hangover, between the aforementioned main street and the adjacent Portobello Road, a sort of Haight-Ashbury English style (musically and historically different, mind you) up to number 66 Golborne Road where the sign "Rough Trade" adorns the door of a record shop, the epicenter of all the dynamics described on this page. Gina Birch, a lover of conceptual art and a young student from Nottingham, arrives in London to continue her studies at Hornsey Art College and, during one of her nights out in the clubs of Ladbroke Grove, she stumbles upon a live show by the Slits. This episode changes the course of her life, captivating the young woman to such an extent that, in a short time, she forms an all-female band in which she takes up the bass, the balafon (an instrument from Mali), and serves as a vocalist, Ana da Silva (of Portuguese origin) on vocals and guitar, and Vicky Aspinall on bass and violin (the lineup also included male musicians and Palmolive from the Slits for a short period). Geoff Travis, owner of the aforementioned record shop, who meanwhile has decided to produce some artists discovered while club-hopping, listens to the Raincoats and, enamored by their performance, decides to sign them to his nascent label. This choice is rewarded with two masterpieces of rare beauty, the eponymous "The Raincoats" from 1979 and "Odyshape" from 1981, destined to etch an important epitaph on the music to follow.

"Odyshape" astonishes with its exotic influences and unusual musical areas that even touch on new jazz, inspirations of Gina Birch matured by eavesdropping on one of her many housemates who favored Ornette Coleman and Miles Davis. A work with complex themes concerning the discriminations perpetrated against women and their confined and marginal role in society, this album strikes from the first notes with its infinite richness of unconventional sounds contrary to the diktats of the moment and with brilliant lyrics focused on the difficult world of habits and preconceptions too tough to uproot.

Sincere and ethereal, the sound of "Odyshape" flows in the spirals of nine tracks without pretenses, pragmatic and at the same time complex like few others, starting with the unpredictable and discontinuous "Shouting Out Loud". It continues with the grotesque and seemingly humorous "Family Treet", the dark "Only Loved At Night", the enticing dub ballad "Dancing In My Head" with Richard Dudanski from P.I.L. on drums, the bipolar dissonances of the eponymous "Odyshape", "And Then It's O.K." featuring yet another collaboration on drums, this time none other than Mr. Robert Wyatt. The mysterious aura of mysticism of "Baby Song", the obsessive litany of sounds of "Red Shoes" and the final "Go Away" with Charles Hayward on drums, labelmate with This Heat (also present in "Family Treet") seal the stylistic mark of this incredible work.

Time, the incorruptible judge of life, sifts through stories, anecdotes, and moments in the tight meshes of its net, filtering out the infinitely pure, the precious essence that withstands its hard laws. Thirty-five years later, "Odyshape" continues to unfold little by little, superb and enchanting, recruiting new enthusiasts with each listen and augmenting an already rich group that includes names like Kurt Cobain and Sonic Youth. Dark clouds on the horizon promise rain; it's a good occasion to get out the raincoats!