Category: music

Review of a CD 6

ilariamontagniLeave a comment

THE GOSH

Pinelandthumbnail-15-05-37

Songs which lay in your head and you can’t stop singing once you’ve listened to them. Direct songs which go straightly to your heart and stay inside you. A cd which tastes of ’80s, The Cure and even a bit of Depeche Mode. A formidable fusion of darkwave, funk and accordion: you can’t believe how extraordinary the result is. You want to dance and to stop thinking. I’ve never heard something similar: simple lyrics in loop which are as heavy as stones (Dreams mixed with clay and sun, dreams moved by the secret gun). You can’t imagine how armoniously mingle together elettrical guitars and accordion: a fabolous neofolk. In “Circle” the voice is very beautiful, but the masterpiece is, with no doubts, “Breaking On Me”.

The Gosh offer light effects in their live performances. Sounds and lights dancing together at the rythm of “Jacknife”. New music. That’s all. It’s one of those cds which go beyond the élite. You don’t have to be a fan of the Joy Division to understand their essence. A magnifique product.

You can find the original Italian version on ROCKIT: http://www.rockit.it/album/9514/the-gosh-pineland

Review of a CD 5

ilariamontagniLeave a comment

MAMAROOTS

Città di uomini

A pleasant cd. Not very bad, not very good. Very easy melodies and lyrics. thumbnail2It seems like a short encyclopedia of reggae music. An album which takes a lot of clichés of reggaetime with no real innovations. There’s something of Bob Marley and a bit of Giuliano Palma’s ska. The themes are typical of the roots’ style: the fight against the greedy society (True and false mingle in society. If you can discern you become a dangerous figure… Only power is the ambition of the politician), critics of the war (There’s no war in the name of God. He would never allowed them. There are only wars in the name of business!)  and love, of course (Now I would like to touch your face. Live this romantic dream. Please don’t wake me up). Clear sounds, nice female chorus and regular rhythms: these are the qualities of “Come to conquer”, the best track of the album.

Twelve good songs, but not so original.

Original Italian version on ROCKIT: http://www.rockit.it/album/9464/mama-roots-citta-di-uomini

Review of a cd 4

ilariamontagniLeave a comment

POSTpost

Che vuoi che sia

If the first album by Post were limited to three songs (“Come posso”, “Esercizio di stile” and “Zeta”), we will be able to listen to a music jewel. These are three rock pearls which give evidence to a very original voice. The singer Gio Franco shows something new with particular melodies and scratching tones. It is up to him- and to beautiful lyrics and pleasant guitar riffs- the fact that these three songs are catchy but never plain.

Unfortunately, all is lost in the other tracks. Too many computer sounds and no balance between guitars and violins. Some chorus are too banal (like in “Che vuoi che sia”) and some melodies are too plain (listen to “Rosicchiando” and “Corre”). What a waste: we hope for a better cd next time.

Original Italian Version on ROCKIT: http://www.rockit.it/album/9041/post-piemonte-nulla-da-decidere

Review of a CD 3

ilariamontagniLeave a comment

AULICINO

Supergiùthumbnail

You get in your hands a cd which in its envelopment is great. Now that everybody has got an i-pod and listens only to mp3, handling a cd is just a pleasure for antiquaries. Not a plastic packing (eco-un-friendly) but red cardboard and a graphically perfect booklet. This puirsit for perfection tries to pass from the extern to the content. Aulicino’s 12 songs aim at a clear sound and at the common goal that all songwriters share: telling a story, emotioning, empathize. Aulicino partially reaches this objective.

The beginning is deceitful: the first track, “Ov-Est” is great. An atmosphere which recalls Franco Battiato and a voice which reminds of Pau of Negrita. Pleasant echoes, not heavy similiarties.  But then, songs like “Tu Paradiso” and “Sono Innamorato” badly run into classical melodical Italian pop. Not much originality, especially in the lyrics. Dream, love, heart: words which repeat themselves in a loop that can last even 45 minutes and that make you forget the first well-done song. It seems like being listening to a great songwriter who waste his talent with silly songs. A further gold-fingered Alex Britti who just creates summer hits.

What a waste! Songs like “Ov-Est” and “Fuga” are really good. Only two songs among 14 tracks written and performed exclusively by Aulicino. Is this just an istance?

Original Italian review on ROCKIT: http://www.rockit.it/magazine/album.php?x=00009439

Diary: one day with Paolo Benvegnù

ilariamontagniLeave a comment

Here it is the link of my article on Paolo Benvegnù. He’s a well-known Italian artist as far as “underground music” is concerned. In Italy we define this kind of music as Indie/Rock. Actually I don’t like labels and definitions. And neither does Benvegnù. Music is just what you feel and share with others. This is the very essence of the interview with Paolo and the half a day we spent together with his musicians. A truthful experience in Rome, Eur, during the ROCKIT Festival Il Sorpasso.

http://www.rockit.it/magazine/articolo.php?y=a&x=00000685

Why Chez Bu?

ilariamontagniLeave a comment

Well, every respectful beginning must get you into the general idea of the whole aim of a project. To be simple and clear, you cannot follow this blog if you don’t know who is behind this html language.
Chez Bu is a couple of words which sum up my origins, i. e. who I am. My mother is half French and, in this sense, I’ve always liked the condition of ambiguity an immigrant lives. Being someone elsewhere than your country is scaring and fascinating at the same time. Moreover, the preposition chez reminds of restaurants and food is one of the few pleasures of life I’m fond of. The other word, Bu is just my nickname. It comes from butriona, a dialectal term which in Arezzo, my town, refers to a fat peasant who is strictly bounded to her fields. Actually I love my town and Tuscany in general: I’ve got a deep esprit de clocher.

That’s just a brief explanation of the title of this blog where I will put all my articles on music that I publish in Italian in the website Rockit and that I will translate here into English.