Mi aggiro qualche anno fa in una fiera del disco usato, pensando di avere tutto.
Mi spiego meglio: avete presente quella presunzione ottusa che talvolta prende i collezionisti? Beh, vivevo in questa dimensione passeggiando tra i banchetti, sorridevo dentro me e vedevo le facce degli altri che trasalivano nel vedere il presunto introvabile cd di quello o il vinile di quell'altro..."ce l'ho già da due anni", sentenziavo.
Mi avvicino poi ad un banco e vedo "Answering Machine Music" dei Casiotone For The Painfully Alone nella versione CD della TomLab che sul loro sito compare sotto la dicitura LP only!! Per intenderci non quella arricchita di bonus del 2001, ma l'originale datata 1999. Sudorazione, esclamazione di gioia e acquisto. Sospiro di sollievo: mi so ancora emozionare.
Ecco come venni in possesso di questa piccola gemma del mondo indie, questo disco che ha aperto la strada ad un minimalismo con il sorriso, un disco considerato monotono a causa dell'utilizzo della sola tastiera Casio per la realizzazione di ogni traccia, ma che è un inno alla creatività.
Neanche una mezz'ora di assoluto lo-fi confezionato da Owen Ashworth - ragazzo del 1977 di San Francisco che cura da solista questo progetto - con uno spirito pop personale, fatto in casa (nel vero senso della parola) dove affianca la sua voce a screzi e rumori da festa di prima media con le tastierine di una volta o le drum machines mescolate ai più strani suoni elettronici.
Tutto quello che molti hanno apprezzato nelle CocoRosie o in un certo spirito dei primi album di Smog e Bright eyes, è ripercorribile in questo disco. La musica dei Casiotone for the Painfully Alone mantiene in questo album una dimensione brillante, ispirata e al contempo infastidita. Disturbata da intrusioni esterne, dai colori del mondo fuori, perché il nostro Ashworth è chiuso nella sua camera, ma al contrario di altri artisti che creano all'interno delle loro quattro mura, è sereno e non cela disagio (vedi Daniel Johnston ad esempio) ma un colto spirito dell'underground pop. Una margherita fatta con i ritagli di giornale.
Questo disco è il manifesto di questo spirito e in dodici tracce si trovano tante idee, melodie elettroniche sperimentali, pur lasciando un leggero retro gusto agrodolce in molte canzoni. Brevi, piccoli affreschi indie di una bellezza fragile e fiera, come "Baby It's you" sospesa in una leggera distorsione commovente, oppure "Rice dream girl" che sembra la colonna sonora della festa per uno sfigatissimo tredicesimo compleanno, dove tra tutti gli invitati, vengono solo i secchioni e le più brutte della classe. Impossibile non citare "Cold shoulder" dove l'incedere incerto della canzone, mostra una trovata finale degna dei videogiochi di un tempo.. Ogni secondo è sospeso tra minimalismo, pop e solitudine colorata.
Così ritornando a casa da quella fiera del disco, metto nel lettore della macchina queste canzoni e mi rivedo bambino, spettinato e brufoloso, ma al contempo adulto ambizioso e disancatato, forse Owen Ashworth sarebbe stato il mio migliore amico, se solo fossi nato anche io a san Francisco, se solo la più bella della classe non mi avesse dato quel bacio...
Elenco tracce testi e video
03 Casiotone for the Painfully Alone Joins the Foreign Legion (02:38)
should've known that this would end
stopped being my friend
some thing's just aren't worth mending
some messages aren't worth unsending
the way you walked past the door
oblivious to me writing on the floor
from the pain you inflicted
and all the pills that the doctor prescripted
just don't work anymore
they don't work anymore
they don't work anymore
they don't work anymore
it's not the point that i'm at
you fucked me up pretty bad
now it's all too late
you can forward my mail to the state
cause i joined the foreign legion
joined the foreign legion
joined the foreign legion
joined the foreign legion
joined the foreign legion
joined the foreign legion
joined the foreign legion
04 Cold Shoulder (02:08)
i just got off a train
and i didn't sleep
i haven't been in this town in weeks
and the only things keeping me alive
are your picture in my pocket
and a dollar fourty five
and i'm walking to your house
hoping to hell that you're home
and as i approach your house on the beach
and your front gate is in my reach
try to think of one single good reason
why you'd want to take me back
in this winter season
you know what
can't think of a one
yeah the forcast is for a cold shoulder
it's been two months since i left you in boulder
it was the stupidest thing i've ever done
and now i'm coming back to you
unshaved and unslept and sorry
05 Rice Dream Girl (01:53)
was in the safeway store
when i saw you in aisle four
i swear you looked so nice
you were buying milk that was made out of rice
i tried to think of something clever to say
but you were already walking away
in an attempt to get my groove on
i offered you my white castle coupon
the radio was playing seal
i tried to tell you how i feel
but then our shopping carts locked wheels
& the moment just seemed wrong
oh won't you do what's right
put your groceries in my car tonight
i want to take you home
oh w/ your eyes of blue
i want to drink rice milk w/ you
i'll be your one and only
so we won't be so lonely
06 Secretest Crush (01:54)
the secretest crush there ever was
is in my heart & there's no one i can tell
cause everyone around here
has a big fat mouth including me
& that's the hardest part
cause i really want to tell
you how she grabbed my arm last night
& how i felt my heart stop
but i don't trust you not to tell
& i guess it's just as well
yeah i guess it's just as well
the secretest crush there ever was
is in my heart & there's no one i can tell
& i can't even write a song about her
because she loves my band
yeah she loves my band
07 A Normal Suburban Lifestyle Is a Near Impossibility Once You've Fallen in Love With an International Spy (02:43)
08 Baby It's You (04:54)
whatever happened to the girl
who let me write my name
in her tattoo
do you remember hiding out with me
in theatre number two
can you believe
that i don't even recall
if we ever kissed
i still have your sweatshirt
i still have your records
i still have those tapes you'd made
of all your favorite songs
but i just can't quite bring myself
to put em on
and maybe it's too late for that now
i still have the letter you wrote
sitting on my steps
waiting for me to come home
on the night
that i did not come home
and i still have the letter where you said
those words i'd waited for
since the day we met
maybe it's too late for that now
maybe i fucked it all up somehow
but i wrote my name on your arm in blue
baby it's you
10 Daina Flores You're the One (01:51)
i hope your summer's lots of fun
hooray for class of '91
and though we've never talked that much
i hope we always stay in touch
i wish i'd got to know you better
and had the nerve to pass some letters
that i wrote to you in class
i guess the year just went too fast
i've seen you walking with a boy
holding hands and acting coy
and though i'm sure his love is true
i'd be so very good for you
i've missed my chance, the year is done
hooray for class of '91
i hope your summer's lots of fun
daina flores, you're the one
11 Beeline (03:47)
the last time i was here it was december
the last time i was here you were mine
but i happen to know for a fact that it's not december anymore
& it's been six months since you made your final beeline for the door
& since you left i've made a list
of 374 reasons why i could never live without you
since you've left i've made a list
of 375 reasons why i never ever ever ever ever
want to see you again
the day you left it broke me apart
the day you left it cut me clean in two
but scars get smooth
i guess there's some sort of irony there
but you still haven't explained
what you're doing back here
& you still haven't explained
what you're doing
standing on my front lawn
i don't know where you've been hiding for the last six months
but i really think you ought to just go back there now
because i don't want you around here anymore
& if you'll excuse me i was kind of busy getting over you
12 I Should Have Kissed You When I Had the Chance (01:15)
i remember watching you go
and the long walk home
past the blinking lights of the strip clubs and the carl's jr.
and i remember brushing your hand
and how it made me feel so sad
i wanted to hold your hand so bad
and this is the bus that will take you away
i hope you enjoyed your stay
it wouldn't have worked anyway
this is the bus that will take you away
i hope you enjoyed your stay
wouldn't have worked anyway
this is the bus that will take you away
i hope you enjoyed your stay
wouldn't have worked anyway
i should've kissed you when i had the chance
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