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C'è un solo aggettivo per definire questo disco degli americani Dredg, "Catch Without Arms", ed è SORPRENDENTE. Non ci sono altri modi per descrivere la solarità, la vivacità, l'entusiasmo, l'adrenalina e l'accattivante energia sprigionate da questo loro ultimo lavoro datato 2005.
Molti sono i momenti salienti di questo disco. Sin dalla prima traccia "Ode To The Sun" si viene subito colpiti in pieno viso da bordate elettriche che sostengono un ritmo dannatamente coinvolgente e impetuoso, fatto di chitarre taglienti ed emozionanti, continui saliscendi di intensità e una voce, quella di Gavin Hayes, di una presenza e intensità mostruose, che ti prende, ti abbraccia e ti porta con sé fino al punto più alto in cielo, dove i caldi raggi ti circondano e sotto di te regna l'azzurro e il sereno.
Il bello della maggior parte delle canzoni contenute è che si tratta di pezzi orecchiabilissimi, quasi radiofonici per come sono facilmente assimilabili, eppure dotati di una profondità inaspettata e eccelsa. A questo riguardo si prenda la title-track. Animata da una dolce malinconica chitarra che tratteggia il riff portante, la traccia si sviluppa attraverso brevissime parentesi più heavy e cresce in intensità emotiva variando più volte in forma e tempo. Ascoltandola vengono alla mente tantissimi nomi: dai Mars Volta meno celebrali e più emotivi agli At The Drive In, con certe diramazioni tooliane, echi settantiani, emo di ottima qualità e tanto altro ancora.
Momenti più riflessivi (come in "Zebraskin") si alternano piacevolmente a altri più energici, costituendo un gioco di contrasti che tiene sempre desto e vigile l'ascoltatore. E' un effetto di chiaroscuro che percepiamo benissimo nel passaggio tra la citata "Zebraskin" e "The Tanbark Is Hot Lava" con la sua sezione ritmica sincopata e ipnoticamente schizoide, e una voce che spazia qui su livelli finora mai sentiti nel disco, fino a uno screaming nella parte centrale . Una traccia veramente emozionante e coinvolgente, di sicuro una delle più belle.
A proposito della voce, "Sang Real" è probabilmente il pezzo dove l'operato di Hayes si fa maggiormente sentito a livello emozionale. La canzone, costruita su un registro nuovamente malinconico, è animata da un bellissimo pianoforte le cui note, lievi e lineari, sembrano gocce di pioggia che cadono su un terreno coperto da un fitto strato di neve: dove cadono lasciano un segno, un marchio perfetto che, assieme a tutti gli altri, costituisce un disegno armonioso che va a sciogliere il candido gelo.
"Jamais Vu" è, a mio avviso, uno dei brani più belli di tutto il lotto. Imperniata interamente su un dolcissimo arpeggio di chitarra in lento e inesorabile crescendo, la canzone è una gemma sotto tutti i punti di vista. Il cantante tocca qui con la sua voce vette intensissime, basso - batteria sono due cuori che battono all'unisono e le chitarre, qui particolarmente belle e convincenti, dipingono con abilità un cielo stellato blu scuro dalle tinte a tratti più fosche tipiche dei Sigur Ròs più emozionanti.
Concluderei il tutto con "Matroshka", una tenue nenia che sa di arrivederci. Aperta dalle solari sei corde (qui quasi "à la U2"), la canzone ti lascia a bocca aperta, tanta è la carica emotiva e la classe messa in gioco dal gruppo. Il ritornello è un bacio agrodolce, un saluto a una data ancora sconosciuta, che sicuramente però verrà. Sapete quando, dopo una di quelle lunghe gite al mare in macchina con gli amici, vi trovate a parlare, mezzi addormentati per la stanchezza, di vecchi aneddoti e di vicende accadute anni prima quando eravate in classe insieme? Le parole, i ricordi, si fanno bordati d'oro, lievi e nostalgici filamenti giocosi che, per magia, rivivono grazie alle battute dei tuoi amici. Uno di quei momenti in cui ti senti in pace con te stesso, pronto a riprendere in mano la tua vita con un piglio ancora maggiore.
Un disco, ripeto, straordinario e unico nella sua capacità di comunicare emozioni. Sicuramente un lavoro meritevole di un ascolto da parte di tutti, un piccolo capolavoro che, temo, sia passato un po' troppo inosservato, almeno qui da noi.
Elenco tracce testi samples e video
01 Ode to the Sun (04:12)
It's gone from light to grey
But I'll move those clouds away
Letting the sun shine through
In this ode to you
Let the demons have their place
And so its angels you'll create
And disguised within the dark
Light will wait
My heart, my own, you're my soul
Will you
Please accept, please accept this ode
This is all for you transcend
We flip towards the sun
Wheels skidding on the run
A flowing sea of red
The whole city grows
My heart, my own, you're my sun
Will you
Please accept, please accept this ode
This is all for you to transcend
Will you
Please accept, please accept this ode
This is all for you transcend fiasco
Rubber neck, passing motorists
Mangled till you can't caress
Repair this tattered skin
Hold it in your hand
You've already glistened through the window
You've already set your soul free, free, free
Please accept, please accept this ode
This is all for you transcend
Will you
Please accept, please accept this ode
This is all for you transcend fiasco
02 Bug Eyes (04:14)
Bring back those good ol' days
Nothing feels right
Nothing ever goes my way
I threw my future away
Now I walk alone
Out here in the cold
Wandering astray
Where's my future?
I'm gonna need a home
You'd expect the same, now wouldn't you, wouldn't you?
Your journey back to birth is haunting you it's haunting you
Your departure from the earth, is haunting you, it's haunting you
Only those who accept will find that acceptance in return
When you've been trimmed down like hedges, and told just to sit, and wilt, and spit at each other from a distance
With constant resistance from you
Gonna need a home
You'd expect the same now wouldn't you, wouldn't you?
Your journey back to birth is haunting you, it's haunting you
Your departure from the earth is haunting you, it's haunting you
It's been ten years strong, thats much too long
It's time to do something good for my health
Time to do somethin' good for myself
It's been ten years strong, thats much too long
It's time to do something good for my health
Time to do somethin' good for myself
I've wasted all this time, I've wasted all this time
Your journey back to birth is haunting you, it's haunting you
You departure from the earth is haunting you, it's haunting you
Your journey back to birth is haunting you, it's haunting you
Your departure from the earth is haunting you, it's haunting you
03 Catch Without Arms (04:11)
I'm not your star
I'm not that beam of light
Here to save your life
To make your wallet fat
While mine's on a diet
It's not my greatest care
When simple needs are scarce
It's never ending
It really seems unfair
But lately I don't care
I don't care that much
I've given up tryin'
So sing about love
Sing about lust
So they will care...
It's the same difference
That's what happens when you play catch without arms
That's what sets, sets, sets us apart
Well that's what happens
When you compromise your art
That's what set, set, set us apart
You've got this far
I don't know if you care
But I think that you should swear
Or something of the sort
To show me that you're tryin
So sing about love
Sing about lust
So they will care...
It's the same difference
That's what happens when you play catch without arms
That's what sets, sets, sets us apart
Well that's what happens
When you compromise your art
That's what set, set, set us apart
Set the faith
So they will find it
If there's a hope they can't deny it
Sing about lust so they can feel it
Sing about love so they can sing it
Sing it.....
Well that's what happens when you play catch without arms
That's what sets, sets, sets us apart
Well that's what happens
When you compromise your art
That's what set, set, set us apart
I'm not your star
I'm not that beam of light
Here to save your life
Oh no...
I'm not your star
I'm not that beam of light
Here to save your life
Oh no...
04 Not That Simple (04:56)
Remove my hands and feet
Watch me crawl on my stubs
Throw me to the street
Watch me fall on down head first
It's not that simple
I've needed this from the start
To guide my way
To be okay
It's made life simple
I've needed this from the start to wake up
If all else fails
If all turns to dust
Set sail on a ship built from trust
If all else fails
And all starts to rust
Set sail on a ship built for us
Its time to retreat
I sawed it down to the bone
The canyons are too deep yeah
Decided to run like a child
Decided to run to rescue
Took too long to wake up
If all else fails
If all turns to dust
Set sail on a ship built from trust
If all else fails
And all starts to rust
Set sail on a ship built for us
It's not that simple
I've needed this from the start
To guide my way
To be okay
It's made life simple
I've needed this from the start to wake up
If all else fails
If all turns to dust
Set sail on a ship built from trust
If all else fails
And all starts to rust
Set sail on a ship built for us
For us for us
05 Zebraskin (03:26)
One Two Three Four
I wonder why I'm running around again
I took my chances
I may have lost my best friend
Yeah I wonder
Like sprinting on a frozen pond..I took my chances
I may have lost my best friend
A couple of drinks mid-day mid-day mid-day
Haven't felt this way this way since yesterday
A couple of drinks I sway I sway I sway
Haven't felt this way since yesterday
I wonder why I'm running around again
I took my chances
I may have lost my best friend
Yeah I wonder
Like sprinting on a frozen pond I took my chances
I may have lost my best friend
(a couple of drinks, a couple of drinks)
(a couple of drinks, a couple of drinks)
A couple of drinks mid-day mid-day mid-day
Haven't felt this way this way since yesterday
Beginning to sink and fade and fade and fade
There's nothing that I would trade to feel this way
I wonder why I'm running around again
I took my chances
I may have lost my best friend
Yeah I wonder
Like sprinting on a frozen pond I took my chances
I may have lost my best friend
(a couple of drinks, a couple of drinks)
(various vocal background noises)
I wonder why I'm running around again
I took my chances
I may have lost my best friend
Yeah I wonder
Like sprinting on a frozen pond I took my chances
I may have lost my best friend
I wonder...running around again
I wonder...may have lost my best friend
I wonder...running around again
I wonder...may have found my best friend
06 The Tanbark Is Hot Lava (03:45)
The old returns
While the new can bore
'Cuz you're the one who fell
Into a self created hell
We've worn it out
It took time to realize
It's a chore to recognize
What your world could take
It's overgrown
Take it all away now
Real soon we'll take this all the way down
The old returns
While the new can bore
'Cuz you're the one who fell
Into a self created hell
There is no way out
When you build a stubborn shell
That shields from any help
We've worn it out
You tried to maximize
But it came as no surprise
You hurled a stake
To your own dome
Take it all away now
Real soon we'll take this all the way down
Please, Don't, Go, Stay
The old returns
While the new can bore
'Cuz you're the one who fell
Into a self created hell
There is no way out
When you build a stubborn shell
That shields from any help
The old returns
While the new can bore
'Cuz you're the one who fell
Into a self created hell
Take it all away now
There is no way out (2x)
When you build a stubborn shell
That shields from any help
We've worn it out (2x)
07 Sang Real (04:29)
I'm the addict on the corner
I'm the lawyer in the tower
I'm the body with the coroner
No, the leader with all the power
You're the pillow, the cool side
The sand during high tide
The cocktail, poolside
The water when clouds collide
From the inside out we were formed
From the inside out we will fall
Soon this all will come to an end
I'm a local but a foreigner
Still the addict yet I'm sober
Still the body with the coroner
Many friends yet still a loner
You're the pillow, the cool side
The sand during high tide
The cocktail, poolside
The water when clouds collide
From the inside out we were formed
From the inside out we will fall
Soon this all will come to an end
Soon this all will come to an end
From the inside out we were formed
From the inside out we will fall
Soon this all will come to an end
Soon this all will come to an end
08 Planting Seeds (04:12)
She's to blame I'll erase routine
With a spark to ignite the flame
And in this struggle of guilt to tame
It's freedom I'll obtain
She tied me up
Removed my crown
Bittered all good taste
Sorry for everything I've done
I can't deny your stake
Look at what I have found
A seashell in a sea of shells
I'm good at planting my own seeds
To sprout endless hell
It's dark like Poe
Forgiveness came we embrace the key
Found water to douse the flame
We ended our difference of soul and brain
Forever we have changed
I've just set out on a brand new race
Can we keep the pace
I can't believe what we've become
I'll leave without a trace
Look at what I have found
A seashell in a sea of shells
I'm good at planting my own seeds
To sprout endless hell
It's dark like Poe
Yeaah yeeeaaahhh
Yeaah yeeeaaahhh... ohh ohh ohh
Look at what I have found
A seashell in a sea of shells
I'm good at planting my own seeds
To sprout endless hell
It's dark like Poe
Leave without a trace, I'll leave without a trace...
09 Spitshine (03:34)
I harmonize with a million screaming laughs
That haunted those before us
Preaching symphonies while the chorus yelled: "Unity!"
It's based on facts, It's based on facts
You spit-shined my corroded halo
Then packaged it away
You spit-shined my corroded halo
Then left it to decay
Will you watch your step
The boring story's left
You're feeling lost
"In here," she said
"Come in here"
The pain won't last
You spit-shined my corroded halo
Then packaged it away
You spit-shined my corroded halo
Then left it to decay
Take this weight off my shoulders
And move it to my brain
Take this weight off my shoulders
And move it to my brain
You spit-shined my corroded halo
Then packaged it away
You spit-shined my corroded halo
Then left it to decay
You spit-shined my corroded halo
Then packaged it away
You spit-shined my corroded halo
Then left it to decay
10 Jamais Vu (04:56)
I looked to the sky
Saw my body die
Gotta reappear up there
It's where I want to be
In the university
I've found I've found my own college
I've found I've found a way to resolve this
I'm not inside you
You're all around me
Is this what you needed to have to comfort you
I waited all this time above you
Is this what you wanted
Is this what you needed to have
Take all that I've known
Is this what you wanted
Is this what you need me to fear
Take all that I've found...
I'm not inside you
You're all around me
Is this what you needed to have to comfort you
I waited all this time above you
I looked to the ground
Was pleased with what I found
Gotta reappear up here
It's where I'll always be
In the university
I've found I've found all my problems
I'm gone I'm gone finally solved this
I'm not inside you
You're all around me
Is this what you needed to have to comfort you
I waited all this time above you
12 Matroshka (The Ornament) (05:48)
I was looking down at you smiling up at me
For once I held you tight, but shadowed arms grabbed at me
Your head was in the clouds, now those clouds are in your head
It's when you needed me, so I listened to what you said
Look another year went by
They keep passing by
Goddamn I didn't even die
To old and slow I've grown
Well I fought time but lost
It was love like a callus you're scarred enough to be
Tough and immuned, your body adapts you see
To all above my head and all below my feet
Know that's one freedom you'll never take from me
Look another year went by
They keep passing by
Goddamn I didn't even die
To old and slow I've grown
Well I fought time but lost
To criticize and judge
How did I end up here
With these standards I'm forced to love
Make me disappear
Hold tight, hold tight
To criticize and judge
How did I end up here
With these standards I'm forced to love
Make me disappear
To criticize and judge
How did I end up here
With these standards I'm forced to love
Make me disappear
Hold tight, hold tight, hold tight, hold tight
Look another year went by
Hold tight, hold tight, hold tight, hold tight
13 Uplifting News (03:22)
I watch the hawk land
A sign of good fortune
I watched it reaching out for my hand it said
"You shouldn't revert back to the way you used to be
You know it will only help you in the end"
It's not an issue don't let it in
Settle down
Settle down
Save your stories cause they're all the same
You've had had your glory
Throw it all away
If you don't you will never change cause
Give it time and watch your fame decay
You're not alone
I've straightened out crooked lines
I did it on my own
Got it done, I served my time
It's gonna take more you know
Settle down
Lay it down lay
Save your stories cause they're all the same
You've had had your glory
Throw it all away
If you don't you will never change cause
Give it time and watch it your fame decay
It's gone away
Gone
It's gone away
All worries
No pleasure
It will open the ultimate treasure
This is how our status is measured
This isn't pleasure
Save your stories cause they're all the same
You've had had your glory
Throw it all away
If you don't you will never change cause
Give it time and watch your fame decay
Carico i commenti... con calma
Altre recensioni
Di Diggei_brusco
Originalità, sensibilità ed un'evoluzione coerente sono ciò che distingue i Dredg.
I suoni balzano e si alternano sulle due vie delle mie Bose senza alcun punto di riferimento: un inseguimento perenne tra il mio timpano e il pentagramma che scorre liquido e veloce.
Di Devin Davis
I Dredg necessitano di molti ascolti per essere apprezzati.
Il difetto maggiore è che i Dredg, invece di continuare nel loro personale stile, siano passati ad uno schema più pop-rock... e quest’ultima parola mi spaventa molto.
