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Okkervil è il nome di un fiume russo che passa vicino a San Pietroburgo, ma è anche il nome di una giovane band che proviene da Austin, Texas! Li ho conosciuti trovandomi quasi per caso ad un loro concerto e, come mi accade quando finisco ad un concerto senza sapere nulla del gruppo… mi sono piaciuti! Sarà che mi appresto con uno spirito diverso ad ascoltare una musica che non conosco, saranno stati il locale, la compagnia, la mancanza totale di aspettative. Una cosa è certa, mi hanno colpito subito e alla fine del concerto mi sono comprata questo album.
Gli Okkervil River mescolano con disinvoltura generi come folk e rock creando uno stile molto personale, fuori dagli schemi. "Black Sheep Boy" ne è un esempio. È con questo album (il quinto della loro carriera) che gli Okkervil River sono tornati in tour in Europa. Il disco contiene undici brani, undici storie diverse raccontate a suon di chitarre, fisarmoniche, mandolino, wurlitzer, tromba e flauto, il tutto accompagnato dalla presenza di suoni provenienti da oggetti della realtà di tutti i giorni. Ascoltare questo disco significa entrare, o meglio irrompere, nel mondo a volte magico, a volte romantico e malinconico, a volte tremendamente reale e drammatico del cantante e songwriter Will Sheff. Vi si alternano ballate come "A King And A Queen", in cui il mandolino emerge con le sue melodie vibranti mentre Will ci racconta di un amore triste e di tempi lontani, oppure brani più rock come "Black" (il mio preferito) e "For Real", dove il cantante racconta di sé e delle sue inquietudini, o ancora pezzi più romantici come la prima traccia "Black Sheep Boy" (tributo a Tim Hardim) e la sette, "A Stone".
Il tutto viene narrato da una voce particolare, a tratti graffiante. Una vera voce da cantastorie. E come si conviene ad un bravo cantastorie, quando termina il suo racconto, ti fa venire voglia che ricominci dall’inizio, perché magari quelle storie sono anche un po’ tue, o semplicemente per assaporare ancora un po’ quella musica, quella voce!
“I ain’t trying to be no good, I’m happy” - Richard Pryor
Elenco tracce testi e samples
02 For Real (04:42)
Some nights I thirst for real blood,
for real knives, for real cries.
And then the flash of steel from real guns
in real life really fills my mind.
I really miss what really did exist
when I held your throat so tight.
And I miss the bus as it swerved from us
and came crashing to its side.
Some nights the blood from real cuts
feels real nice when it's really mine.
And if you want it to be real,
come over for a night,
and we can really, really climb.
Cuz blue bridge lights
might really burn most bright
while we watch that dark lake rise.
And if you really want to see
what really matters most to me,
just take a real short drive.
its just a drive into the dark stretch,
long stretch of night,
really stretch this shaking mind.
And this room, unlit, unheated,
and the ceiling striped,
and the dark black blinds....
I want to know this time
If you're really finally mine
I need to know that you're not lying,
and so I want to see you tried.
And I don't want to hear you say
it shouldn't really be this way,
because I like this way just fine.
Cuz there's nothing quite like
the blinding light
that curtain's cast aside,
and no attempt is made to explain away
things that really, really, really really really are behind.
You can't hide.
You can't hide.
You can't hide.
You can't hide...
08 The Latest Toughs (03:11)
All the latest toughs,
you’ve got to shrug them off or shut them off.
With ten-thousand-time-told truths,
you’ve still got to ask for proof. Ask for proof, because if you’re dying to be led
they’ll lead you up the hill in chains
to their popular refrains
and then your slaughter’s been arranged, my little lamb, and it’s much too late to talk the knife out of their hands.
Well, I woke up on a foggy morning.
Hiding from the sun, he was hiding from the sun.
But it came out and it shot its rays down.
Burning everyone, it was burning everyone.
But they were dying, anyway, to turn to ash, to feel their feelings flash and finally fade away,
in a fabulous and fiery display.
And I don't know what notes you want to hear played,
can't think what lines you'd like me to sing or say,
Not sure what subjects you want mentioned.
So just pause and add your own intentions.
All the latest toughs, well, we have seen that stuff,
and we have seen enough blood in dying coughs,
which means that we have lost. We have lost,
but if you’re crying to be tossed
they’ll toss you down the oubliette
with all the old things that you let yourself forget
because you’d like to love a star
who’d throw you down below the ground he thinks you are.
11 A Glow (03:43)
Come into the den, come into the den
You've got a glow
Climb into my arms with blood on your clothes
You've got a glow
And you're no one's but mine
And nobody knows the land where he's lying
No heat in his bones
No heart that was mine
No hand that I'd hold
And you've got a glow, you've got a glow
(And there's no escaping, the thing that is making its home in your radio)
You're light in a lie
You're lithe and you're strong
And you've wanted to do that, my love, for so long
My live and dead men
Come into the den
You've got a glow
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Altre recensioni
Di Angeldust82
Esiste qualcosa di più puro di una trionfale sconfitta, di una nobile resa?
È intrappolata da qualche parte fra il Nick Drake di Pink Moon ed i cigolii degli Sparklehorse la fragilissima, bisognosa e sospesa "In a Radio Song".
