Bei ricordi. Nell'estate del 1998 i Sonic Youth erano stati a Collegno, stessa tornata del concerto di Bob Dylan, cui mi ero ugualmente precipitato, ma quella volta andò male: dopo 4 brani, se ne erano corsi via terrorizzati da un semiuragano imminente, con Thurston Moore che gridava: «I don’t wanna die, guys». Anche nel pomeriggio del 6 luglio 2002 pioveva, ma la sera il parco della Pellerina di Torino li accolse infine sotto un cielo quieto e stellato. Provenivano da alcune date francesi e anche italiane (come Cagliari e Arezzo). L'ultimo disco, “Murray Street”, segnava un ritorno a certe venature melodiche meno presenti nelle ultime produzioni “A Thousand Leaves” (1998) e “NYC Ghosts & Flowers” (2000: qui aveva avuto inizio una trilogia sulla Lower Manhattan il cui secondo passo era appunto Murray Street). Era l'album di “Karen revisited” - e non solo.
Va anzitutto detto che nel concerto della Pellerina la mano sapiente di Jim O’Rourke, geniale bassista di Chicago (già produttore di Wilco e Red Crayola), il quale solo da NYC suonava con Kim Gordon, Thurston Moore, Lee Ranaldo e Steve Shelley, offrì un mirabile supporto (li avrebbe poi lasciati nel 2005, dopo “Sonic Nurse”). L’apertura fu affidata a “Candle”, teso ed elettrico, nono pezzo del leggendario doppio “Daydream Nation”. Intanto Leonard ringraziava profusamente per gli applausi; «oblong» Thurston commentava la volta stellata, faceva battute, ammiccava e «free» Kim, durante una sua compiaciuta improvvisazione, gli allungava un ironico calcetto - altri tempi (e altri calci, probabilmente).
L’approccio dei Sonic si situava alla confluenza fra il dionisiaco e il ludico, ossia fra l'evasione in sé, non controllata, dai tratti oscuri, uno sprofondare nell'abisso, e la regola capace di dominarla o riassorbirla attraverso il piacere dello scherzo e della sorpresa. Non di rado, la prima sequenza costruisce uno spunto melodico (poche note ricamate alla chitarra), ma qual è la sua funzione? Quella del trampolino per il resto del brano. Non è null'altro che lo spicchio di un'intera visione. Nel procedere, quest’immagine iniziale viene sovrastata e stravolta. Lo si vide anche quella sera, nei climax che incenerivano ogni melodia, o nelle schitarrate catartiche. Prendiamo “Rain On Tin”, fra i tasselli più felici di “Murray Street”: i tre leaders, coadiuvati da O’Rourke e da Shelley, strepitoso batterista, si inabissarono in una suite che fece presto sembrare remoto il primo idillio, finito chissà dove, passo dopo passo, un arpeggio innocente dopo l'altro - sempre meno innocente. E il tracciato sonoro rallentava, accelerava, s'impennava, ritornava su di sé e si allontanava un'altra volta, a ondate. Al termine di una farandola incendiaria, si tornò allo scheletrico motivetto iniziale. Dunque c’era. Anzi, c'era sempre stato, in agguato al disotto di quel tappeto di distorsioni. Che il «rumore» dei Sonic fosse il più delle volte intrinsecamente geometrico, o che i due esiti non fossero poi in realtà così diversi, lo dimostrarono più che mai - cosa significativa per un'esibizione live - almeno due pezzi della data torinese, “Eric’s Trip” e la recente “Radical Adults Lick Godhead Style”. In entrambi, il vortice sonoro evitò le pastoie della cacofonia.
Nei Sonic, lo sfondamento della soglia del rumore determinava l’approdo a un nuovo gradino espressivo, non l'esibizione d’una confusa rabbia iconoclasta. Il loro rumore, soprattutto dal vivo, poteva anche essere puro astrattismo, come nella seconda parte di “Karen revisited”: dopo alcune strofe in apparenza innocue, sfruttandone le potenzialità autodistruttive la linea melodica si accartocciava sotto il tiro incrociato delle distorsioni. Restava un cratere fatto di suoni sparsi, echi e fruscii. Intanto Ranaldo, come uno sciamano, trascinava per il palco la chitarra, rivoltandola in ogni possibile modo per trarne gli effetti più vari, mentre, su di uno sfondo di piatti ossessivo ma ovattato, Kim, Thurston e Lee innalzavano le loro sopra la testa, accostandole anch'essi alle casse perché ogni vibrazione, ogni fremito venisse colto: quello stesso strumento che fino a poco prima dipingeva melodie cantabili si faceva adesso veicolo di rabdomanzia sonora. Risultato: la melodia iniziale era smembrata, lacerata, fatta a pezzi in una girandola di convulsioni, come accade in “The Diamond Sea”, dove all'ottavo minuto si comincia a soffocarla dolcemente, poi la si strapazza e infine, dopo una brutale lotta titanica, al diciannovesimo, la si fa affondare.
Peraltro i Sonic, nella loro semplicità – niente effetti visivi -, sapevano garantire una presenza scenica d’impatto. Ricordo ancora che, durante la funambolica “Kool Thing”, Kim si rotolava a terra, ma fu soprattutto spettacolare la sua performance in “Kissability” e “Bull in the Heather”, il cui procedere ipnotico impiegò poco a trasformarsi in un incalzare di sonorità aspre e contrastanti ancor più minacciose che nella traccia su disco.
Venne infine il momento dei bis, sempre amaro: “Disconnection Notice” e “Silver Rocket”, grande scarica finale di adrenalina. Applausi, grazie della lezione e arrivederci.
Certo, si era sentita la mancanza di pezzi memorabili come “Sugar Kane”, “100%”, “Washing Machine” o “Song For Karen”. Per non parlare di molti altri brani, di “Evol” come dello sconfinato “Daydream Nation”. Ma come riprodurre un simile repertorio in una mezza serata?
Elenco tracce testi e video
01 Dirty Boots (05:28)
Here we go to another candle I know,
All the girls there playin' on a jelly roll.
Time to take a ride,
Time to take it in a midnight eye.
And if you wanna go, get on below.
Pinkin' out the day, dreamin' out the crazy way.
Finger on the love, it's all above.
Everywhere it's six-sex-six by luck,
A satellite wish will make it just enough.
You be makin' out with a witch in a coffee truck.
Time to rock the road, and tell the story of the jelly rollin'.
Dirty boots are on, hi-de-ho.
Pinkin' out the black, dreamin' in a crack.
Satan got her tongue, now it's undone.
I got some dirty boots,
Yeah, dirty boots.
I got some dirty boots, baby, dirty boots.
Ha!
02 Tunic (Song for Karen) (06:22)
Dreamin', dreamin' of a girl like me.
Hey, what are you waiting for?
Feedin, feedin' me.
And I feel like I'm disappearing, getting smaller everyday,
But I look in the mirror, and I'm bigger in every way.
She said, "You aren't never going anywhere."
She said, "You aren't never going anywhere."
"I ain't never going anywhere."
"I ain't never going anywhere."
I'm in Heaven now.
I can see you, Richard.
Goodbye, Hollywood.
Goodbye, Downey.
Hello, Janis.
Hello, Dennis, Elvis, and all my brand new friends.
I'm so glad you're all here with me until the very end.
Dreamin', dreamin' of how it's supposed to be,
But now this tunic's spinning around my arms and knees.
I feel like I'm disappearing, getting smaller everyday.
But when I open my mouth to sing, I'm bigger in every way.
She said, "You aren't never going anywhere."
She said, "You aren't never going anywhere."
"I ain't never going anywhere."
"I ain't never going anywhere."
Hey Mom, look! I'm over here!
I finally made it.
I'm playing the drums again, too.
Don't be sad - the band doesn't sound that bad.
And I remember, Mom, what you said.
You said, "Honey, you look so underfed."
(Kim and J Mascis sing Carpenters songs in background)
Another green salad, another iced tea.
I feel like I'm disappearing, getting smaller everyday.
But I look in your eyes, and I'm bigger in every way.
She said, "You aren't never going anywhere."
She said, "You aren't never going anywhere."
"I ain't never going anywhere."
"I ain't never going anywhere."
Goodbye, Richard, gotta go now.
I'm finally on my own, but Dan's got a gig.
Keep the love lights glowing.
Little girl's got the blues.
I can still hear Mama say, "Honey, don't let it go to your head."
03 Mary-Christ (03:11)
Talkin' to a punker priest,
Just doggin' the breeze bout bein' in a tree.
(He says they're free now.)
Along comes Mary-Christ, skatin' light on ice,
Says "Let's go on high."
(Later, priestoid.)
Gotta go, I got a date now.
Yeah, I know, shall not be late now.
Possessed by X-ray eyes, her spirit spies into my lie.
(Let's burn 'em out now.)
Wraps my head in skin, says now I'm in, dig the candy sin.
(Yeh, spit it out now.)
Every time she sings that low song,
Every time I know she's right/wrong.
Angel in a devil skirt buys me a shirt,
Says "I hope you like."
(Like what now?)
Hope, I hope you like,
Like you like your hope,
Walk the tightest rope.
(I see, I know now.)
Here we go, been waiting so long.
Yeah, I know, for Mary to come along.
Talkin' to a punker priest,
Just doggin' the breeze bout bein' in a tree.
(He says they're free now.)
Along comes Mary-Christ, skatin' light on ice,
Says "Let's go on high."
(Later, priestoid.)
Gotta go, I got a date now.
Yeah, I know, shall not be late now.
Possessed by X-ray eyes, her spirit spies into my lie.
(Let's burn 'em out now.)
Angel in a devil skirt buys me a shirt,
Says "I hope you like."
(Yeh, spit it out now.)
Here we go, been waitin' so long.
Yeah, I know, for Mary to come along.
04 Kool Thing (04:06)
Kool thing, sittin' with a kitty.
Now you know you're sure lookin' pretty.
Like a lover, not a dancer,
Superboy, take a little chance here.
I don't wanna, I don't think so.
I don't wanna, I don't think so.
Kool thing, let me play with your radio,
Move me, turn me on, baby-o.
I'll be your slave, give you a shave.
I don't wanna, I don't think so.
I don't wanna, I don't think so.
Chuck D: ''Yeah, tell 'em 'bout it. Hit 'em where it hurts.''
Kim: ''Hey, kool thing, come here. Sit down beside me. There's something I gotta ask 'ya. I just wanna know, what are you gonna do for me? I mean, are you gonna liberate us girls... from male white corporate opression?''
CD: ''Tell it like it is.''
K: ''Hmm?''
CD: ''Yeah.''
K: ''Don't be shy.''
CD: ''Word up.''
K: ''Fear of a female planet.''
CD: ''Fear of a female planet. Fear it, baby.''
K: ''I just want you to know that we can still be friends.''
CD: ''Let everybody know.''
K: ''Come on, come on, come on, come on...''
Kool, kool thing.
Kool, kool thing.
When you're a star, I know that you'll fix everything.
Kool thing, sittin' with a kitty.
Now you know you're sure lookin' pretty.
Rock the beat just a little faster,
Now I know you are the master.
I don't wanna, I don't think so.
I don't wanna, I don't think so.
Kool thing walkin' like a panther,
Come on and give me an answer.
Kool thing walkin' like a panther,
What'd he say?
I don't wanna, I don't think so.
I don't wanna, I don't think so.
05 Mote (07:37)
When you feel the spiral turning through alone,
And you feel so heavy that you just can't stop it...
When this sea of madness turns you into stone,
A picture of your life shoots like a rocket all the time...
Put me in the equation, it's all right.
I've seen you moving in and out of sight.
My friends tell me it'll all cut through you,
From nowhere to nowhere.
Cut together, cutting through.
I'm island-bound, a mote inside my eye,
And I can't see you breathing as before.
I am airless -- a vacuum child.
I can't stand to reason at your door in this time.
Put me in the equation, it's all right.
I've seen you moving in and out of sight.
My friends tell me it'll all cut through you,
From nowhere to nowhere.
Cut together.
I'm down in the daytime out of sight,
Comin' in from dreamland, I'm on fire.
I can see it's all been here before.
Dream a dream that lies right at your door.
When the seasons circle sideways out of turn,
And words don't speak, just fall across the carpet,
You're just in time to watch the fires burn.
It seems a crime but your face is bright, you love it all the time...
07 Disappearer (05:08)
Here it comes again, out of the rain.
Seems to have a new kind of same.
Been playin' on a simple ride,
The sign comes alive and speaks the mind.
It turns to me and it turns to gold.
It turns to see the fast lane slow.
It's been away too long,
It's been away, I'm gone.
East coast and on, to the west star.
Lookin' out, I thought I saw you blink.
Coming on to me like a silver eye.
Pick it up and tune it on in,
Head on out to western starland.
It's been mad and gone, now it's singing a song.
Like a western star, it's going my way.
Looking out, I'm back in time to stay.
Into the eastern, sign away.
It comes alive through the clearer,
The ghost arrives into your mirror.
You've been away too long,
It's been way too long.
Eastern star is on, a disappearer.
09 Cinderella's Big Score (05:54)
[Kim]
if I could give you anything
I would give you a kick
you'd rather have a dollar
than a hug from your sis
you really fucked up this time
your old lady's really pissed
she's not just laughing
she's polishing her fist
if you could give me anything
would you consider a fist?
don't give me yr soul
it's caught is an abyss
here's a pack of ciggies
fresh from the wonder lips
a dream, a wish, a heart's desires
cinderella is a kiss
a cold is gonna take you
and freeze away your tears
ome a little closer honey
you can be so near
mind your heart aside you (?)
really got no sense of time (?)
ninety-nine inside you (?)
that I'm scared if you were cryin'
if I could give you anything
I would give you a kick
you'd rather have a dollar
than a hug from your sis
a cold is gonna take you
and freeze away your tears
come a little closer honey
we can be so near
11 Titanium Exposé (06:24)
Waking up, I see you dreaming of a drive-in.
Open your eyes to see the TV set in mute.
I been waiting for you to smile, all the pretty freezing.
Wintertime comes summer, you are why it's happening.
Sugar babe, sugar babe, turn the TV.
Turn it babe, turn it babe, can't you see me?
Sugar now, sugar now, turn the TV.
Turn it babe, turn it babe, can't you see me?
I feel the morning slip its sights into your mirror.
Now I see what you might see, it's pretty clear.
I been looking just to feel that funny feeling,
I don't know, but it's a mystery to reckon.
Sugar babe, sugar babe, turn the TV.
Turn it babe, turn it babe, can't you see me?
Sugar now, sugar now, turn the TV.
Turn it babe, turn it babe, can't you see me?
Carico i commenti... con calma
Altre recensioni
Di Antonino91
Il suono della gioventù sonica rimane intatto, anzi acquista anche maggior compattezza e "Goo" lo dimostra alla grande.
Vale la pena parlare anche della splendida copertina che immortala un uomo e una donna che recita una frase...
Di Takanibu
Nonostante il sound risulti più accessibile, Thurston Moore e Lee Ranaldo mantengono alto il livello generale dell’album.
È palese che non siamo più davanti ai Sonic Youth di Bad Moon Rising, ma non siamo ancora troppo distanti dai Sonic Youth di Daydream Nation.
