L’infausta notizia della morte del grande, grandissimo Tom Verlaine (a così pochi giorni peraltro da quelle, non meno impreviste, di Jeff Beck e David Crosby…) mi ha costretto a tornare a riflettere su una delle categorie tassonomiche più sfumate, a tratti francamente indecifrabili, del contemporaneo bestiario musicale: post-punk. Cosa designa, esattamente? E quel che designa, stricto sensu, è veramente lo stesso oggetto musicale a cui ci si riferisce quando oggi si sceglie di appellare una nuova canzone o la band che la intona “post-punk”?
The Declining Winter is the band led by Richard Adams, the co-founder of the group Hood. Their sound is a unique blend of influences from lo-fi, electronica and post rock with a strong visual aesthetic inspired by the countryside of Yorkshire. Their debut single was The Future Sound of Hip Hop Parts 1 & 2 on Misplaced Music fifteen years ago. This was followed up by the debut album Goodbye Minnesota released by Rusted Rail in 2008 and, in 2009, by the mini album Haunt the Upper Hallways on Home Assembly Music. After a long period of silence, the band (now consisting solely of Richard Adams with various guests) returned in 2013 and 2014 with a couple of eps and a new album, Home For Lost Souls, in 2015, again on Home Assembly Music. Belmont Slope arrived three year later and, in 2021The Definition Glance 7″ appeared on Spanish indie label Acuarela followed by another single I Remember – the lead track featuring the words of poet Thomas Hood.
The Primitives emerged from the UK independent music scene of the mid-1980s, with a sound that distilled the shimmering guitar chime of The Byrds, the buzzsaw style of The Ramones and 60’s girl group melodies into two-and-a-half-minute pop gems. After topping the indie singles chart several times, their widely acclaimed first album, Lovely, (released in 1988), made them one of the UK’s most revered alternative rock acts, while the international success of the single Crash saw them cross over to a mass audience. Further chart success followed, along with two more studio albums, Pure (1989) and Galore (1991), plus extensive tours of Europe and the US, before the band called it a day in 1992. In 2008, Mojo Magazine named The Primitives’ second single ‘Really Stupid’ one of the top 40 greatest UK indie singles of all time. The band were reunited in 2009 by the untimely passing of their original bass player Steve Dullaghan, reforming to play a show in his memory later that year in their hometown Coventry; their first time on stage together for 17 years. Bolstered by the success of this and of a secret show in London, they went on to tour the UK in April 2010, followed by shows in the US and mainland Europe. The Primitives released the Never Kill A Secret EP through Fortuna Pop! in 2011 and, in 2012, a covers album Echoes and Rhymes, on Elefant Records. An album of new original Primitives songs entitled Spin-O-Rama was released in 2014. The Primitives went back into the studio in late 2016 to record tracks for the New Thrills EP, which was released in May 2017. Bloom! The Full Story 1985-1992, a 5 CD box set exploring the first wave of The Primitives’ career was released in 2020 on Cherry Red Records. In 2022 the band released the single Don’t Know Where To Start, their first new material in six years. The current line-up of the band includes original members Tracy Tracy (vocals), Paul Court (guitar/vocals) and Tig Williams (drums). Don’t Know Where To Start is out now on Happy Happy Birthday To Me Records.
Avvertire costantemente la presenza del vuoto, sentire in modo prepotente la caducità della vita è un motore emotivo potente quanto incontrollabile, forza che può spingere in direzioni diverse con impeto mutevole. Nell’esperienza di Ryuichi Sakamoto l’ombra profonda derivante dalla lotta prolungata con il cancro si è tradotta nell’ultimo decennio in un fare artistico diluito, ma anche di rara intensità. Lo ha testimoniato l’eccellente async – risalente a ben sei anni fa – e ne è prova tangibile il nuovo 12.
Sarà una questione anagrafica, ma a me la parola Almanacco fa venire in mente solo una cosa: l’Almanacco del Giorno Dopo. era un programma “preserale” (dubito che allora si usasse questo termine, comunque) che iniziava con con l’indicazione delle effemeridi del sole e della luna, cioè dell’orario in cui sarebbero sorti e tramontati il giorno successivo, seguite dal santo del giorno e dalla rubrica “Domani avvenne“, con filmati storici, dedicati a un fatto accaduto in passato nel giorno dopo. L’Almanacco del Giorno Dopo, con la sua sigla, le sue rubriche sempre uguali e dal sapore lontano di Italia rurale e bigotta, mi facevano sentire al sicuro e ora, inevitabilmente, mi rimandano a un passato idilliaco (naturalmente solo immaginato e non vissuto, visto che stiamo parlando degli anni di piombo…). Sento la parola Almanacco e mi sento rasserenato.
Indie Sunset in Rome 