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Morcheeba e` il gruppo di Skye Edwards, chanteuse sensuale che canta ballate
atmosferiche accompagnata dai fratelli Paul Godfrey alle percussioni e Ross
Godfrey alla chitarra e alle tastiere. L'idea di
Who Can You Trust (China, 1996)
e` sempre quella inventata dai Cowboy Junkies una generazione prima, riveduta
e corretta dai Portishead: un soffice trip-hop che mescola pop, dub e folk.
Le canzoni si assomigliano tutte, dall'iniziale Moog Island
all'hit Trigger Hippie,
dalla sonnolenta Never An Easy Way alla fatale Almost Done.
Le sfumature sono davvero sfumature:
un minimo piu` funky e sperimentale Tape Loop,
lievemente reggae e jazz Small Town,
classicheggiante Col (quartetto d'archi, tromba, corno),
sinistra e marziale Howling, quasi Kate Bush.
La lunga title-track (nove minuti) e` un lento jamming di soft-jazz che batte
il tempo in stile dub mentre la cantante esercita il suo (patetito) scat.
Ci vuole soprattutto pazienza per ascoltare questo disco fino alla fine.
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Morcheeba is the combo of Skye Edwards, sensual chanteuse who sings atmospheric
ballads accompanied by brothers
Paul Godfrey (percussions) and Ross
Godfrey (guitar, keyboards). The idea behind
Who Can You Trust (China, 1996)
is still the one invented a generation earlier by the
Cowboy Junkies, albeit revisited and adapted to the
era of Portishead: a mellow trip-hop that mixes
pop, dub and folk.
All the songs sound the same, from the opening Moog Island
to the hit Trigger Hippie, from the sleepy
Never An Easy Way to the fatal Almost Done.
Shades are truly just shades:
a tad funkier and experimental Tape Loop,
a bit reggae and jazz Small Town,
orchestral Col (string quartet, trumpet, horn),
sinister and martial Howling (almost Kate Bush).
The lengthy title-track (nine minutes) is a slow, soft-jazz jamming over
a dub beat while the singer rehearses her naive scat.
Patience is what you really need to listen this album from start to end.
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(Translation by/ Tradotto da xxx)
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Big Calm (China, 1998) is a much more personal work. By reducing the
doses of dance music and enhancing the psychedelic stance, the Godfrey brothers
find their true voice and somehow help afro-British singer Skye Edwards
mature in turn as a suave soul-jazz vocalist.
She shines in the two chamber ballads:
The Sea, her dreamy whisper floating
over a hypnotic shuffle, surrounded by majestic strings and contrasted
by a funky guitar, and Fear And Love, a cello and an acoustic guitar
driving her smooth falsetto into the pathos of a string orchestra and into
the romantic wail of a trumpet. The orchestral Morcheeba
(whose archetype was Col) is an ambitious side-project of the
trip-hopping Morcheeba that often steals the show.
In general, the music on this album is less monotonous.
The reggae-tinged Friction,
the latin-tinged Let Me See,
and the country-tinged Over & Over
provide a much broader palette to work with.
And a bit of life.
On the other hand,
Trigger Hippie's scratching orgy continues with
Bullet Proof and Shoulder Holster,
the former an instrumental rap-funk-jazz workout set against a buzzing noise
and quirky vocal sounds,
the latter a singalong for children set to an Indian raga with pounding
percussion. The scratching is ugly and violent, comes in waves, doubles
the intensity of the rhythm, a rhythm that, in both tracks, is the
most forceful of the album.
Only the languid ballads detract from the project.
Since the whole idea is to elaborate on a simple, slow melody by piling up
sonic stereotypes of modern dance genres, the trio would be better served
by staying away from naked ballads.
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No doubt Skye Edwards is a terrific singer and the band can
still concoct infectious refrains. However, ultimately, what Morcheeba does on
Fragments Of Freedom (Sire, 2000)
is to merge hip hop and rhythm and blues in a modern version of
the traditional soul-pop ballad. Slightly more technological, but pretty much
the same (boring) kitsch that has been around in easy listening.
Rome Wasn't Built In A Day, World Looking In,
Let It Go sound like 1970s covers.
Charango (Reprise, 2002) is even lighter and simpler, with a couple
of radio-friendly tunes (Women Lose Weight, Slow Down) and a
lot of undistinguished filler.
The "acoustic"
The Antidote (Echo, 2005), featuring new vocalist Daisy Martey instead of Skye Edwards, rehashes old cliches, rarely demonstrating any reason why
they should be rehashed. Ten Men is the standout, the exception to
the rule, albeit a notable exception.
Dive Deep (2008) used a cast of vocalists and rappers, and veered
towards the adult ballad.
Original vocalist Skye Edwards was not enough to redeem
Blood Like Lemonade (2010) from its uniform mediocrity.
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