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If English is your first language and you could translate my old Italian text, please contact me.
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Leslie Phillips giunse alla musica giovanissima attraverso la Chiesa: i suoi
primi quattro album (per la Word) sono di natura religiosa
(in particolare il quarto, The Turning, del 1987).
Poi sposo`
T-Bone Burnett,
cambio` nome in Sam Phillips e da quel momento la sua
carriera decollo`.
The Indescribable Wow (Virgin, 1889), arrangiato in maniera quasi
barocca benche' acustica, mise in luce una "rocker" capace di
Holding On To The Earth e
What You Don't Want To Hear, anche se gran parte del disco e`
annacquato da ballad soporifere.
Cruel Inventions (Virgin, 1991) e` un album piu` omogeneo e maturo,
che Phillips riempie di composizioni calibrate come
Go Down,
Raised On Promises,
Where The Colors Don't Go che
la propongono nei panni di una colta Kate Bush e una fatale Marianne
Faithfull alle prese con dilemmi esistenziali.
Forte di collaboratori come Van
Dyle Parks, Elvis Costello e Marc Ribot, produce canzoni di gusto raffinato,
ben orchestrate e cantate, ma spesso senza nerbo.
Alla psichedelia piu' barocca fa pensare infatti l'arrangiamento delle canzoni
di Martinis And Bikinis (Virgin, 1994). Le melodie di
Baby I Can't Please You,
Strawberry Road,
ancorano sofferte meditazioni filosofiche.
I Need Love e` forse la canzone piu` originale della sua carriera.
Omnipop (Virgin, 1996) presenta una cantante ancor piu` smaliziata, anche
se le composizioni sembrano piu` leggere e casuali
(Entertainment, Animals On Wheels,
Faster Pussycat To The Library).
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(Clicka qua per la versione Italiana)
Zero Zero Zero (Virgin, 1999) is a well-chosen anthology.
Fan Dance (Nonesuch, 2001), Sam Phillips'
first studio album in five years, is the definite farewell to the
alt-rock format that she championed in the 1990s.
Five Colors, Love Is Everywhere I Go, Wasting My Time
are intimate, delicate confessions of an innocent, childish soul.
Thanks to a stellar cast of pianists and guitarists
(and string arrangements by Van Dyke Parks), Phillips does not need
a rock band at all.
She further journeyed inside her tormented psyche on
A Boot And A Shoe (Nonesuch, 2004), another unedulcorated confession
although not as spartan as Fan Dance. In fact, behind the apparent
calm and simplicity, the sounds are organized with manic precision, and the
voice is coupled to the arrangements
(T Bone Burnett, Jim Keltner, Marc Ribot)
in an almost scientific manner.
This is both a mature and profound collection, and a calculated emotional
charade. One does not exist without the other. Far from being artificial, the
latter is a skill that simply augments the former. In the end, the album appears
to be both spontaneous and carefully, lovingly crafted.
This is perhaps her richest album ever, boasting
I Dreamed I Stopped Dreaming, Reflecting Light, How to Quit, Infiltration, One Day Late.
Don't Do Anything (2008), the first album not produced by ex-husband
T-Bone Burnett since 1987, featured Little Plastic Life and
Sister Rosetta Goes Before Us but hardly changed the format of her
music, that remained superficial and nonchalant.
Phillips overcame the music industry with her "Long Play" website that released
music to subscribers only. The resulting music was offered on
five EPs and the album Cameras in the Sky (2010).
Solid State (2011) compiles material from the five EPs and from
Cameras in the Sky.
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