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DQE is the project of Atlanta-based singer songwriter and guitarist Grace Braun who,
accompanied only by a drummer, started yelling punk-folk anthems
to the world. The single
Masturbation Made A Mess Out Of Me (Feel Good All Over, 1993) was
typical of her highly personal, visceral, unpleasant confessions.
While, superficially, DQE looked like several two-piece bands of the time, say
Mecca Normal (that sound like her
main inspiration), Spinanes,
Kicking Giants,
Braun was truly an eccentric folksinger in the psychotic vein of
Syd Barrett and
Daniel Johnston.
The frantic vocabulary of shrieks, yelps, roars, whispers and wails that
permeates But Me I Fell Down (Feel Good All Over, 1994) documents
a harrowing internal life of psychic torments sweet depressions.
To her credit, she channels those explosive emotions in intriguing ballads like
Carnival, that display little anger but a lot of alienation.
Songs like S for psychotic
make continuous reference to her mental instability.
Tracks:
Intro (funny thing),
Twister,
Beestung Me,
S for Psychotic,
Shakey Sugar,
Breeders,
Don't Touch Me,
Carnival,
Oyster,
He Axe Alone,
Psychic Dream,
Jehosephat .
The single Tell Me Why The Ivy Twines (Colossal, 1995) marks
a sort of new beginning, as it dispenses with the most extroverted aspects
of her gesturing.
But Jump On It (Making Of Americans, 1995) is no less passionate.
Tracks:
Jump On In,
Billy Valentine,
Hopkins,
City Mouse,
Sweethearts Dance,
Honky Tonk Wishing Well,
Mockingbird,
Hey My Baby,
Sweet Thing,
Sugary Sam,
Diddley Links,
Hard Headed Woman,
Trying to Get to You ,
Hansome Man,
Married Girl,
Walkin,
Dear Bobby,
Dim Lights.
After a collaboration with
Jad Fair (Dark Beloved Cloud, 1996),
Grace Braun turned to a simpler, more traditional style of folk, blues, pop
and country that can be appreciated on her first solo,
It Won't Hurt (1997).
Tracks:
Do Right,
Mermaid and the Sailor,
It Won't Hurt,
O My Ladies,
Bittersweet,
Lover's Dream,
What Wondrous Love Is This,
Stand By Me,
Carter's Lullaby,
Hopeless,
Liftin' Up Me,
Jenny Wren .
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(Translated by Nicola Mecca)
DQE è il progetto
della cantautrice, cantante e chitarrista di Atlanta Grace Braun che,
accompagnata solo da un batterista, cominciò a gridare inni punk-folk al mondo.
Il singolo Masturbation Made A Mess Out
Of Me (Feel Good All Over, 1993) rappresenta al meglio le sue confessioni
intimamente personali, viscerali e scomode. Mentre, superficialmente, DQE
poteva ricordare altre band di due elementi del tempo, come ad esempio i Mecca
Normal (che sembravano la sua principale ispirazione), Spinanes, Kicking Giants,
Braun era davvero una folk singer eccentrica nella vena psicotica di un Syd
Barrett e di un Daniel Johnston.
Il caotico
vocabolario di ringhi, urla, sussurri, lamenti che pervade (Feel Good All Over, 1994) documenta una lacerante vita di tormenti psichici e dolci depressioni. Braun incanala quelle emozioni esplosive in ballate intriganti come , che trasmettono poca rabbia ma tanta alienazione. Canzoni come S for psychotic fanno continuamente
riferimento alla sua instabilità mentale.
Tracce: .
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>Tell Me Why The Ivy Twines (Colossal,
1995) marca quasi un nuovo inizio, dispensando gli aspetti più estroversi del
suo atteggiamento.
(Making Of Americans, 1995) non è meno appassionato. Tracce: Jump On In, Billy Valentine, Hopkins, City Mouse, Sweethearts Dance, Honky Tonk Wishing Well, Mockingbird, Hey My Baby, Sweet Thing, Sugary Sam, Diddley Links, Hard Headed Woman, Trying to Get to You , Hansome Man, Married Girl, Walkin, Dear Bobby, Dim Lights.
collaborazione con Jad Fair (Dark Beloved Cloud, 1996), Grace Braun si è
diretta verso una più semplice e tradizionale miscela di folk, blues, pop e
country, che può essere apprezzata sul suo primo album da solista, It Won't Hurt (1997). Tracce: Do Right, Mermaid and the Sailor, It Won't Hurt, O My Ladies, Bittersweet, Lover's Dream, What Wondrous Love Is This, Stand By Me, Carter's
Lullaby, Hopeless, Liftin' Up Me, Jenny Wren .
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