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(Clicka qua per la versione Italiana)
Le Tigre was the project of three well-respected and influential female intellectuals:
riot-grrrl Kathleen Hanna of Bikini Kill,
video director Sadie Benning and music critic Johanna Fateman.
Le Tigre (Mr Lady, 1999 - Wiiija, 2000) is Hannah's most musical
and most accessible work ever, but it is not a retreat.
The rousing party music of the trio may evoke Sixties' girl-groups, with
punchy guitars and dance beats, but in Hannah's mouth it becomes a
channel for hard-line feminist ideology.
On the surface one hears folk-rock (My My Metrocard, the standout),
garage-rock (Deceptacon), Motown soul (Hot Topic), but each
song is a terrible story that leaves deep scars. Elsewhere
(What's Yr Take On Cassevetes, Dude Yr So Crazy), Hannah
drops the mask and delves into complex existential issues with her usual
savage grace.
From The Desk Of Mr Lady (Mr Lady, 2001) is a seven-song mini-album.
Mediocrity Rules is another classic, and Bang Bang is
a harrowing indictment of police brutality.
Less political than ever, but still not tamed, Hanna has a new partner for
Feminist Sweepstakes (Mr Lady, 2001)
and a new idea of party music for the riot-grrrrls generation.
Jocelyn Samson replaced Sadie Benning.
The new album is admirable in the way it fuses two "basement" traditions, that
of garage-rock (fuzzed-out guitars, acid keyboards) and that of
hip hop (samples, syncopated beats).
Fake French and Well Well Well are the most obvious results.
By the end of the album, though, Hanna and cohorts have achieved an anthemic
style (Keep On Livin') that sounds like both Blondie and
latter-day Grateful Dead.
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(Translation by/ Tradotto da Alessandro Isopo)
Meno politicizzata che mai, ma non ancora doma, Hanna
dispone di un
nuovo partner e di una nuova idea di musica da party
per la generazione
delle riot-grrrrls.
Feminist Sweepstakes (Mr Lady, 2001)
è ammirevole
nel coniugare la
tradizione del garage-rock (chitarre distorte e
tastiere acide) e quella
dell'hip-hop (campionamenti e battiti sincopati).
Fake French e Well Well Well sono i
risultati più
ovvii. Tuttavia, verso la fine dell'album, Hanna e i
suoi collaboratori
riescono a pervenire ad un stile antemico (Keep On
Livin') che
sembra un ibrido di Blondie e degli ultimi Grateful
Dead.
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