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The brief (26 minutes), almost entirely acoustic,
Bet The Sky (K, 1995) is basically a concept album inspired by a
failed relationship during her stay in Washington.
Led by the painfully autobiographical accounts of Westling An Angel,
February 15 and
Charles Atlas, the album sails towards the mature meditation of
Transatlantic Telephone Call and the peppery exorcism of Sky Town.
Her sharp writing skills focus on a classic of the anglosaxon literature, a
cycle of poems that describe the passage from innocence to experience.
The EP Snapshot Radio (K, 1996) contains duets that Lois played with
musicians who inspired her and testifies of the singer's continued efforts
to experiment new textural platforms for her lyrical excursions.
My Souvenir and Northern Soul are thus less "folksy" than
anything she has recorded before, and even the atmospheric
Not Funny Ha Ha is tinged with a neurotic feeling that was missing
from her previous, straightforward conjectures.
Low's guitarist Alan Sparhawk,
Fugazi's drummer/guitarist Brendan Canty and
drummer and long-time collaborator Heather Dunn
(of Tiger Trap)
also accompany her on the album Infinity Plus (Kill Rock Stars, 1996).
The sound benefits from the EP's experiments.
A Summer Long, Silent Auction and Bridge Burner
are complex songs that expand on her folkpop style.
At the same time, Rougher and especially RSVP
are her most musical songs ever.
Maffeo is joined by Fugazi's drummer Brendan Canty on
The Union Themes (Kill Rock Stars, 2000), an eclectic collection
that highlights the serious overtones of her most adult art over the traditional
bittersweet understatements of her punkier songs.
Notwithstanding the overall sense of unity and homogeneity,
Maffeo is an impersonator who changes personality at every song:
the rural singer of These Parts, that sounds like a mediterranean folk
dance, leads to the lively country-rocker How I Came To Know and
eventually metamorphoses into the pulsing pop of Give Faith.
The gloomy soul singer of Being Blind plunges into the bare, honkytonking
confession of Handwriting and weaves the dramatic tension of
Best Believe on a sleepy, hypnotic blues pace,
while the sophisticated intellectual of Hollow Reed achieves
the intensity of church music in the closing Monument (for tender vocal
harmonies and casual guitar strumming).
Maffeo is a unique hybrid of Joni Mitchell, Nick Drake,
Tin Pan Alley, Nashville and the Delta.
Her touching ballads bridge generations, genders and races.
Canty shines as a talented multi-instrumentalist, alternating on drums, bass,
guitar and even piano.
The Own and the Pussycat (2004) is a collaboration with Greg Moore of
laid-back lo-fi pop music.
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(Translation by/ Tradotto da Walter Consonni)
Il breve (26 minuti), quasi interamente acustico, Bet The Sky (K,
1995) è fondamentalmente un concept album dedicato ad una relazione
finita male nel corso del suo soggiorno a Washington. Aperto dai resoconti
dolorosamente autobiografici di Westling An Angel e Charles
Atlas, l'album volge poi verso la matura riflessione di Transatlantic
Telephone Call ed il pepato esorcismo di Sky Town. La sua
abilità nelle composizioni eleganti si focalizza su un classico della
letteratura anglo-sassone, un ciclo di poemi che descrivono il passaggio
dall'innocenza alla consapevolezza.
L'EP Snapshot Radio (K, 1996) e l'album
Snapshot Radio (K, 1996) sono forse i suoi lavori piu` importanti.
Maffeo ha collaborato con il batterista dei Fugazi
Brendan Canty a
The Union Themes (Kill Rock Stars, 2000), un'eclettica raccolta che
pone in evidenza gli impegnativi ipertoni della sua arte più matura
sulle tradizionali inadeguate canzoni agrodolci di stampo più punk.
Nonostante il complessivo senso di unità ed omogeneità, Maffeo
è in grado di cambiare il proprio registro ad ogni canzone: la
cantante campagnola di These Parts, che suona come una danza folk
mediterranea, si trasforma nella vivace country-rocker di How I Came To
Know ed alla fine compie la metamorfosi immergendosi nel pop pulsante
di Give Faith. La malinconica soul singer di Being Blind si
tuffa nella nuda confessione honky tonk di Handwriting e tesse la
tensione drammatica di Best Believe su un pigro ed ipnotico ritmo
blues, mentre la sofisticata intellettuale di Hollow Reed raggiunge
l'intensità dellla musica da chiesa con la conclusiva Monument
(per delicate armonie vocali e strimpellio di chitarra casuale). Maffeo
rappresenta un punto d'incontro unico tra Joni Mitchell, Nick Drake, Tin Pan
Alley, Nashville ed il Delta. Le sue toccanti ballate fanno da ponte tra
diverse generazioni, generi e razze.
Canty si mette in evidenza come un talentuoso pluristrumentista,
alternandosi alla batteria, al basso, alla chitarra e persino al pianoforte.
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