Hail/Snail is Azalia Snail with Suzane Lewis of Hail. They put out a few
singles before their only album.
How To Live With A Tiger (Funky Mushroom, 1993), composed and performed
together with Hail's Susanne Lewis, yielded even more ethereal songs
that redefined folk music in a colorful rhythm-less soundscape.
After the absolutely chaotic duet of Tigerture,
the girls send a postcard from paradise titled Savannah, a
serene melody accompanied by trumpet and electronics.
A dissonant violin pretends to punctuate the somewhat tragic tune
of Firewheel,
a garage organ dances around the nursery rhyme of
Little People In The Forest,
and
Whirly-Bird
throws in all the instruments to create a symphonic disaster, surprisingly
reminiscent of
Robert Wyatt's Rock Bottom.
Their folk music is sabotaged by
fits of sloppy garage-rock (Shazam),
by high-brow Brecht-ian tones (Dust Gather On Me),
and
solemnly mystical overtones (Shoe/ Shoe Missing),
and pretty much never does what one expects.
The instrumental Frosted Flakes is a rare example of the marriage of anarchy and transcendence, of the Velvet Underground and the Red Crayola and who knows what else.
Fumarole Rising (Funky Mushroom, 1994) is possibly her most chaotic and
"total" collage. By indulging in psychedelic effects, she redesigns the
periphery of the genre.
Into Yr World (with a baroque trumpet soaring over a nursery rhyme,
velvet Underground-ian guitar, and steady, noisy drums),
and Cast Away (anchored to a childish and exotic element that recalls
Kevin Ayers)
still resemble songs, but
the "song" is hard to discern in compositions that defy rationality:
Please Don't Come (a vocal puzzle buried under abrasive distortion),
You Belong To You (an exorcism drenched in a multitude of percussions
and accompanied by a saxophone),
Misfortunately (a confused whisper against another wall of percussions),
Sour Cherry (an harmonica-led blues shuffle that floats weightless over
the rhythm of an Indian raga),
The Deep Fell Need (a dense, droning, vortex of instruments),
Solace Nemesis, (a spacey, psalm-like invocation with a gypsy-like coda),
The delirious, frantic, cacophonous bacchanal of Having An Experience,
the instrumental madness Hidden Addendum and Cuckoo Clock,
and the nocturnal abandon of Fumarole
even display divine inspiration.
Snail outdoes the classics, and becomes a classic herself.
Stampone (Choke, 1995) was a collaboration with
Daniel Oxenberg (Supreme Dicks)
and
Trumans Water.
With rare exceptions,
she is playing alone on
Escape Maker (1995) and
Blue Danube (1995), just her out-of-tune voice and her distorted guitar
(the two title-tracks are the two songs to salvage from the mess).
Deep Motif (1996) contains the chaotic ten-minute litany and free-jazz jam Highway Devices, the brief (alas) space-rock instrumental Stoked Like A Furnace and several half-hearted attempts at regular psych-pop songs (Headstart, Circumspection).
Breaker Mortar (1997) is a spartan effort for guitar and voice (and sound effects), notably the frenzied eight-minute guitar solo Taking Over
and the brief surrealistic vignette Storm Corff, bordering on musique concrete.
Soft Bloom (1999) is a fragmented collection of songs in a wild variety of styles, from garage-rock to acoustic guitar instrumentals and free-jazz jams.
Relocating to Los Angeles, Snail released the quiet and serene
Brazen Arrows (Dark Beloved Cloud, 2001) on which she played
an omnichord (an electronic keyboard) instead of the guitar.
It opens with the seven-minute angelic hymn Let Me Enslave You
and floats away on sounds that are increasingly ethereal.
Compared with her psychedelic heydays, Avec Amour (Snailbait, 2005)
features much more structured and cohesive songs, whether
Honeysuckle
(symphonic keyboards, syncopated rhythm and hard-rocking bass guitar)
or Scenescape (hummable melody, echoing keyboard, electronic beat)
or I Praise You (a cross between a gospel hymn and a hare-krishna hymn)
or the Bjork-ian ode Sylvan Echoes (originally recorded in 2003).
They are balanced by the centerpiece, the
seven-minute bluesy emotional black-hole of Disintegration.
The mellow instrumentals Casuarina Trees and Late for the Life
show how far Azalia Snail has traveled, mentally and musically, over a decade
and a half.
Petal Metal (2008) is a double-disc retrospective.
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(Translation by/ Tradotto da
Gianfranco Federico)
Hail/Snail è Azalia Snail
con Suzane Lewis degli Hail. Insieme pubblicano qualche singolo, prima del loro
unico album. How To Live With A Tiger (Funky
Mushroom, 1993) raccoglie canzoni persino più eteree, che ridefiniscono la
musica folk in un colorato paesaggio privo di ritmo. Dopo il duetto
assolutamente caotico di Tigerture,
le ragazze mandano una cartolina dal paradiso intitolata Savannah, una
melodia serena accompagnata da tromba ed effetti elettronici. Un violino
dissonante finge di punteggiare l’alquanto tragica melodia di Firewheel,
un organo garage danza intorno alla filastrocca di Little People In The
Forest, e Whirly-Bird mette
in campo tutti gli strumenti per creare un disastro sinfonico,
sorprendentemente memore del Rock Bottom di Robert
Wyatt. La loro
musica folk è sabotata da slanci di sciatto garage-rock (Shazam), da declamati
Brechtiani (Dust Gather On Me) e da solenni sovratoni mistici (Shoe/
Shoe Missing), e praticamente non succede mai ciò che ci si aspetta. Lo strumentale Frosted Flakes è
un raro esempio di connubio tra anarchia e trascendenza, tra Velvet Underground e Red
Crayola e chissà cos’altro.
Fumarole Rising (Funky Mushroom , 1994) è forse il suo collage più "totale" e
caotico. Indulgendo in effetti psichedelici, Snail ridefinisce i confini del
genere. Into Yr world (con una tromba
barocca che svetta su una filastrocca infantile, chitarra a là Velvet
Underground e continue, rumorose percussioni) e Cast Away (ancorata ad un elemento infantile ed esotico che ricorda
Kevin Ayers) ancora assomigliano a canzoni, ma è difficile discernere la
"canzone" in composizioni che sfidano la razionalità: Please Don't Come (un puzzle vocale
sepolto sotto una distorsione abrasiva), You Belong To You (un esorcismo inzuppato in una moltitudine di
percussioni e accompagnato da un sassofono), Misfortunately (un bisbiglio confuso contro un altro muro di
percussioni), Sour Cherry (uno
shuffle guidato da un’armonica blues che galleggia senza peso sopra il ritmo di
un raga indiano), The Deep Fell Need (un denso, ronzante vortice di strumenti), Solace Nemesis, (un’invocazione da salmo con una coda
simil-zingaresca), il delirante, frenetico baccanale cacofonico di Having An Experience, la follia
strumentale di Hidden Addendum e Cuckoo Clock e l’abbandono notturno di Fumarole mostrano persino un'ispirazione
divina. Snail supera i classici e diventa un classico lei stessa .
Stampone (Choke, 1995) è una collaborazione con Daniel
Oxenberg (Supreme
Dicks) e i Trumans Water.
Ristabilitasi a Los Angeles, Snail pubblica il calmo e sereno Brazen Arrows (Dark Beloved Cloud,
2001).
Sylvan Echoes viene registrato nel
2003.
Paragonato ai suoi apici psichedelici, in Avec
Amour (Snailbait, 2005) compaiono canzoni molto più strutturate e coesive,
come Honeysuckle (tastiere
sinfoniche, ritmi sincopati e basso hard-rock) o Scenescape (melodia orecchiabile, tastiere rieccheggianti, battito
elettronico) o I Praise You (un
incrocio tra un inno gospel e un inno hare krsna) o l'ode Bjork-iana Sylvan Echoes. Queste tracce sono
bilanciate dal brano centrale del disco, il buco nero emozionale di sette
minuti Disintegration. Lo strumentale
vellutato Casuarina Trees e Late for the Life mostrano quanto
lontana è giunta Azalia Snail, mentalmente e musicalmente, in oltre un decennio
e mezzo.
Petal Metal (2008) è un disco doppio
retrospettivo.
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