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Nato a Portland, ma trapiantato artisticamente al Sud, fra Memphis (Tennessee)
e Austin (in Texas), Todd Snider impersona una fusione fra la tradizione nera,
quella bianca e il rock moderno che ha preso piede a Nashville e comincia
a traboccare nel mondo dei cantautori.
A rivelarlo fu Songs Of The Daily Planet (MCA, 1994),
una raccolta di vignette ironiche eseguite con un tono a meta` strada fra quello
fatalista di Tom Petty e quello sfrontato di John Mellencamp, ma populista
come entrambi. La sua amara filosofia di strada lo porta a rispolverare miti
delle generazioni precedenti con il suo piglio da saloon, e nascono cosi`
riferimenti diretti come
My Generation (Who), This Is Our Land (Woody Guthrie) e
Talking Seattle Grunge Blues, baldanzosi fino all'oltraggio.
Confermando la fondamentale schizofrenia della sua
personalita` artistica, alla maniera del Dylan epico di Blonde On Blonde,
Snider intona Alright Guy (che e` semplicemente una parodia
di Madonna e Sinead O'Connor), mentre alla maniera rude di un complesso
sudista ruggisce il boogie di Turn It Up e infine si accascia nel
melodramma di You Think You Know Somebody.
Snider perde qualcosa della sua irriverente e iper-realista personalita` su
Step Right Up (MCA, 1996), un album che si avvicina invece al repertorio
di Tom Petty (Horseshoe Lake) mediato attraverso l'esperienza di
Steve Earle (It All Adds Up) e all'ombra del mito di Dylan
(Moondawg's Tavern e Sideshow Blues).
Dall'epica I Believe You alla comica Late Last Night, passando
per Enough e Hey Hey, Snider conquista il popolo degli umili
ragazzi di provincia.
Viva Satellite (MCA, 1998) si preoccupa soprattutto di mettere a punto
il sound. I cardini commerciali del disco sono Rocket Fuel, uno
scapestrato boogie sudista (cosi` come la traccia nascosta,
I'm a Nervous Wreck), e I Am Too, una tiritera arrabbiata alla
Bob Dylan, ma la vera vocazione di Snider e` la ballata addolorata alla
Tom Petty (Yesterdays And Used To Be's, Out All Night).
Come sempre, Snider rende omaggio alla tradizione, sia pur a modo suo, e
nei generi tradizionali non delude mai:
il retroterra country viene a galla nella dimessa Can't Complain,
l'animo gospel sgorga in Once He Finds Us.
Il cantautore con la "c" maiuscola scodella l'arringa velenosa di
Positively Negative e la maschia serenata di Never Let Me Down.
La splendida forma gli consente di cimentarsi persino nel
lungo raga psichedelico di Guaranteed, a meta` strada fra i
Velvet Underground e gli Holy Modal Rounders.
Il disco si chiude con il sornione Doublewide Blues, in una maniera
al confine fra Beck, Tom Waits e Billy Joel.
Va dato credito anche al suo complesso di accompagnamento, i Nervous Wrecks
(Will Kimbrough alla chitarra,
Joe Mariencheck al basso e Paul Buchignani alla batteria), una piccola Band
della fin de siecle.
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(Clicka qua per la versione Italiana)
Happy To Be Here (Oh Boy, 2001), with
Ballad of the Devil's Backbone Tavern and
Long Year (an elegant mixture of Randy Newman, Gordon Lightfoot and Neil Young),
and, to some extent,
New Connection (Oh Boy, 2002), with the comic bluegrass romp of
Vinyl Records, confirmed Snider's gift for the melodic vignette.
East Nashville Skyline (Oh Boy, 2004) continued his simple, dry, witty
chronicle of his era, with unpretentious songs that get to the point the
old fashioned way
(the folkish tune Age Like Wine, the sprightly country-rock of
Play a Train Song,
the half-spoken dirge The Ballad of the Kingsmen,
the parodic lullaby
Conservative Christian Right-Wing Republican Straight White American Males).
The Devil You Know (2006) boasted a harder sound, reminiscent of British
pub-rock of the late 1970s with echoes of
Joe Jackson (the boogie The Devil You Know),
Elvis Costello (This Wild Mercury),
and Graham Parker (Looking For A Job),
interspersed with sarcastic country rigmaroles like Happy New Year.
His narrative skills were on display especially in
Just Like Old Times.
The EP Peace Queer (2008) presented his political alter-ego.
The Excitement Plan (2009) returned him to his favorite Randy Newman-esque territory of witty storyteller with a more old-time style borrowing from
blues (Unorganised Crime),
ragtime (Barefoot Champagne) and rhtyhm'n'blues
(America's Favorite Pastime).
The witty and polemic
Agnostic Hymns & Stoner Fables (2012) was one of his most articulate,
if not one of his most musical works.
New York Banker is a fine addition to his gallery of sarcastic portraits.
After a tribute to Jerry Jeff Walker, Time As We Know It (2012),
and a charity album of songs written by his friend Kent Finlay,
Cheatham Street Warehouse (2014),
Snider formed the Hard Working Americans with guitarist Neal Casal of the Cardinals, drummer Duane Trucks and bassist Dave Schools of Widespread Panic, and keyboardist Chad Staehly of Great American Taxi that released
Hard Working Americans (2014) and Rest in Chaos (2016).
The eccentric
Eastside Bulldog (2016), credited to his rock alter-ego Elmo Buzz,
embraced a more bombastic and rocking sound, with
organ and saxophone, in the vein of Bruce Springsteen's band but performed in a vintage manner, as if he still lived in the 1950s.
Cash Cabin Sessions Vol. 3 (2019) dissects the Trump era with the
satirical Talking Reality Television Blues (that paraphrases Dylan's Talking John Birch Society Blues) and the half-spoken blues
A Timeless Response To Current Events (based on Willie Dixon's Spoonful). Meanwhile, Watering Flowers in the Rain is one of his most
melodic ditties.
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