69, 7/10
I, 6/10 New Clear Child , 5/10 Sufi: Life's Rising, 4/10 | Links: |
(Translated from my Italian text by DeepL)
Multi-instrumentalist Alex Ayuli and vocalist Rudi Tambala had been part of M/A/R/S/S, the collective (partly formed by Colourbox) that composed Pump Up The Volume (4AD, 1987), the first hit constructed as a collage of other people's music (samples), one of the tracks that revolutionized white dance music, a postmodern tornado. Ayuli and Tambala composed a jam like those of Grandmaster Flash but using the high technology of the recording studio, and thus turning the jam into a collage. Ayuli and Tambala had already launched the A.R. Kane project. The singles When You're Sad (One Little Indian, 1986) and Lolita (4AD, 1987), with the hyper-distorted Sado-Masochism Is A Must, and especially the EP Up Home! (4AD, 1988) defined a project dedicated to a more intellectual form of dance-music. A soft, vaguely psychedelic funk seeped from the structures of the oral sex anthem Baby Milk Snatchers, a transcendent chant oppressed the "cosmic" gristle of Up (while Sperm Travels Like Juggernaut fueled the controversy and made the project even more famous). A.R. Kane did not have much in common with the rock scene, but they belonged spiritually to the same generation as My Bloody Valentine and Cocteau Twins, the one that pushed the harmonic disintegration of psychedelic music to excess. Compared to the others, A.R. Kane were not only more "danceable," they were also more cultured and refined. Up effectively co-invented the "showgazer" genre. The group even drew inspiration from the dark, atmospheric jazz of Miles Davis and the sinister, surreal delirium of Robert Wyatt for the dreamlike compositions of album 69 (Rough Trade, 1988), a stylistic puzzle that reinvents the role of rhythm and melody. If Dizzy is inspired by free-jazz and Sulliday by the "freak-outs" of acid-rock, The Madonna Is With Child weaves together an Aoxomoxoa-esque (Grateful Dead) spacey chant, a slow, hypnotic bass beat, and ghostly castle noises in the background. Sperm Whale Trip Over retrieves a "warmer," enveloping rhythm, but surrounds it with endless dissonances and lets it float in the same impalpable ether. The group flirts with fusion in Sun Falls Into The Sea, dub-noise in Crazy Blue. A.R. Kane's music became increasingly abstract. Songs such as Green Hazed Daze, on the EP Love-Sick (Rough Trade, 1988), are glimmers of harmony in a thick hallucinogenic haze. After the single Listen Up! (Rough Trade, 1988), came the double album I (Rough Trade, 1989), with which A.R. Kane attempted to transform that sound into a dance-pop variant (A Love From Outer Space, Pop, and Miles Apart), but confirming that their vocation was in the phenomena of absolute rarefaction (the slow ambient Catch My Drift, the movement for alto and string orchestra of In A Circle) as well as in otherworldly melodic tunes (Super Vixens, Honeysuckleswallow). At times the album sounds like a cross between the "ambient" Brian Eno and the techno-ethno-funky Golden Palominos. Continuing an ideal parabola that began with the first album, New Clear Child (Third Stone, 1994) landed on an even lighter and more delicate sound bordering on ambient music (Sea Like a Child). Tambala resurrected in the mid-1990s in the world of trip hop under the pseudonym Sufi, with the album Life's Rising (Caroline, 1995). Margaret Tambala's voice brushes the exotic atmosphere of Bluesunslide, while Lover dusts off the class of the good old days for a few minutes. The double-disc Complete Singles Collection (One Little Indian, 2012) collects all the A.R. Kane singles not included on their three albums. |
Il polistrumentista
Alex Ayuli e il cantante Rudi Tambala avevano fatto parte dei M/A/R/S/S, il collettivo
(in parte formato dai Colourbox) che
compose Pump Up The Volume (4AD, 1987), il primo hit costruito come
collage di musiche (samples) altrui, uno dei brani che rivoluzionarono
la musica da ballo bianca, un tornado postmoderno.
Ayuli e Tambala composero una jam come quelle di
Grandmaster Flash ma usando l'alta tecnologia dello studio di registrazione,
e trasformando pertanto la jam in collage.
Ayuli e Tambala avevano gia` varato il progetto A R Kane. I singoli When You're Sad (One Little Indian, 1986) e Lolita (4AD, 1987), con l'iper-distorta Sado-Masochism Is A Must, e soprattutto l'EP Up Home! (4AD, 1988) definirono un progetto dedicato a una forma di dance-music piu` intellettuale. Un funk soffice e vagamente psichedelico trapelava dalle strutture dell'inno al sesso orale Baby Milk Snatchers, una cantilena trascendente opprimeva la cartilagine "cosmica" di Up (mentre Sperm Travels Like Juggernaut alimentava la polemica e rendeva il progetto ancor piu` famoso). Gli A R Kane non avevano molto in comune con la scena rock, ma appartenevano spiritualmente alla stessa generazione di My Bloody Valentine e Cocteau Twins, quella che spingeva all'eccesso la disintegrazione armonica della musica psichedelica. Rispetto agli altri, gli A R Kane non erano soltanto piu` "ballabili", erano anche piu` colti e raffinati. Up co-invento` di fatto il genere degli "showgazer". Il gruppo si ispiro` persino al jazz cupo e atmosferico di Miles Davis e al deliquio sinistro e surreale di Robert Wyatt per le composizioni oniriche dell'album 69 (Rough Trade, 1988), un puzzle stilistico che reinventa il ruolo di ritmo e melodia. Se Dizzy si ispira al free-jazz e Sulliday ai "freak-out" dell'acid-rock, The Madonna Is With Child intreccia un canto spaziale alla Aoxomoxoa (Grateful Dead), un battito lento ed ipnotico del basso, i rumori di sottofondo da castello degli spettri. Sperm Whale Trip Over recupera un ritmo piu` "caldo", avvolgente, ma lo circonda di infinite dissonanze e lo lascia fluttuare nello stesso etere impalpabile. Il gruppo flirta con fusion in Sun Falls Into The Sea, dub-noise in Crazy Blue. La musica di A R Kane si fece sempre piu` astrazione. Canzoni come Green Hazed Daze, sull'EP Love-Sick (Rough Trade, 1988), sono barlumi di armonia in una fitta nebbia allucinogena. Dopo il singolo Listen Up! (Rough Trade, 1988), usci` l'album doppio I (Rough Trade, 1989), con cui gli A.R.Kane tentarono di trasformare quel sound in una variante del dance-pop (A Love From Outer Space, Pop> e Miles Apart), ma confermando che la loro vocazione era nei fenomeni di rarefazione assoluta (il lento ambientale Catch My Drift, il movimento per contralto e orchestra d'archi di In A Circle) cosi` come in arie melodiche ultraterrene (Super Vixens, Honeusckswallow). A tratti l'album suona come un incrocio fra il Brian Eno "ambientale" e i Golden Palominos techno-etno-funky. Continuando un'ideale parabola iniziata con il primo album, New Clear Child (Third Stone, 1994) approdo` a un sound ancor piu` lieve e delicato, al limite della musica ambientale (Sea Like a Child). Tambala resuscitera` a meta` degli anni '90 nel mondo del trip hop sotto lo pseudonimo di Sufi, con l'album Life's Rising (Caroline, 1995). La voce di Margaret Tambala pennella l'atmosfera esotica di Bluesunslide, mentre Lover rispolvera per qualche minuto la classe dei bei tempi. The double-disc Complete Singles Collection (One Little Indian, 2012) collects all the A.R. Kane's singles not included in their three albums. |
![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() |