Summary.
The Boo Radleys, formed in Liverpool in 1988 by Simon Rowbottom (vocals) and Martin Carr (guitar), were protagonists (at least in the music magazines) of the period between the dream-pop of Cocteau Twins and the Brit-pop of Oasis, and expressed its contradictions and uncertainties.
If English is your first language and you could translate my old Italian text, please contact me.
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I Boo Radleys, formati a Liverpool nel 1988 per opera di Simon Rowbottom
(voce) e Martin Carr (chitarra), furono protagonisti (almeno nei rotocalchi
musicali) del periodo a cavallo fra il dream-pop dei
Cocteau Twins e il Brit-pop degli
Oasis, e ne espressero le contraddizioni e le
incertezze.
Il mini-album Ichabod And I (Action, 1990) era l'opera di mediocri
discepoli del noise-pop dei
Jesus And Mary Chain (per la verita` piu` simili
ancora ai Dinosaur Jr, che pero` forse
non conoscevano).
Kaleidoscope (Rough Trade, 1990), con la title-track,
Every Heaven (Rough Trade, 1991), con Finest Kiss,
Boo Up (Rough Trade, 1991), con Everybird,
e Adrenaline (Creation, 1992), con Lazy Day,
spostarono progressivamente l'accento verso la psichedelia "shoegazing"
dei My Bloody Valentine, anche se in versione
molto piu` melodica.
I primi tre EP verranno raccolti su
Learning To Walk (Rough Trade, 1994).
L'album Everything's Alright Forever (Columbia, 1992) accentuo`
la componente melodica, ma senza rinunciare alle strutture dilatate,
per cui le varie
Skyscraper, Does It Hurt, Losing It e Memory Babe
fanno leva su ritornelli languidi e sognanti.
Altri tre singoli fecero da ponte fra questo album e il successivo:
Boo Forever (Creation, 1992),
Lazarus (con un arrangiamento in continuo movimento, dal
dub iniziale all'apoteosi di trombe finale) e infine
I Hang Suspended (la melodia piu` leziosa).
Giant Steps (Columbia, 1993) completo` la metamorfosi da sperimentatori
a canzonettari. I Boo Radleys saltarono sul carro del Brit-pop e si misero
a sfornare arie da anni '60 arrangiate
secondo le feste armoniche dei tardi Beach Boys e dei tardi Love.
Ma i madrigali classicheggianti di Thinking Of Ways e
Best Lose The Fear sono tutt'al piu` degni del Paisley Underground
della California (Three O'Clock e similia).
Sul fronte melodico svetta semmai il girotondo alla
Belly di Rodney King.
Tutto sommato sono piu` suggestivi gli episodi periferici:
fantasie dub come Upon 9th And Fairchild, ballate distorte come
Butterfly McQueen,
collage psych-orchestrali come Lazarus,
il florilegio dissonante di Spun Around. I Boo Radleys stanno ancora
sperimentando, ma bisogna scavare a fondo per rendersene conto.
La formazione e` d'altronde salita a sette elementi,
compresi violoncello (Lindsay Johnston),
corno (Steve Kitchen) e clarinetto (Jackie Toy).
L'album rimarra` forse il loro capolavoro.
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(Clicka qua per la versione Italiana)
Wake Up (Creation, 1995) is the quintessence of straightforward,
linear Brit-pop:
impeccable melodies and arrangements, but absolutely empty music.
The Boo Radleys revisit the ditties of Beach Boys and Mama's And Papa's
through the baroque maquillage of the Squeeze.
The light, smooth, ethereal vocal harmonies are the band's trademark, as are
the jovial horn fanfares.
Wake Up Boo> adds a bouncing ska beat,
It's Lulu a power-pop progression,
Reaching Out From Here a tender Hollies feeling.
Their spineless, syrupy melodies, not adequately supported by the muse
(often limited to a martial tempo) fall flat.
The slow, romantic tracks are a terrible bore and
the closing Wilder is third-rate Billy Joel.
The Kinks-y lullaby Charles Bukowski Is Dead revitalizes the album
but it's too little too late.
This album will become their best-seller.
C'Mon Kids (Creation, 1996) is another homage to the
triad of Kinks, Who and Hollies, but this time it is wed again to
Giant Steps-grade arrangements that border on Queen-style pomp.
With a few exceptions (C'Mon Kids, What's On The Box)
the result is even emptier than the previous album: all form and no content.
Carr simply updates the sound of the band to modern production techniques.
Kingsize (Creation, 1998) is the real follow-up to
Giant Steps:
Old Newsstand At Hamilton Square,
Blue Room In Archway and so forth are miniature pop concertos that
employ countless production tricks to sound the way they don't sound.
Carr is a magician who can totally hypnotize and confuse his audience.
After the band's breakup, singer "Sice" adopted a new monicker,
Eggman, and recorded First Fruits (Creation, 1997). Carr was the
Boo Radley's Beethoven and it shows. Eggman's music is not catchy and is
not majestic and is not original.
The Beatles made one Rubber Soul and the Beach Boys made one
Pet Sounds: the Boo Radleys made three or four of them.
They are only as good as heavily-processed pop can get, but they assembled
an impressive body of work.
Martin Carr launched a solo career under the moniker
Brave Captain with the mediocre mini-albums
The Fingertip Saint Sessions Vol 1 (Wichita, 2000) and
Go With Yourself (Wichita, 2001), summarized in the USA on
Nothing Lives Long, He Sang, Only the Earth and the Mountains
(Thirsty Ear, 2001).
Carr updated his Brit-pop sound to electronics and computers on the first
Brave Captain full-length,
Advertisements for Myself (Wichita, 2002), that contains an impressive
dose of catchy tunes masquerading as avantgarde.
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