La Vade Retro ha riproposto in questa prima metà del 2011 una sua compilation, uscita originariamente solo in cd-r nel 2009, di misconosciuti, ma validissimi gruppi garage-punk europei e americani. Si tratta di una raccolta di alto livello, che fu anche recensita, due anni fa, appena uscita, da Maximum Rock'n'Roll e da altre prestigiose riviste americane. Se fosse stata pubblicata dalla Bomp! o dalla Crypt, sicuramente i vari aficionados di suoni garage-punk sparsi per il globo, avrebbero fato carte false per accaparrarsi una copia di "The Leopard Tape".
Già la confezione grafica è tutto un programma: il cd è avvolto in un panno di tessuto leopardato color rosa schocking (!), che un po' ricordano i film di Russ Meyer (tipo "Faster Pussycat") e tutto quell'immaginario erotico-kitsch dei seventies americani.
Tutti gli otto gruppi partecipanti a questo progetto della Vade Retro sono di prima scelta e di eccezionale bravura. Si parte subito alla grande con gli irlandesi The Things, la cui "Demon Stomp" è puro inferocito garage revival, come solo gli Original Sins furono capaci di fare, una ventina di anni fa, in America. I climi si stemperano un po' con i Witchcraft e i Dr. Mesmer And The Invisibile Curve, le cui, rispettivamente, "Walk Between The Lines" e "What Gives", mostrano evidenti "omaggi" ossequiosi verso i Count Five e gli Standells, non scadendo però mai in una scontata e scadente riproposta oleografica.
I climi si rifanno roventi con i Welcomin' Committe In Flames e la loro indiavolata "Take Your Time", nella quale uno stridente organo farfisa sottolinea una forsennata danza da rave-up. Assai graziose sono le Wild Weekend ("Knowing Wondering Why"), tipico girl-group anni Sessanta sulla falsariga delle Ronettes e delle Crystals, a cui non manca neanche un adeguato wall of sound alla Phil Spector come stile produttivo.
Grandissimi sono gli Octagon Control. Ad ascoltare la loro "A Children's Story", pare di assistere ai Pere Ubu della "modern dance" che jammano con gli Stooges. Anche lo swamp-rock sporchissimo, da reietti dei sottoscala, dei Wiggins ("Dog") avrebbe fatto invidia a Lux Interior e i suoi Cramps. Il disco va in gloria con i nove minuti finali di "No Game To Play" dei newyorkesi White Hills (l'unico gruppo qui presente a essere uscito dall'underground, grazie a un recente contratto discografico con la Thrill Jockey), che coniugano i climi infernali dei Suicide con uno space-rock di discendenza Faust e con la neo-psichedelia degli Spacemen 3.
Un mio consiglio spassionato è di riuscire ad accaparrarvi tutte (o buona parte) le uscite discografiche della Vade Retro, dato che sono stampate (immagino solo per ragioni economiche) in poche centinaia, se non decine, di copie. Non fatele diventare merce rara per collezionisti, fatele vostre!
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17/06/2011
This article is an English translation of the original Italian text by Leonardo Di Maio, published on OndaRock.it. It was translated with the help of artificial intelligence, under the editorial responsibility of OndaRock's editor-in-chief, Claudio Fabretti.
A worthwhile collection featuring eighteen names from Florence's new alt-rock scene
Forty tracks in thirty-seven minutes: the first compilation from MiaCameretta Records
A new volume of the anthology digging through Factory's rarities
Fifteen emerging bands pay tribute to the legendary English outfit
Twelve promising bands from Latina in a compilation moving between garage-rock, psychedelia and power punk
Mechanical dances of flesh and war rhythms toward a looming future
Eleven dark-punk gems from the Eighties collected in a compilation by New York's Sacred Bones Records
A triptych reinterpreting the cycle of Romantic lieder in a contemporary key
Fourteen emerging bands from the Italian indie underground brought together on a cassette curated by Lady Sometimes Records
An intense collection celebrating one of the brightest (and most overlooked) talents of Italian singer-songwriter music
The debut compilation from the Salento label, spanning third-world rhythms, sidereal escapes and electro-bass scores
An atmospheric kaleidoscope celebrating the first eleven years of activity by Rome's Stochastic Resonance
Sexless love in the age of new wave and post-punk, told through a compilation full of hidden gems
A compilation charting Italy's no-wave scene between '80 and '85, with 14 bands drawn from every corner of the peninsula
A death-rock and goth-wave anthology raising funds for Emilia
A collection spanning dark-wave and indie-rock, put together by an up-and-coming German label
14 emerging bands pay tribute to Scisma on this compilation, featuring Il Disordine delle Cose, Desert Motel, Es, Glitterball and Vanderlei
A heartfelt tribute to a Spielbergian celluloid dream
The eclectic producer digs out the gems of his collection, paired with remixes of better-known tracks
Spittle releases a collection of rarities, offering a thorough look at the artistic ferment of early-80s Italy
The first step toward rediscovering the hidden archives of Italian new wave
The intriguing audiovisual zapping of one of the members of Sparkle In Grey
The second chapter of a new cornerstone in the rediscovery of the Italian wave scene
A mix of drone and electronica, free to download, to melt the winter snow
An anthology dominated by uchronias. A grand crossroads in space and time between the 19th century, decadent theatre and modern music
Seven CDs and four DVDs for a total of nine hours of music, tracing Italian progressive rock of the 1970s
A parade of artists led by Bob Dylan brings back to light the lost lyrics of the father of country music
A cult Australian label sees the light again through forty-one rare and unreleased songs
A rich compilation gathers the most promising names of today's varied wave, gothic and minimal synth scene
Dj Mike Maguire reaches 1984, right on the edge of that sprawling phenomenon known as acid-house
A collection of just a few but essential elements defining witchhouse
Minimal Wave continues its praiseworthy work of musical archaeology, unearthing '80s wave rarities
A double compilation, released alongside the companion "Disco Fever Usa", dedicated to bizarre, mostly European disco tracks dating from 1976 to 1984
A double CD featuring 22 tracks of American disco-music, all rigorously drawn from now-rare 12" versions
A tribute album to Umberto Palazzo's Santo Niente. Among the sixteen guests are Giorgio Canali and Simona Gretchen
A look at the new country-folk scene, in this compilation from Uncut magazine
Sicilian label Kill Mommy Records celebrates its first two years of activity with a compilation
Sixty artists for sixty tracks of sixty seconds each, in the new treasure chest from Second Language
A soundtrack packed with Italian artists for the TV adaptation of De Cataldo's novel
The formidable collection of Italian new wave, put together by Federico Guglielmi and released by Cramps
The manifesto of a genre, neo-folk, and of a label, Prophecy, under the banner of the naturalistic theme
An all-Campania tribute to Ian MacKaye and Guy Picciotto's band
The electronic manifesto of the 2000s in the New York label's compilation
David Byrne, Brian Eno and Craig Armstrong join forces for the sequel to Oliver Stone's celebrated film
Seventeen exclusive tracks and a magazine with just as many interviews, in four hundred limited copies
Childhood and its magical world, between tenderness and modern lullabies performed by emerging indie artists
LO Recordings releases the third chapter in the "Milky Disco" dance series
To celebrate its tenth year, the German label releases a compilation featuring 15 unreleased tracks
Fourteen minimal wave gems rescued from oblivion, between third-hand vintage electronics and classic synth-pop
Tim Kinsella selects eighteen songs to introduce a number of artists close to the Joan Of Arc universe
A colorful patchwork of styles on the first "official" release from Glen Johnson's peculiar label
A biting Neapolitan response to the long line of Buddha Bar compilations
The definitive dubstep collection celebrating the fifth birthday of the most important label on the London scene: Hyperdub
Rustblade pays industrial-flavored tribute to the intellectual from Friuli
The thousand shades of folk, in a collection featuring both established names and genuine talent discoveries
A double compilation featuring the leading artists of the Morr Music roster pays tribute to New Zealand indie-pop
A various-artists compilation from Sardinia in support of Emergency
Ancestral and modern ethnic suggestions in an Oscar-winning soundtrack
A parade of indie stars celebrates the 20th anniversary of the Red Hot charity organization
The soundtrack to Wim Wenders' latest film, featuring unreleased tracks from Grinderman and Bonnie "Prince" Billy
Rediscovering the cult side of italo-disco through a new Strut compilation
A fine tribute featuring Sakamoto, Maskatsu and other Japanese musicians
The third installment in the series, for nostalgics of new wave/post-punk/mutant disco and the like
A rich compilation from the eclectic London label
The US psych and avant scenes pay tribute to the Takoma guitarist
The lights and shadows of a folk revolution that was only ever announced
The soundtrack to Archer's film, with a very indie cast
Noise and drums: the sonic apocalypse of 2007
"Post"-leaning sounds for newly-founded Roman label Raise Records
Folk sounds from frozen Scandinavia
Nine ambient-music essays for icy, uncharted lands
A dark monument to free-noise from the land of the sun.
An exhaustive anthology capturing a crucial phase of Milan's rock scene
An anthology tracing the history of Syliphone, post-colonial Africa's first state-run record label
Time Capsule brings to light eight gems of innocent, colorful psychedelia from the Land of the Rising Sun
Algerian songs of love and rebellion in yet another treasure courtesy of WEWANTSOUNDS
Sublime Frequencies points its compass toward southwestern Madagascar
Eleven tracks to rediscover jeel, Egypt's answer to disco music
Wayward youth and disco music: the story of a massive cultural phenomenon
The history of Black music in Questlove's outstanding documentary soundtrack
A Strut anthology of Nigeria's 70s funk scene
Nigeria's rich reggae scene surveyed in a double anthology courtesy of Soundway
A new experiment for Sam Shepherd, this time between electronic and contemporary music
The most markedly alt-rock work yet from the English band fronted by Conor Mason
The new album from the Anglo-Berlin duo is an ode to resilience
New songs from the Zelienople singer-songwriter, written while wandering through the Appalachians
Ten convincing tracks that confirm the talent and ambitions of the young Dublin post-post-punk quartet
Inspired by Kathleen Edwards, Lucinda Williams and Tom Petty, the scrappy debut from the Nashville-based artist
The Australian singer-songwriter's return is a tribute to the need to escape the logic of the mainstream
A refined blend of bossa nova, jazz, psychedelia and classical music