AA.VV. - Fac. Dance 2: Factory Records 12″ Mixes & Rarities 1980-1987
2012 (Strut records)
electro, new wave, post-punk
7.5
Dopo la prima raccolta, uscita sempre per Strut appena l’anno scorso, è già arrivato il momento per il secondo volume di questo viaggio drogato dentro il malsano e destrutturato gusto dance della mitica Factory Records.
Come nel primo numero della serie, troviamo quasi esclusivamente tracce rare e difficilmente reperibili; accanto ai nomi storici dell’etichetta di Manchester come Section 25, Wake, ESG, A Certain Ratio, trovano posto anche progetti meno conosciuti e brevi meteore, talvolta anche eterogenee allo stile dominante della Factory.
Le tracce contenute nei due Cd (o Lp) della raccolta seguono un movimento incostante per mood e atmosfere, partendo dal post-punk-funk degli A Certain Ratio di “The Fox”, in cui chitarre tagliate, un basso ebefrenico e una tromba a monito scolpiscono una strana danza attorno al fuoco. Molto più sensuale è “Moody” degli ESG, che trasuda dub e femminilità in una coppia lisergica basso-voce che troveremo anche nei pezzi di Sir Horatio (gli A Certain Ratio sotto altro nome, un solo 12” nel 1981) e gli X-O-Dus (unico LP nel 1980), ancora più orientati verso i suoni di Lee Perry e il roots reggae.
Ben diverso è il mondo degli olandesi Minny Pops, che si svelano dentro un pulsante electro dark dal tono interrotto, e la newyorchese Thick Pigeon con i suoi ritmi spezzati di basso e chitarra in cui voci stridenti accompagnano il suo cantato plastico; entrambi i progetti sottolineano il lato più grigio e piovoso della Factory.
Un’etichetta dall’anima complessa e schizofrenica, che attraversava le tenui melodie sognanti, gracili dei Durutti Column (“Self Portrait”), la cold-wave minimale dei Nyam Nyam (“Fate/Hope”) e si sublimava nelle scappatoie latin-free-jazz dei Kalima, altro nome dei Swamp Children (troviamo anche loro nell’antologia), progetto devoto a un pop lo-fi malato ed astratto. Naturalmente non mancavano aspetti decisamente commerciali come l’electro pop, vicino a certo primo hip hop, dei manchesteriani 52nd Street (“Can’t Afford (Unorganised Mix)”), la disco-wave dei Shark Vegas (“Your Hurt Me”), o addirittura la virata etnico-araba di Fadela (“N’sel Fik”).
Meno di nicchia, e degni di un’analisi a parte sono ovviamente i Wake, grandi sarti di un malinconico pop dalle venature grigie, i Section 25 e i Royal Family And The Poor, uno dei progetti più contorti e sperimentali della Factory, in bilico fra rumorismo, post punk, spoken word, sintetizzatori modificati e magneti.
Chiude l’antologia una piccola rarità per amanti dei New Order: Ad Infinitum. Progetto parallelo di Peter Hook, che rilasciò questo solo singolo in vinile, è un evidente divertissement del bassista per un’elettronica a metà fra italo-disco e Kraftwerk senza alcuno scopo sperimentale.
“Fac Dance 2” è sicuramente l’ennesima compilation sugli artisti della Factory e tantomeno sarà quella conclusiva. Ha però il grande merito di riuscire a descrivere, di volume in volume, le facce multiformi e spesso slegate di una delle realtà creative più importanti d’Europa attraverso rarità e inediti difficili da recuperare e dalla qualità sonora impeccabile. In sintesi, un ottimo documento per una prima analisi, panoramica, di una scena musicale ben difficile da descrivere e coprire in tutte le sue ramificazioni.
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26/09/2012
This article is an English translation of the original Italian text by Michele Guerrini, 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.
Tracklist
- Cd 1
- 1. A Certain Ratio - The Fox
- 2. ESG - Moody
- 3. Minny Pops – Blue Roses
- 4. Thick Pigeon– Babcock + Wilcox
- 5. Biting Tongues – Meat Mask Separatist
- 6. Sir Horatio – Sommadub
- 7. X-O-DUS – Society
- 8. The Durutti Column- Self Portrait
- 9. Section 25- Knew Noise
- 10. Shark Vegas- You Hurt Me
- 11. Fadela – N’Sel Fik
- 12. Kalima - Land Of Dreams
- Cd 2
- 1. 52nd Street – Can't Afford (Unorganised mix)
- 2. Nyam Nyam – Fate
- 3. A Certain Ratio - Lucinda
- 4. ESG – You're No Good
- 5. Swamp Children - Softly Saying Goodbye
- 6. Quando Quango – Go Exciting (12” mix)
- 7. Surprize– In Movimento Anna Domino – Take That
- 8. The Wake - Host
- 9. Royal Family And The Poor – Vaneigem Mix
- 10. Section 25 - Sakura
- 11. Ad Infinitum– Telstar
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