Robyn Hitchcock non riesce a non pubblicare almeno un disco all’anno, per tacere degli scavi archeologici nel suo ammirevole archivio. Così, a corto di pezzi nuovi dopo il Goodnight Oslo con i Venus 3, ha pensato bene di recuperare uno dei suoi quaderni più gloriosi, I Often Dream Of Trains, sfogliato pubblicamente nel novembre 2008 in un comodo spazio tra la 95a e Broadway, a New York.
Quell’album fu uno snodo, spiega RH, servì all’artista per evadere dal mondo Soft Boys e chiarire la nuova situazione solistica. Venticinque anni dopo, sono venute meno urgenza e ragioni ma il paesaggio è rimasto uguale: affascinanti ruminazioni di una mente inquieta, visioni crepuscolari, lunatiche malinconie a tradimento, sulla strada a suo tempo tracciata dal maestro Barrett. Rispetto all’originale, Hitch si è sgravato di qualche parte strumentale, affidata a due compagni fissi e due ospiti, e ha variato la scaletta/aggiunto brani, senza peraltro toccare il cuore desolato del disco e il suo notturno mood.
Edizione doppia, il DVD vale più del solo audio; perchè c’è di più (anche un breve documentario che insiste sull’ossessione dei treni, anche troppe spiegazioni/farneticazioni) e si può ammirare il maestro nello splendore della sua chitarra a palloni bianchi con camicia intonata o, meglio ancora, in abito elegante e cilindro mentre si avvia al pianoforte a eseguire il preludio. Il concerto è in realtà già iniziato, con un petulante registratore che per trenta secondi ha sparato e distorto Sometimes I Wish I Was A Pretty Girl. I treni, a New York, viaggiano così.
Riccardo Bertoncelli
PS E OGGI E’ IL GIORNO DI FLAMING LIPS CHE INTERPRETANO I FLOYD DI THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON
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Vic Chesnutt in coma: Label issues statement on singer’s condition
by Simon Vozick-Levinson
Vic Chesnutt’s label has confirmed today’s upsetting news that the acclaimed singer-songwriter is in a coma. “Vic is in the middle of a serious medical situation, he is in a coma, and his family and friends are with him,” said Constellation Records’ Don Wilkie in a statement. “We have no comment right now on the specifics other than that his doctors are continuing to assess his condition. We will issue a full statement at an appropriate time. In the interim, we request that everybody respect Vic’s privacy and that of his family.”
Friend and collaborator Kristin Hersh has said on Twitter that Chesnutt’s coma is the result of a suicide attempt, but this remains unconfirmed. Everyone at the Music Mix is hoping for the best, needless to say. For now, let’s take a minute to think about one thing we’re sure of: all the great music Vic Chesnutt has made for going on 20 years. A longtime fixture on the Athens, Ga. music scene, Chesnutt first came to national prominence when R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe produced his first two albums in the early ’90s. He’s kept up a prolific pace of recording and performing in the years since then, putting out two albums in 2009 alone.
A few months back, the Music Mix had the pleasure of debuting a video for “Chain,” a lovely, forlorn ballad from Chesnutt’s album At the Cut (below). Please share your thoughts and memories of Vic Chesnutt’s music in the comments below.
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una preghiera di speranza per Vic
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Update: Conflicting reports on Vic Chesnutt condition after alleged suicide attempt
By Rick Griffin
Dec 24, 2009 10:13 PM
Update at 11pm PST: After this article was originally published, Billboard magazine published their own report saying Chesnutt had passed. At this point, there are still no official statements.
Update at 11:30 pm PST: Within the past half hour, both Billboard and Athens Blur have removed their articles reporting Chesnutt’s death. We’ve updated our headline from “Vic Chesnutt reportedly dead after alleged suicide attempt” to “Update: Conflicting reports on Vic Chesnutt condition after alleged suicide attempt” to reflect these changes. We continue to seek out an official statement and will update this story as new information comes in.
Reports circulated late Christmas Eve that singer-songwriter Vic Chesnutt had died after falling into a coma.
Chesnutt’s label, Constellation Records, had confirmed in a statement that Chesnutt was in a coma mid-day, and Athens Blur magazine broke the news later that Chesnutt had died, though no official confirmation was available at press time.
Tweets from former Throwing Muses singer Kristen Hersh—a longtime friend of Chesnutt—circulated among bloggers through the day.
On Christmas Eve morning, Hersh posted:
no calls in the night-well, only to talk about how much we love vic-and no news is good news…if we lose him i’ll have lost my equilibrium.
and later
yeah, i can tell you what i know, but no one knows much: another suicide attempt, looks bad, coma—if he survives, there may be brain damage.
Later in the day, the Constellation press statement confirmed the coma.
Vic is in the middle of a serious medical situation, he is in a coma, and his family and friends are with him,” said Constellation Records’ Don Wilkie. “We have no comment right now on the specifics other than that his doctors are continuing to assess his condition. We will issue a full statement at an appropriate time. In the interim, we request that everybody respect Vic’s privacy and that of his family.”
On October, Chesnutt told Spinner that he’d run into recent financial problems. “Right now, I’m in huge trouble in that the hospital is suing me for $35,000, which is terrifying, and the rub is that I have health insurance. I have hospitalization insurance, for which I pay almost $500 a month, and then on top of that I still owe the hospital $35,000. That is truly an insane system. I did everything right and I’m still under the gun.”
Chesnutt, 45, was partially paralyzed and wheelchair-bound since being injured in a car accident at 18. He completed a tour in recent weeks in support of his latest release, At The Cut.
attendiamo nitizie a questo punto.
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grazie Alien,non volevo riportare io stamane la notizia ,ma credo la forma cambi poco mentre la sostanza molto.
Diciamo che entrambi abbiamo riportato la notizia di una grave dipartita.
Bella soddisfazione vero?
Vic sara’ sempre un grande r.i.p.
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una cosa che potreste fare, è rendergli omaggio guardandovi questo video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rPyQFmGmb4&feature=player_embedded#
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