10 years and some of days after the evanescence of the Grunge lamp, it s easy to notice how less challenging things have become since. With the everlasting and ultimate NIRVANA fadeout in April 5th 1994 (this time without a Fender Jaguar and still remembering ironicaly that optimistic Come As You Are line: "And I swear that/I don t have a gun/No, I don t have a gun"), the world was brutally simplified. The ghoul of a generation crawled for a couple of years whereas Let s-Go-Party Punk Bubblegum took the world by the needles and pins. Electronica buddies and melancholic Englishmen tried to overcompensate the void (to great effects). And so on. There was not much to live for, much less to FIGHT for. As if Rock N Roll flame, once alight, was unredeemably close to the mediocrity pool.
But Rock N Roll have survived many crisis. Kurt Cobain wouldn t be its last martyr. Stubborn kinds of fella would stick to their guns until the genre was redeemed, in a peculiar catharsis (word that, in Greek, means "purify"). This has been - and will always be - a dangerous thing to do (taking the "Rock N Roll savior role" that, ironically, victimized Cobain himself). But someome had to do this dirty job.
And nobody better than two elder statesman to make it real. REM, Indie demigods and a huge influence of the very NIRVANA. JEFF BECK, the guitar hero among guitar heroes. Amidst their music, the authenticity that was a perennial presence in Cobain s work and legacy. REM s song transcended time, as it had existed forever. JEFF BECK s one transcended space and cultures, crossing spatial and symbolic boundaries for the sake of making (and bringing us) vital, great Music.
* E-Bow The Letter by REM (1996)
A moving Mellotron melody interwooven with spare guitar riffing worth of THE BYRDS and a shy jazzy rhythmic session - this dreamy landscape is, out of nowhere, trespassed by a mercurial poet easing his stream-of-counciousness (highly poetic) lines with serenity. The mellow outcome is surrounded by haunting (again, highly poetic) backing vocals and gentle instrumental harmonies waiting for the passionate chorus to arrive, back and forth, until there is no backing vocals anymore - just the poets alternating their marvels. As the track have ever existed. You wish it had.
THE BEACH BOYS meets THE COCTEAU TWINS? No, just REM alongside Punk legend PATTI SMITH in the decade s greatest vocal duet (and most adequate, check out the vigorous demonstration of affection by SMITH alumni Michael Stipe). Two peculiar voices which doesn t fit conventional notions of "good singing". This is what Rock N Roll is about - pure poetry with passionate delivery, not pseudo-Operas.
This track was responsible for the commercial failure that great REM record 1996 s New Adventures In Hi-Fi become, after the huge sucesses of 1994 s Monster, 1992 s Automatic for the People and 1991 s Out of Time. Even being the best track among many great ones, REM knew the commercial potential of this one wasn t a huge one. Even this said, they persuated the recording company to release it, being the unanimous band s choice. The record peaked in number 2 in US, but quickly flopped (just after the singing of a 80-million-dollar contract by REM!). The band could have chosen a more conventional number (E-Bow The Letter was taken from a Michael Stipe s letter to one of his friends) like Bittersweet Me.
Anyway, fortunately they had the guts to release this marvelous song. For Rock N Roll! (from the album New Adventures In Hi-Fi)
* Nadia by JEFF BECK (2001)
The greatest guitar player known to men (yes, even HENDRIX was his greatest fan) was also the most idiosincratic of all his fellas. Ranging from Hard Rock to Jazz, in the process touching upon Soul, Funk, Heavy Metal, Pop - the man could play anything with mastery, and in fact he wanted to play a lot of genres, from time to time. His newfound love in early-21st century, justifiably, was Electronica.
Used to cover (and improve over the originals) songs from luminars such as THE BEATLES, STEVIE WONDER and old bluesman (a Rock N Roll tradition), this time BECK chose a tasteful and surprising source: Indian Music, fused with the ultimate Electronica genres. He picked up a great song by Indian sound sorcerer NITIN SAWHNEY called Nadia after a woman he fell in love with. What a love!
Impossibly gorgeous (the original had a stunning vocal performance that BECK translated to even greater guitar heights), Nadia by BECK is the sound of the Air falling in love with Earth, the former on its knees (sheets of impeccably tasteful guitar lines and ethereal beats) and the latter revolving endlessly (many time shifts and unpredictable rhythmic twists - really, it SOUNDS like you on the eye of a silky hurricane), somewhere between delicacy and energy. This transcendent track tears apart stylistic boundaries as well as cultural ones, fusing Western and Eastern artforms to perfection without a wasted beat, note or a single word! This humble man only wanted us to notice how much we can get if you play your heart out, not fearing anything but the moment you finish and realize the song is over!
This masterwork was not a huge hit (BECK had just a few of them), but after all, Art is not as much to be sold as it is to be TOLD. And this narrative, I swear, is the most fascinating one this 10 years of fall and redemption presented. Inside and beyond Rock N Roll. Towards the future, inwards the past (from the record You Had It Coming).
What more could we wait for? :) Maybe, the next 10 years. How many great songs will see the light? Let s check it out! Hope you have enjoyed this humble series! SEE YA!
