Bluvertigo: Zero - ovvero la famosa nevicata dell'85 (Mescal, 1999)

A reprise of synth-pop's most dandiesque facet sharply bucked the dominating post-grunge trend of the late Nineties. Nevertheless Bluvertigo got some remarkable success by reviving the decadent sound of Depeche Mode, Berlin-era David Bowie, Japan. As a matter of fact, their aestheticism was the reverse of the medal of the "loser" mitology pervading the indie-rock ethos - another side of those years' omnipresent spleen.
Musically speaking, the album "Zero" is the most mature and varied in Bluvertigo's discography. The obvious art-rock influences reside on very solid synth-funk architectures, and the harmonic framework of the compositions is unusually clever for pop music in general. Dissonances and extra-rock chords are often used to cast an unquiet shadow on the atmospheres, and backing vocals tend to follow quite unpredictable orbits. Besides that, the music shows an unsuspected passion for rhythm inlays (quite close to Discipline-era King Crimson), and many tracks drift on a daring techno/industrial direction without abdicating to their popsong scheme.
The music conveys a sense of dissociation, but the lyrics go even further. As usual for Bluvertigo, the focus is on the feebleness of the sane/insane, reason/unconscious boundaries. The songs juxtapose partially unrelated flashes, in a style much debtor of Franco Battiato's, and definitely evocate a psychoanalytic setting. Some refrains unfortunately trivialize the overall result, but many tracks are perfect and striking.

Bluvertigo are a band from Monza, close to Milan, lead by charismatic singer/multi-instrumentist/composer Morgan (Marco Castoldi). "Zero" is their third and last studio album, featuring guest appearences by Mauro Pagani and Franco Battiato.

Tracklist:

1. Versozero
2. Zero
3. La crisi
4. sono=sono
5. La comprensione
6. Finché saprai spiegarti
7. Sovrappensiero
8. Forse
9. Autofraintendimento
10. Lo psicopatico
11. Always Crashing in the Same Car
12. Saxs Interlude
13. Porno Muzik
14. Niente x scontato
15. Numero
16. Punto di non arrivo

Donwload (160 kbps)


Similar music on the blog:
Franco Battiato: Giubbe Rosse (EMI, 1989)
Central Unit: Central Unit + Loving Machinery (M.P. Records, 2003)