One of the very few good good outcomes of that scourge is Nada's "L'amore è fortissimo e il corpo no". It's not an orthodox representative of the trend, but it's a very good album indeed, and the influence of straighter "alternative" styles is evident. Basically, it's a singer/songwriter work, with very mature and raw lyrics depicting problematic lives and destitute conditions. More than narrating or describing, the songs "furnish" the space with sounds and scattered images, making you perceive the very mood of the situations.
Nada's voice is stark and livid, but shows an adultness which completely sets it apart from the "poser" attitude of the stereotypical late-Nineties "loser". The sound mixes sombre jazz/blues atmospheres, acoustic timbres, and hints at some trip-hop solutions. Someway, it reminds of the extraordinary ambience of Serge Gainsbourg's "L'histoire de Melodie Nelson". There are many harsher "rock" grafts though, right with the alternation of coarse sounds and effected "psychedelic" passages which is typical of Italian alternative rock. A couple of tracks are a bit brighter nevertheless, and even feature some reggae influences or musical box sounds.
Nada Malanima was born in 1953 in the province of Livorno (Tuscany). She debuted when she was just sixteen, and crossed four decades with a high-quality career marked by important artistic partnerships (Piero Ciampi, Paolo Conte, Goblin, Avion Travel...). During the Nineties she approached to songwriting, and "L'amore è fortissimo e il corpo no" is her third album as an author.
- Gesù
- Giulia
- Meraviglioso
- L'amore è fortissimo
- In generale
- Grazie
- La musica antica
- Suonano alla porta
- Questa donna
Similar music on the blog:
La Crus: omonimo (1995)
Fiorella Mannoia: Certe piccole voci (Harpo, 1999)
