FRANCO BATTIATO + JOE PATTI’S EXPERIMENTAL GROUP : LIVE AT NUOVO TEATRO CARISPORT, CESENA 31st OCTOBER 2014
Franco Battiato at Cesena
Franco Battiato is an elder statesman of Italian popular music with a distinguished career spanning more than four decades. His standing and popularity remain high in spite of, or perhaps because of, remaining slightly aloof from popular trends.
Many of his songs are commercial enough to appeal readily to mainstream tastes yet he always manages to be one step removed from the brash commercialism of pop or rock marketing.
This was the first time I had seen him in concert and while he has an image of being a serious even remote figure, on stage he exudes a warmth and refreshing lack of pretentiousness.
Battiato has the look of a priest although not one of the hellfire breed as he’s more likely to preach on the healing power of love than to lecture us about the sins of the flesh.
Italians call him ‘il Maestro’ (the teacher) reflecting the strong element of didacticism in songs which are steeped in the kind of mystic imagery of the kind you’d expect to find in spiritual texts. Continue reading
LOU REED’S BERLIN directed by Julian Schnabel (USA, 2008)
No prizes for guessing that I bought this through an addiction to David Lynch’s cult TV drama Twin Peaks.
The genius of Lynch is that he always knows exactly the look and atmosphere he wants. Cruise is so right because she looks so spaced out and her voice exudes an eerie stillness perfectly in tune with the surreal ‘there’s something in the woods’ quality of the drama. She was discovered by composer Angelo Badalamenti and this song is very similar in feel to her sublime performance of Mysteries of Love featured in thr Blue Velvet movie (and later covered brilliantly by Antony).
