Thursday, January 3, 2008

se telefonando

Nate's aforementioned masterful, achronological and idiosyncratic Best of 2007 is inspiring in its words and general attitude as well as its sounds, and I was hoping to do a quick rundown of all the things I really obsessed over musically and otherwise this year, regardless of when it was released etc -

not sure if that's ever really going to happen, but really the only really really really important one I really wanted to bring up again is Mina Mazzini's "Se Telefonando," which I was introduced to by the SIPAtastic Kyla W earlier this year and am periodically (indeed, just days ago) reminded of in all of its utterly mind-blowing perfection when I hear it being played upstairs by fellow 502 head Caitlin KM. I have probably watched it on Youtube well over 100 times this year, and my obsession with this towering achievement of human artistry has scarcely waned. the song, which I've just learned (or maybe learned before and forgot?) was written by Ennio Morricone, is pure, bittersweet, triumphant/sad, emotionally sophisticated yet melodramatic bliss, and written in a devastatingly focused verse chorus chorus chorus chorus (keychange) chorus chorus chorus (keychange) chorus chorus chorus etc form that makes your average verse-chorus-verse torch song look like so much splashing around in the shallow end of the pool

and the performance, holy fucking what the fuck is this ever the rosetta fucking stone and the fucking sphinx of human emotionality rolled into one monument of the unbounded artistic sublime or fucking what?? the constant, subtle morphing of her vibe, from coolness to anticipation to pride to regret to melancholy to ecstasy to determined to knowing to demure to flirty to defiant to pleading to wistful to bitter to coy to these totally ambiguous mona lisa-type expressions and back, she is seriously giving you the entire fucking story of life and love and triumph and tragedy while reveling in that glorious, don't stop now don't ever stop no seriously just change the key and keep it going chorus. enigmatic, heartbreaking, and unspeakably beautiful, this clip and all that Julee Cruise stuff (which I'll also prob revisit soon) really tapped some new and richly ambiguous emotional veins for me this year - ok, just watch it -

1 comment:

wayne&wax said...

why am i not surprised to learn that morricone composed this? the man's a master of music as emotion.

really an affecting performance. one of my faves of the year as well. on par, oddly, with another bit of youtubery you put me on to, "drinking out of cups." very diff vibe, yes, but a stand out.