Teho Teardo and Blixa Bargeld - Still Smiling

  by Maarten Schiethart

published: 2 / 9 / 2013

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Elegant Euros Teardo and Bargeld team up on this Italo-Berlinesque cabaret album. Retard and Cash Money, as their respective names translate as, act like seasoned middle-aged men. The majestically orchestrated music accompanies these resentful songs on ageing and fate in life. The streetwise lyrics, not of their age one might argue, move this album close to the works of Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht. "Smiling from the shapeless bottom of my soul" is perhaps too blunt for poetry, but it goes to show the kick ass attitude. Required is a good understanding of German and Italian. Teardo (tay - ar - dough) seamlessly changes between the two languages, whilst throwing in a few lines in English as well. The string arrangements which veer from baroque towards minimal ,come to a tense highlight on 'Konjuktiv II'. "Wir denken hier zu bleiben" - imagine to stay (us here) - it reads in the lyrics. But 'Nur zur Erinnerung' - just to remind you - follows next, with its even greater chamber music sound. By now, Teho Teardo has dropped his Italian mask, singing clearly and frankly in German. The musical arrangement has by now reached a level of near-Michael-Nyman proportions, as its repetitive baroque themes escalate. 'A Quiet Life' brings forward divorce drama pur sang. The parting of souls settles on the closing 'Defenestrazioni' track -"'We aim to fly/We drink honey wine." The album offers plenty enough to discuss on, for example, 'The Late Show'. The album combines the lines "I screwed up a whole country" and the Jayne Mansfield quote "Are you happy to see me, or is that a gun in your pocket?" in one and the same song. Tongue-in-cheek references to Silvio Berlusconi shouldn't go amiss. 'Keine Gelände, kein Henry Moore' is the line that puzzle me the most. It is beyond me though as to why this album should be released in the UK. The music is quite striking. Pass this album on to Radio4. The usual suspects, Radio 1 and 2, won't have a clue.

Track Listing:-

1 Mi Scusi
2 Come up and See Me
3 Axolotl
4 Buntmetalldiebe
5 Still Smiling
6 Nocturnalie
7 Alone with the Moon
8 What If ...?
9 Konjunktiv II
10 Nur Zur Erinnerung
11 A Quiet Life
12 Defenestrazioni

Band Links:-

http://www.tehoteardo.com/

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