Diverting Duo

www.myspace.com/divertingduo - filed under the heading 'indie / dutch pop / black metal' (we feel they are toying with us) diverting duo have it must be admitted been catching our ear of late - a duo hailing from Cagliari, Italy who describe themselves and their sound as 'a silly girl (Sara) and a little boy (Gianmarco), a moony voice, two glowing guitars, some tricks and toys' - all of which sounds refreshingly cute and depreciating and in our book a step up from the usual ego inflating sycophantic biographical blusters we've painfully had to put up with on occasion. They've just released their debut full length entitled 'low bunnies' which based on these showcasing cuts we suggest you seek out, love until you burst and play until it breaks in two. Edging on the side of affectionately minimalist, opening salvo 'bunnies' - spirit wise had us experiencing the feelings that swooned about our head space when we first heard Cocteau Twins' 'wax and wane', the Sugarcubes 'birthday' and the Sundays' 'can't be sure' - a delicate woven slice of spectral beauty set to a basic drum machine backdrop that's laced with the kind of frail application of slender riffmanship that would give Galaxie 500 the sweats all dutifully blessed with Sara's unsettlingly divine though apparently non-plussed church like purr - that'll be church as in pointy shaped building and not the coal mining chanteuse - glad we got that sorted. Judged on hits alone 'recipe' appears to be leading the way in the great public vote - disarming for the fact that it sounds as though its coming apart at the seams, Sara's hum drum delivery blending admirably with the almost morosely conceived monochrome key drones, add to that the occasional festooning of bent out of shape twinkling bells cascades and is that a type writer we hear clattering in the back ground - to be filed somewhere between the Breeders and Velvet Underground. You can also sample the same cut re-drilled by Neeva in whose hands a decidedly strange and curious brew emerges replete with halos of skittering beats, monochromatic electronic squiggles and hypno inducing lunatic swathes. All said and done our particular favourite of the bunch is the non album track 'tender light' - a brooding beauty that mooches about with a haunting folk stricken Spaghetti western like demeanour instilling a deeply spellbinding and intoxicating aura that to these ears sounds like a bruised dust bleached Gallon Drunk shimmying up alongside the Delgados - need we say more. - losingtoday.com

Una sorpresa. Una bella sorpresa. Un duo cagliaritano, lei e lui, forse innamorati, non sappiamo, ma certamente invaghiti di folk, indiepop e soavità con la testa tra le nuvole. Lei canta con voce eterea e vellutata e suona una chitarra dolcissima; lui è all'altra chitarra, qualche beat o piccole batterie d'accompagnamento, glockenspiel e organo appena accennati, seconde voci soffuse e melodie delicate. I Diverting Duo regalano atmosfere trasognate come i primi Comaneci o quasi una Joni Mitchell rallenttissima, un po' di psichedelia acustica, Cat Power adolescente e sobria, fino a Le Man Avec Les Lunettes, che peraltro mettono lo zampino nel disco e prestano lo studio di registrazione. Non che i due siano nuovi nel mestiere: sono all'esordio discografico, ma hanno girato l'Europa in lungo e in largo tra il 2008 e il 2009; e vien da chiedersi cosa stessero aspettando a regalarci un disco di una delicatezza così. Ci si può perdere a dondolar la testa con gli occhi chiusi nelle litanie di “Bunnies” e “Good For A Day” o nei feedback di “That Gold”. Forse l'unica pecca è la monotonia degli arrangiamenti, ma sono soltanto trenta minuti ripartiti in nove tracce sognanti e sorridenti, come un volo a ciel sereno dal nord dell'Europa fino alla costa ovest degli States. Con tutti i gruppi stranieri che fanno musica del genere e invadono costantemente locali e localini della penisola, ai Diverting Duo auguriamo il percorso inverso, speriamo possano girare il mondo e allietarlo e trasognarlo. Intanto ascoltiamo “Lover/Lover”, che è una sorpresa. Una bella sorpresa.

Marco Manicardi

- mucchio selvaggio