School bell has ringed, school time is over. You can run on the roads and face the contradictions of everyday life. But be careful, the eye of the "Big School janitor" observes you.

In the ironic cover, conceived and drawn by Sir Oliver Skardy himself, rather than by television garbage, the most famous musician-school janitor of Italy is inspired by the negative Orwell utopia.
In his new record "Big school janitor" in fact he doesn't spare anybody: politicians, entrepreneurs of the northeast, women in uniform. An album that talks of social justice, war and liberty, with the irony and the frankness that have distinguished for a long time the rhymes of the prophet of the Venetian reggae.

A CD in which different musical souls coexist and even if starting from reggae it also ranges over dance atmospheres, ragga, electronics, rock.

The record has been artistically produced by Sir Oliver Skardy himself who besides singing has also played the guitars that enrich the record of distortions and biting sonorities. It is the return to a Skardy's big old love after being forced to put aside the guitar as his role of Pitura Freska's front-man grew.
Together with Skardy have also dealt with the production Leonardo Di Angilla (Venetian musician, producer of Voo doo phunk, and in tour with Tiziano Ferro and Marco Paolini) who took care of programming and percussions) and Gianluca Ballarin (former Pitura Freska's collaborator and author and producer of the music for the television phenomenon "The Munchies") who took care of programming and keyboards.
"Big school janitor" has been recorded in the Venetian studios "Montuno Bay" and "Exit Studio." The mastering has been made by Giovanni Boscariol (recent collaborations with Fiorella Mannoia, Elisa and Claudio Baglioni).

The first "solo" work of the leader of the now split up Pitura Freska is in the shops for the label alma music and the distribution of Venus Distribuzione, at the recommended price of 10 Euro, to show that the true fight to piracy is not made with complicated and often useless computer protection systems, but selling the records at a cost approachable to all pockets.

The record begins with a gag of the popular Venetian comedians Carlo & Giorgio, interpreting two of their characters, Galimberto and Master Blaster Cesarino, a radio dee-jay and a dance producer definitely out of their mind. In the end Sir Oliver Skardy won't succeed into having his song played on Radio Maranza and not even to make understand that the history of Pitura Freska is ended and that this is really another history. Just to make understand that Sir Oliver Skardy doesn't spare even himself.
This is just one of the ironic fragments "extra-musical" inserted here and there among the several tracks.

The first song in the tracking list, it could not be otherwise, is "Bideo" (School janitor), a song in which Skardy shows us the "backstage" of the scholastic institution: a microcosm of humanity with severe rules and small sordidness played on an electronic and pressing ragga base. The song is closed by an intense Sir Oliver Skardy guitar solo, winking at rock atmospheres, one of the main innovations in the album sound.

The next song is "Super skank", selected for the Sanremo Festival and then refused, it seems for the assonance of song title with a particular type of soft drug: super skunk. Or more probably because in this song Skardy certainly attacks a society and a political class completely adrift. It is a pity because, once listened to the refrain, you can't forget it anymore.

"Bluff" is introduced by a melodic harp of acoustic guitar, where Skardy duets with Angela Milanese (appreciated backing voice of artists as Paolo Belli, Spagna, Baccini, Rettore), and we pass to a more dreamy atmosphere. But don't delude yourself: the melodic romanticism that shines through from the female voice is immediately transformed in a disenchanted vision of the couple relationship, where sincerity, affection and complicity are now unfortunately illusions only.

Sir Oliver Skardy becomes merciless when he speaks of his land, the "Nord Est", now a sort of far west where the strongest make their way by mean of abuses of power and swindles, and where the Mayors act as "sheriffs." People of the northeast who got big-headed by the sudden wealth. All seasoned by a hypnotic and attractive reggae.

"Tagite i cavei che i te sgama i spinei" ("cut your hair otherwise they will guess you have joints with you"): with this warning opens "Ah mi no so miga", an hypnotic reggae where there is also space for a sitar.
Years after "Marghera", a real legalization manifesto in which Skardy underlines that the clamp down on this and other "harmless" forms of relaxation it is only useful to cover the wrongdoings of those who have the power. The song also features the brass section of the band Teo & the Bombs, also present in "Nord Est".

"Sex symbol", is a merciless portrait of a man of appearance but no substance, a man that under his sex symbol appearance has nothing to boast about. The dance-like rhythms of the strophe are dissolved in an all reggae bridge.

Distorted sounds and rock-like rhythms for "Lap dance" in which marches and uniforms leave space to adult only clubs. If couple life is more complicated than ever and the struggle among the sexes is now "armed", Skardy jokes: it is better sex without inhibitions, even if you have to pay for it.

The "weaker sex" is not anymore so weak, considering that now also women can join the Army and Skardy jokes about it in "Tettakiller" a song fit for a marine, in which the fair sex goes out with a knife between its teeth.

It is now the moment for a cover song and since it is a Skardy's one, even if it is a classic rock song, the proposed version is definitely personal. So "Break on through" from the legendary Doors is dressed of Venetianity and becomes "El xe U".

In "Do mie" the sound is more sweet and melodic, but the song is combined to one of the most caustic lyrics of the album, in which the new millennium rather than the dawn of a new world, remembers the worse moments of humanity history. A new Middle Ages where the strongest wins, without any remorse.

With the biting "Ketchup" Skardy gets angry with the capitalistic society materialism, enslaved to the money and with a technology and a progress that make us lose any moral integrity.

The sweet "Stella" is filled with romanticism: Sir Oliver Skardy finally abandons himself to love without shame. The drums are in opposition to the melodious voices of Sara Montanari gospel chorister in Ravenna and Farida leading element with her performances of the band Tantra.

"Big School janitor" is closed by a nyabingy song: "Competition generation", where Skardy speaks about the lack of values and he makes fun of the new generations language, mostly made of Anglo-Saxon terms of often unknown meaning, and with the cryptic language used in the SMS over the phones, where the need to be synthetic makes the messages incomprehensible to the majority.

www.skardy.it

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