Artist: Fonderia
Label: Self-released
Release: 2010
Length: 53:12
Rating: 4.4/5
Italian progressive rock is alive and kicking! And not just the traditional RPI subgenre of prog (Rock Progressivo Italiano), still kept going by the conservatives Delirium, Premiata Forneria Marconi, La Maschera Di Cera, New Trolls and of course Le Orme, but also the looser, boundless, no-compromise eclectic prog rock. Few bands work that turf, since Italian prog heavyweights mostly stick to the conservative prog paths mentioned above, but such players do exist. Fonderia, a quartet (or even a quintet, since they have two bassists, one for studio duty and one for the live shows) from Italy’s capital, explores exactly this: the carefree, eclectic side of progressive rock, with roots in rock, funk, electronic music, jazz and psychedelia, and with world music, aka ethno, creeping in as well.
The name alone says a lot about where the band is headed, since Fonderia means “foundry”. And just like in a foundry, the band takes the most diverse materials and casts them into some kind of alloy, a new thing that’s completely different from, and has different properties than, what went in. The band itself evolved like a foundry process, too. Fonderia started out as a trio in the early nineties, with the three of them mostly improvising at rehearsals. The band grew both musically and in numbers, and almost 10 years later they released their self-titled debut. That first record got people’s attention fast, picked up every award going in Italy, and the quickly growing fan base gave them extra momentum. The band is also involved in countless projects on the Italian cultural scene, writes music for film and so on. All of this makes Fonderia a band you shouldn’t overlook. After all, if a band has caught the attention of Marco Migliari, a producer at the legendary Real World Studios, owned by Peter Gabriel, it’s only logical to conclude they’re not to be ignored.
The third record, “My Grandmother’s space suit”, was recorded under the baton of a true master who, among other things, has handled production on albums and DVDs for some of the biggest bands in the world and world-famous individuals (Genesis, Deep Purple, Van Morrison and Sigur Ros, as well as Peter Gabriel, Robert Plant, Loreena McKennit …). So Fonderia had no worries about the sonic essence of their music, which leans heavily on ambient, getting lost on the record (everything was recorded “live”, precisely so the band’s energy would be preserved as well as possible). The members of Fonderia admit that the record, and the whole experience, pushed them far ahead on their musical path, and that it redefined their music a bit too. The first novelty is the arrival of vocals, which show up twice on “My Grandmother’s space suit” (“Loaded Gun”, which also came out as a single, and “I can’t believe this is just another pop(e) song”). But the “foundrymen” wanted more novelties than just vocals. They set out to modernize the stamp of the music of the past, to futurize the sonic image of the last century, which the album title itself bears witness to. In short, they wanted to put today’s advances in music-industry technology to work on music whose biggest role models come from the last century. And they pulled it off more than well.
“My Grandmother’s space suit” has nine tracks that add up to a little under an hour of eclectic progressive jazz and rock. The album kicks off great with “Moebius Onion Rings”, a laid-back little jazz number that sets the mood for its successors. On this one the musicians mostly stick to the “less is more” principle, in the solos as well as in the chorus and verse. That’s exactly what builds the ideal ambience and leaves the listener totally relaxed, and after the first bite of this excellent platter you’re already hungry for another helping of Fonderia. But “Istanbul” is the tune that turns everything upside down. A completely experimental free-jazz intro and slightly heavier guitar riffs wreck the opening mood and nudge the listener to pay closer attention. The track later wades into somewhat Zorn-like waters, with an ethnic guitar melody and percussion beat that border heavily on klezmer, the traditional Jewish music genre. The brass joins in with a similar move, the other instruments chime in as it builds, and eventually we get the result we expected: an eclectic prog jazz-rock charge that allows no short labels and doesn’t bother with them either. The third song, “Loaded gun”, initially a mellow track (at least instrumentally), serves up vocals. And what vocals. The song is sung by guest Barbara Eramo. The track itself is nothing special, a laid-back pop-jazz aria, but Eramo still really shines with her range. Instrumentally the song has its bright moments too, but there are too few of them, or they’re spread too unevenly (only the second half of the track really “comes alive”), for it to stand out the way the first two tracks nearly did.
“Gravity Wave” is another instrumental piece built on escalation and atmosphere-building. The electronic influences are more than present, and at first we think we’re listening to a (very high-quality) IDM (Intelligent Drum’n’Bass) tune. But when Bultrini hits the guitar, all dreams (or nightmares?) of any kind of D’n’B evaporate. What we get is a fusion treat that subordinates almost everything to ambient. Post-rock drumming, light echoes of trumpet, melodic guitar playing and almost classical piano once again back up Fonderia’s eclectic label. Maybe “Gravity Wave” is just a bit more contemporary, aimed at today’s mainstream audience, for whom the electronic track is a religion, but the quality of the music itself and the still-dominant progressive elements are too obvious for the track to stray into any disco clubs or the sets of commercialized DJs, which is, in its own way, a shame of course. The modern influences fade already in “Liquid”, where progressive rock and jazz fusion shine. Rock guitar riffs, the odd fusion keyboard solo and trumpet in the background are the founding fathers of this music, in which Fonderia simply reigns. And since the musicians themselves figured out that building ambience is their strong suit, that they feel right at home in the “less is more” zone, they stick with it this time too, but that’s where “Liquid”‘s similarity to some of its predecessors ends. “A billion electric sheep” boasts similar predispositions, except that to the bundle of virtues of “Liquid” we can add an excellent spacy sound that further reinforces the dreamy mood and the softness of the sound. Occasional experimental heavier riffs still cut through the dreaminess and wisely force the listener to keep concentrating.
Just when we think that Fonderia, having found its domain, will keep to jazzy, dreamy ambient, along comes a proper “King Crimson-style” tune, “Gojira”. And funnily enough, despite Fonderia’s masterful manipulation of the listener’s mood with their mellow music, “Gojira” easily snags the enviable title of the record’s highlight. Furious bass riffs, melodic solos from that phenomenal guitar again, chopping free-jazz trumpet sounds, space-rock keyboards, unbelievable breaks throughout the build-up … All of it once again cleverly wrapped in the wonders of the modern tech world. A simply incredible, breathtaking track that is one big standout from start to finish. And it’s pretty funny how the next song, “I can’t believe this is just another pop(e) song”, works in complete contrast to “Gojira”. Zappa-esque wit and major-key merriment result in a proper pop comedy where, as the title says, the pope and his lackeys are in the crosshairs. The song is excellent in itself, but it’s a bit jarring how it tips the ominous mood, which peaks with the dark “Gojira”, over into outright comedy. Of course, that’s yet another side of the band that’s well worth exploring. The closer, “Doctor’s hill”, is exactly what we expect and what the album deserves: an excellent progressive fusion instrumental that doesn’t even need to build its ambience, since it’s already fully escalated and at its peak the whole time. All the way to the end, when it sweetly fades out.
“My Grandmother’s space suit” is an album that belongs in every collection. It’s an album that wins you over so subtly that you’ll have to listen to it again, even if you’re not quite sure why. It’s so different from the definition of progressive rock, yet it walks hand in hand with its eclecticism and all its elements. Why? Precisely because Fonderia’s intention, the one expressed in the album title, worked. It’s something new to hear a (successful) attempt at modernizing the jazz-rock of the sixties and the progressive rock of the seventies through today’s technology. The prejudices are so strong that few prog bands today even dare to try something like this. Older listeners follow that trend too, and will have a hard time getting through this record the first time, the second, maybe even the third. I admit I needed several tries myself to grasp the full value of the effort and, ultimately, the goals of Fonderia. But here it is: an album worthy of today, one we can hail as the cross-section of copying the old-school sound of seventies prog, and so plant at the start of a new direction in the genre. Because “My grandmother’s space suit” is, simply, progress in music. And an obvious one.
Lineup
Emanuele Bultrini – guitars
Stefano Vicarelli – keyboards
Federico Nespola – drums
Luca Pietropaoli – trumpet
Claudio Mosconi – bass guitar
Guest musicians:
Barbara Eramo – vocals
Emmanuel Louis – vocals and guitar
Cristiano De Fabritiis – vibraphone
Production
Marco Migliari and Fonderia
Tracklist
1. Moebius Onion Rings (4:33)
2. Istanbul (6:43)
3. Loaded Gun (6:24)
4. Gravity Wave (5:44)
5. Liquid (6:42)
6. A Billion Electric Sheep (6:49)
7. Gojira (6:52)
8. I Can’t Believe This Is Just a pop(e) Song (3:28)
9. Doctor’s Hill (5:57)
