(Eclectic Prog / Progressive Rock) Fonderia - My grandmother's space suit - 2010, APE (image+.cue), lossless

1. Fonderia was born in December 1994 as a band devoted to improvise and mix sounds and styles. Members are Emanuele Bultrini (guitars), Stefano
Vicarelli (piano, organ, synths), Federico Nespola (drums), and Luca Pietropaoli (trumpet). Through the years the band gradually extended its soun
d,exploring musical landscapes that span from jazz-rock to ambient, from world music to funk, by means of improvisation. All these musical experime
nts were recorded in several demos that had very good reviews on several Italian magazines.In December 2002 the first album by Fonderia, "Fonderia" was released, after more than one year work, obtaining very good response from Italian radios ad magazines, and awarded with the Darwin Award in April 2004, as the best Italian record of 2003.
Since September 2004 the album is distributed worldwide by BTF (www.btf.it)The group often collaborates with other artists such as Rodolfo Maltese (guitar player from Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso), Punch & Judy, Slow Motion. Since 2003 bass player Claudio Mosconi joined Fonderia on most concerts.
The band also experimented interaction with other arts: poetry in the project "I racconti della Fonderia" (Tales from Fonderia), with lyrics by Nicola Bultrini, videos by Virginia Eleuteri Serpieri. They worked on soundtracks for short movies ("Tra cinque secondi fa", 2000, by Alessandro Mistichelli), and composed music for silent movies, gaining international awards at the festivals Rimusicazioni 2001 (for the original music on "Charcuterie mecanique", by the Lumiere brothers), and Strade Del Cinema 2003 - International Festival of live music for Silent Movies (First Prize for the music on "My wife's relations" by Buster Keaton); the soundtrack was published in the cd compilation "Notes on Frame" (Strade Del Cinema, 2003).
Further, Fonderia composed music for theatre, and for documentaries by Italian National Television (RAI), collaborating also with Baffo Banfi (from the 70's Italian band Biglietto per l'Inferno).
Concerts were held around Italy, often with the performances of painting improvisation by painters Francesco Nespola and Francesco Parruzza. In 2004 the band partecipated to Arezzo Wave, the main Italian rock festival.
2. The self-titled debut album by Fonderia is a mix of several sounds and influences both from 70's music and intruments (such as Rhodes, Hammond,
MiniMoog) and contemporary trends (electronic, world music). Improvisation is the source of inspiratio...read more

My Grandmothers Spacesuit is Italian act Fonderia's third studio release, and the first I have heard. The music is, in general, instrumental music that has a fair amount of jazz and rock in it, but it seems to me there's a tiny bit of the techo/dance ethos going on behind the scenes as well. I wouldn't mind dancing to Istanbul, for example - not that I could, of course (whether it's a pandemic that applies to all proggers or just to me, dancing is not my strong suit).
As such, a lot of the tracks on this album are high energy, usually with a consistent rhythm section while the guitar, keys, and / or trumpets do cool things on top of it. The rhythms are what makes the music have that "danceable", energetic feeling, but it's what's done on top of it that makes these songs more interesting and give them a sense of development. Really a great combination.
The album features two songs that feature guests; Loaded Gun (the third track) and I Can't Believe This Is Just A Pop(e) Song (the eight). The positioning of these tracks was quite masterful, for they break up the album nicely. I'm particularly fond of Loaded Gun; it was in fact based off the strength of this track that I decided to purchase this album. It features the vocals of Barbara Eramo and poetry by Emily Dickinson. It really is a very beautiful track, and quite mysterious as well. The end section hits the emotions quite nicely. (On that note, there is also a wonderful music video for this track that is really good - a story based on, no images of the band playing, and it has a really cool feeling and level of mystery to it. Check it out, it's on youtube!)
The Pop(e) song is not about pops, the chorus sounds more like "poppy poppy poppy poppy pop over you", or something along those lines. It's upbeat, and fun, and closer to what the rest of the album sounds like (a bit less atmosphere than Loaded Gun).
There aren't really any bad songs on this album, but in my eyes, the standout tracks are Istanbul, Gravity Wave, and A Billion Electric Sheep. Enjoyable from beginning to end, this is definitely a recommended listen!
Send comments to TheGazzardian (BETA) | Report this review (#413850) | Posted Wednesday, March 09, 2011, 20:00 EST
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My Grandmother's Space Suit by FONDERIA album cover Studio Album, 2010
3.84 | 22 ratings
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My Grandmother's Space Suit
Fonderia Eclectic Prog
Review by Cesar Inca
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator / Heavy Prog Team
4 stars "My Grandmother's Space Suit" is, in itself, the answer to the question "how will Fonderia create a new repertoire of creative works after the delivery of magnificent sounds and moods in their previous album "Re>>enter"?". Well, they did so by reformulating their modern jazz framework. This album is a novelty in various aspects for Fonderia, one of them being the inclusion of two (not just one) sung tracks: 'Loaded Gun' (with lyrics based on a couple of poems by Emily Dickinson) and 'I Can't Believe This Is Just a Pop(e) Song' (a real musical parody featuring Belgian guitarist-singer Emmanuel Luis). 'Moebius Onion Rings' opens up the album on a melancholic note, bearing abundant shades of sonic warmth and introspective flairs (due mostly to the dynamics that Vicarelli creates at his electric piano). Even when the pace gets faster, the eerie melancholy prevails all the way through. This exercise on serene jazzy ambiences contrasts the robust exoticism of 'Istambul', one of the highlights in the album: its combination of fusion and acid-jazz owes much of its success to the exciting alternations of Bultrini and Pietropaoli's tasteful solos (actually, this is one of the most consistent musical strategies in the band's repertoire) for the development of the basic compositional subject. 'Loaded Gun' features guest vocalist Barbara Erame: relaxed in a tense way, atmospheric yet adorned with pertinente moments of density, this piece states some sort of mixture of 90s Gabriel and 00s Bjork: at least, this is how I can describe it. Eramo delivers the emotions beautifully. 'Gravity Wave' establishes yet another moment of vibrant modernity with its combination of trance and nu-jazz: this is really a piece that could feed a multitude's groove on a dance floor. 'Liquid', on the other hand, bears a majestic sort of progressive musicality, somewhat related to the band's second album. The synth solo in the middle section and the acoustic guitar arpeggios that go meandering in and out are my fave elements in this track. And so we get to 'A Billion Electric Sheep' (a tribute to Philip K. Dick's novel "Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?", I presume) is an exercise on un-jazz wrapped up in psychedelic wool (a-la Ozric Tentacles) and electronic satin (early 80s Kraftwerk). 'Gojira' continues in this electronica-friendly trend Albert with a rockier punch, which certainly helps the band to properly exploit the track's essential dynamics, mostly sustained on the rhythm duo's funky groove. There is an ethereal spacey interlude that adds an interesting variation before the return of the original drive for the closing part. With the 'I Can't Believe This Is Just a Pop(e) Song', Fonderia an guest Louis indulge in a Zappa- esque sort of pop parody (in the mould of "Zoot Allures" or "Joe's Garage", I guess). But let's not forget that this band is constantly experimental, and the use of Frippian guitar tricks in this song makes it no exception at all. The album's last track is 'Doctor's Hill', a piece that shares much of the intimate introspectiveness of the opener during its first 3 ? minutes; the remaining part shifts toward a powerful climax. This end is tremendously colorful, which makes the album's conclusion an exciting experience. More exciting it is, of course, listening to the whole album many times in order to enjoy it more thoroughly with each listen: after all, this is a Fonderia album, which a guarantee of great quality eclectic jazz-rock.

- Emanuele Bultrini / guitars
- Stefano Vicarelli / keyboards
- Federico Nespola / drums
- Luca Pietropaoli / trumpet
- Claudio Mosconi / bass
Guest musicians:
- Barbara Eramo / vocals
- Emmanuel Louis / vocals and guitar
- Cristiano De Fabritiis / vibraphone