Listen to Fonderia from Italy

You know those albums that seem to come out of nowhere, from bands you know nothing about that seem to conquer you immediately with their fresh sound, beautiful melodies or magical ambiance?

Here is a band that for me, came out of nowhere.
I don't even remember how I got to hear about Fonderia, but I do remember being highly impressed upon hearing their 2010 release, My Grandmother's Spacesuit.


I've often mentioned in reviews that bands are varied in their sounds, approach and style being played on a particular album. With Fonderia the variety is even more pronounced when listening to the songs on the album. From cool and smooth sounding jazz patterns to dreamy pop atmosphere to ambient to rock, all these are mingled to give each song and instrumental a distinct identity. Indeed, I think that this band is crafting themselves an individual and unique sound, not without references, but certainly a refined style that does more than just blend influences.

According to their website, they're a trio that started out in the 90s' as an improvisational group. They have since expanded their lineup and sound. They have released 3 albums: Fonderia (2002), re>>enter (2006) and the aforementioned album.

Emanuele Bultrini - guitars
Stefano Vicarelli - keyboards
Federico Nespola - drums
Luca Pietropaoli - trumpet
Paolo Pecorelli - bass (live)
Claudio Mosconi - bass (album)

Listen to them here and here and read more (including reviews) here.

Here's their PA bio:
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 sound, exploring musical landscapes that span from jazz-rock to ambient, from world music to funk, by means of improvisation. All these musical experiments 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 inspiration for 10 tracks that explore different musical atmosphere with a personal approach.

3. I would say "reccomended", but it wouldn't be fair, as I'm a band member...
Anyway Fonderia's record was higly reccomended by the magazines: Rockerilla (Italy), Il Mucchio Selvaggio (Italy), La Stampa (Italy), Rockit (Italy), Liberazione (Italy), Wonderous Stories (Italy), Movimentiprog (Italy), Paperlate (Italy), Prog-Résiste (Belgium), Progressive Newsletter (Germany), Nucleus (Argentina), Rocklab (Italy), RottersClub (Italy), Novamuzique (Italy), DNAmusic (Italy), Mescalina (Italy), 21st Century Music (Italy).




And here are two reviews for their latest album:

toroddfuglesteg
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR
Interview Editor Listening to this album is like purchasing a 16 meters long times 2 meters high painting....... and then installing it in a narrow hallway. It is next to impossible to get a full overview over this painting...... and this album.

This album has most everything from the archives of ProgArchives. From avant-garde, zeuhl, prog metal, symphonic prog, RPI, rock and pop. It is almost like listening to one of these compilation CDs you get when you buy a music magazine. For example Classic Rock Presents Prog. But even their compilation CDs is not that varied as the My Grandmother's Space Suit album by Fonderia. I am almost lost for words.

It is pretty pointless describing the music here any further. Those two thousand words will frustrate both me and the reader. But the basis in this Italian Stew is jazz. That is the only red thread that run through this album. Jazz and the need to explore every possible avenues. Which sometimes leads this album astray and into dead end avenues. The problem for me, as now a pretty frustrated listener, is that whatever Fonderia does, they pulls it off. Every song here is good to great. Sometimes with a narrow margin. Their playful approach to everything they tries out is very refreshing and dare I say it...... progressive ! That's what this album is. A true progressive album, but in the vein of Picchio Dal Pozzo and the bands who once populated the Canterbury Scene. And this is another thing I have noticed; Fonderia is in fact the true children of this scene, either they like it or not.

Quality wise, this album is great with a very long shelf life. This review is based on fourteen listening sessions. Yes, that is 14 times listening to this album. And I am afraid this album require at least fifteen x times before it make any sense. Well, kind of sense. It is an album that grows and ferments over a period of time. In my case, probably forty years or so. Fellow inhabitants of Glenview retirement home; beware. But I guess they would not protest when the brilliant laid back jazz tune Istanbul is blaring through the speakers. This is the best song of this album and it proves that Fonderia is a band which should be followed with great interest in the future.

This is an excellent album which will both puzzle and please those who dares seeking it's company. Seldom has the band name been more appropriate.

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 ½ 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.






Edited by avestin - October 18 2010 at 06:36

An interview with Fonderia is here and the band is one of the main reasons I am starting to wonder if today's Italian scene is better than the Italian scene from the 1970s.

I am discovering new great albums every month from this scene. Fonderia is one of the five best Italian bands at the moment.  

Bump for more people to discover

Here's a short video about the making of the album:

toroddfuglesteg wrote: I recently acquired their first two albums and I am looking forward to give them a listen.... sometimes next year, I fear.

I got them as well, just recently. Both as good, if not better, but different somewhat. This is a very talented bunch!