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Jennifer Gentle, perhaps the premier psychedelic band of Italy,
plays acid folk a` la Syd Barrett (in whose lyrics they found their name)
enhanced with Marco Fasolo's offbeat vocals.
I Am You Are (Sillyboy, 2001) runs the gamut from oneiric trips such as
Since I've Seen the Seas to catchy ditties worthy of
the Flaming Lips
(No Mind In My Mind) to futuristic lieder
(Rubber and South, Strupfhose Melodie).
The original quartet included
drummer Alessio Gastaldello,
guitarist Isacco Maretto and
bassist Nicola Crivellari.
Funny Creatures Lane (Sillyboy, 2002) revealed their pop talent, on top
of their unique post-psychedelic aesthetics. Leveraging
baroque arrangements of strings, accordion and sitar, they penned the surreal
vignettes My Memories Book, Ultraviolet Lady Opera,
Madhouse and the pseudo-ethnic
Ectoplasmic Garden Party.
Two lengthy and ambitious tracks, Couple In Bed (perhaps
their masterpiece) and
Wax-Dolls Parade, promoted the project to epic status.
The two albums were collected on
Ectoplasmic Garden Party (Lexicon Devil, 2002).
The Wrong Cage (Sillyboy, 2002) documents a live performance with
Acid Mothers Temple's Kawabata Makoto.
Valende (SubPop, 2005) is more fragile and less cohesive a
collection than the previous ones.
While several songs (Universal Daughter, I Do Dream You,
Circles of Sorrow, Liquid Coffee) exhibit the same
choreographic skills of Funny Creatures Lane,
several others languish in a strange limbo of self-imposed aphasia.
In some cases this is turned into a plus (the acoustic The Garden),
but mostly it becomes mere wallpaper.
The duo truly excels at the
seven-minute abstract soundpainting of Hessesopoa
and the psychotic dynamics of Nothing Makes Sense.
A New Astronomy (A Silent Place, 2005) and Sacramento Sessions (A Silent Place, 2006) were limited-edition works that belonged more to
Marco Fasolo's stream of consciousness than to the history of rock music.
Fasolo then reformed the band with keyboardist Liviano Mos and new guitarist Andrea Garbo, but the project was increasingly his solo project.
The sparse and subdued
The Midnight Room (Sub Pop, 2007) was basically a solo album by
Marco Fasolo, more than ever impersonating Syd Barrett in his most "madcap"
state. Fasolo deconstructs the folk-pop song in inventive and slightly neurotic
manners (Twin Ghosts, Granny's House) and rarely resorts to the
traditional song format, although, when he does, the results are intriguing
(Take My Hand, Electric Princess).
Live In The House Of God
(A Silent Place, 2008)
was a solo-organ album by Fasolo.
Concentric (2010) documents a live studio recording with lengthy improvisations like Neon (16:20), Hunt (8:43) and Halos (11:15).
Jennifer Gentle (La Tempesta, 2019) contains 17 songs.
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(Translation by/ Tradotto da Giovanni Angelo Riva)
I Jennifer Gentle, probabilmente la band
psichedelica italiana di punta, suonano un acid folk alla maniera di Syd
Barrett (dai cui testi hanno ricavato il proprio nome) impreziosito
dall’insolita voce di Marco Fasolo. I Am You Are (Sillyboy, 2001)
abbraccia tutto lo spettro: dai viaggi onirici, come in Since I've Seen the Seas, a canzoncine
orecchiabili degne dei Flaming Lips (No mind in my mind), fino ad
arrivare a Lieder futuristici (Rubber and South, Strupfhose Melodie).
Funny Creatures Lane
(Sillyboy, 2002) rivela il loro talento pop, oltre alla loro unica estetica
post-psichedelica. Sfruttando arrangiamenti barocchi di archi, fisarmonica e
sitar hanno composto le surreali vignette di My Memories Book, Ultraviolet
Lady Opera, Madhouse e la pseudo-etnica Ectoplasmic Garden Party.
Due brani lunghi ed ambiziosi Couple In Bed (forse il loro capolavoro) e
Wax-Dolls Parade promuovono il progetto ad uno status epico.
I due album sono stati raccolti in Ectoplasmic
garden party (Lexicon Devil, 2002).
The Wrong Cage
(Sillyboy, 2002) documenta una performance live con Kawabata Makoto degli Acid
Mothers Temple.
Valende (SubPop, 2005)
è una raccolta di brani più fragile e meno coesa rispetto alle precedenti. Mentre
svariate canzoni (Universal Daughter, I Do Dream You, Circles
of Sorrow, Liquid Coffee) esibiscono le stesse abilità coreografiche
di Funny Creatures Lane, molte altre languono in uno strano limbo di
afasia autoimposta. In alcuni casi questo è trasformato in un fattore positivo
(l’acustica The Garden), ma perlopiù diventa semplice tappezzeria. Il
duo eccelle veramente nella pittura sonora astratta di sette minuti di Hessesopoa,
e nelle dinamiche psicotiche di Nothing Make Sense.
A
New Astronomy (A Silent Place, 2005) e Sacramento Sessions
(A Silent Place, 2006) sono lavori in edizione limitata che appartengono più al
flusso di coscienza di Marco Fasolo che alla storia della musica rock.
Lo sparso e smorzato The Midnight Room (Sub
Pop, 2007) è fondamentalmente un album solista di Marco Fasolo, che sempre più
impersona Syd Barrett nel suo stato “folle”. Fasolo disseziona la canzone
folk-pop in modalità fantasiose e anche un po’ nevrotiche (Twin Ghosts, Granny's
House) e raramente ricorre al formato-canzone tradizionale, anche se quando
lo fa i risultati sono affascinanti (Take My Hand, Electric Princess).
Live In The House Of God
(A Silent Place, 2008) è un assolo di organo di Fasolo.
Concentric (A Silent
Place, 2010) documenta una registrazione live in studio.
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