There’s a lot of music around at the moment professing to
be psychedelic – it must be hip this week – when in fact it is often little more than
glorified indie bands adding backward guitar, phasing and regurgitating lyrics
about dandelions and kaleidoscopes. The term covers a wide spectrum and psychedelia can be clumsy and lacking in subtlety and imagination; none of
which apply to Jacco Gardner’s debut album Cabinet
of Curiosities; which whilst not truly mind altering does possess an
enchanting hallucinogenic quality.
Like the best of anything, Gardner – who plays all the
instruments on the record except the drums – builds on the past to create his
own present, albeit one assembled from vintage components. Wisely eschewing the
tired and tatty twin pillars of American acid rock and UK village fete psychedelia,
Dutch Jacco conjures his own magical garden scenes liberally sprinkled with
Tinkerbell’s fairy dust. His songs don’t swirl; they gracefully pirouette.
I couldn’t tell you much about baroque music beyond The
Left Banke were described as such – I think because they were familiar with a
harpsichord rather than an intimate knowledge of early 17th
century compositions – and they’re are an obvious reference point and no review could ignore
the guiding voice of Syd Barrett.
The single "Clear The Air" caused gasps of astonishment
when shared around the internet last year and it’s still the track to beat. The
other eleven don’t reach that height nor do they try, instead Gardner is
content to poke a silver cane at the undergrowth to reveal dusty treasures. As beautifully executed as they are, they do
turn at a slowish speed – like a ballerina on a music box – so once into the
second half of the album an occasional increase in tempo or a song with a more immediate
melody would help maintain interest as it does run out of steam slightly. I’m looking forward to seeing Jacco play the Beat Bespoke weekender in March and how these
songs work in a bustling live setting as Cabinet
of Curiosities needs time to grow gradually in the mind; those expecting a trip to the UFO Club like "Clear The Air" hinted at might be disappointed.
(7 out of 10)
Cabinet of
Curiosities by Jacco Gardner is released by Trouble In Mind on 12th
February 2013 and Jacco plays the Beat Bespoke in London on 31 March.
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