Blake/e/e/e
Border Radio

Once upon a time, there were the Franklin Delano.
A band with predominantly Bolognese roots and devoid of any democratic-partocratic aspirations, Franklin Delano was born in 2002 from an idea by Paolo Iocca and Marcella Riccardi (formerly of Massimo Volume). The two, the irreplaceable constants of the band, played - well - alternative country and post-folk in English. Stuff like Califone, to be clear. But more easy listening.
In five years, Franklin Delano toured around Europe and the States and released an EP and two LPs produced by Brian Deck (Red Red Meat and already producer of Califone, Modest Mouse, Iron and Wine...). Then they die.

In 2007, in fact, Franklin Delano, otherwise known as Paolo Iocca and Marcella Riccardi, decided to change their skin and gave life to a new project, the Blake/e/e/e. Read as "Blake-ie". To the duo, other musicians were added from time to time, chosen between Americans Davy DeLaFuente and Oren Wagner and our own Bruno Germano, Marcello Petruzzi, Mattia Boscolo, and the specialist of the "grated guitar" - a citation freely taken from the "Inconsistent Network" Magazzeno Bis - Egle Sommacal.
The Blake/e/e/e are on tour right now and are already working on a second record, likely to be released next year. The first, however, is titled "Border Radio" and has been out for a while. Even in the States, with Free Folk Records.

In fact, there is continuity between Franklin Delano and Blake/e/e/e. Actually. "Border Radio" presents itself largely as a natural follow-up and evolution of the sound that Iocca and Riccardi had made their own in previous works. However, this time, alongside the consistent and successful intention of seeking and implementing catchy and even easy-listening melodies, there is room for broader and daring sound experiments.
The result is explosive and varied, to say the least. So much so that "Border Radio" turns out to be an album rather difficult to classify and catalog. The references are surely to be found in the sounds so dear to Michael Gira's Angels of Light, and especially in the sound of his most successful creation, the Akron/Family. In Blake/e/e/e, there's less noise schizophrenia compared to Gira’s (almost all) bearded protégés. But the contents are more or less the same: folk, psychedelia, evocative melodies, and electronic trinkets and knick-knacks.
Not only that. On some occasions, the sound completely derails and takes an almost wave turn. "Holy Dub" and "Time Machine", for example, sound like two tracks written by Public Image Ltd or This Heat. The singing is hallucinated. The bass worthy of a Jah Wobble in decent shape. These are successful experiments. Although perhaps the tracks in question appear a bit detached from the overall context of the album and very much convey "Work in progress, come back next time."

In practice, "Border Radio" is an excellent debut and if it's true that we regret and are quite sorry about it, in the end, we must recognize that Franklin Delano died for a good cause.