GARBO - L’altra zona

Garbo is an artist that too many people still remember exclusively for what he achieved in the early part of his career, which kicked off in 1981 with the hit “A Berlino . . . va bene”. Between appearances in the sales charts, on Festivalbar and even at the Sanremo festival, the Milanese singer-songwriter tried to bring the decadent, new-wave-derived atmospheres of his compositions to a mainstream audience, as heard on new wave.

Garbo, with that voice forever poised between Sylvian, Ferry and Bowie, went on to pursue his artistic path without interruption, consistently maintaining respectable standards, yet inexplicably finding himself on the margins of the scene that matters.

To celebrate thirty years of his career, a few months ago saw the release of the rich, limited-edition, autographed box set “L'altra zona”, focused on the second half of the Milanese singer-songwriter's discography.

The box contains six remastered studio albums (spread across three audio CDs plus a fourth with high-resolution mp3s) and a DVD featuring music videos, live performances and a lengthy interview dating back to 1991.

The first three CDs are dedicated to his work from the '90s: “Macchine nei fiori” (1993), “Fuori per sempre” (1995) and “Up The Line” (1997).

The fourth disc contains the so-called chromatic trilogy, entirely developed over the past decade: “Blu” (2002, the only Garbo album made with Valerio Soave's Mescal), “Gialloelettrico” (2005) and the more recent “Come il vetro” (2008).

It's hardly necessary to point out that all the albums are superbly crafted, packed with top-notch material (one title above all: the wonderful sensual pop of “Chi sei” on “Come il vetro”), often featuring notable guests, such as Morgan and Boosta on “Gialloelettrico”.

Across the two decades covered by the box set, you can trace Garbo's evolution from the icy atmospheres of his early work toward a mature singer-songwriter style, capable of winking now at accessible pop, now at a certain kind of erudite indie-rock, coloring it with electronics that are never predictable and lyrics that are anything but banal.

Urban realism, snapshots of lived experience, glimpses into small, sometimes fragile lives: this is Garbo's world.

If in the early '80s he could come across as too "ahead of his time" to win over mainstream favor, today he can't help but take his rightful place among the key reference artists of the last thirty years, especially considering how many Italian musicians grew up listening to his songs.

I see no reason why Garbo should be relegated to second-tier status behind the likes of Benvegnù or Parente, artists universally regarded as eternally (and deservedly, to be fair) untouchable.

"L'altra zona" is a box set I'd dare call essential, further enriched by three unreleased tracks and a twenty-eight-page booklet packed with previously unseen photos.

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13/06/2011