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When tuning into A Matter of Time’s first track “Requiem,” it’s not hard to imagine the Doof Warrior (of Mad Max:Fury Road fame) orchestrating some manic Fellini-esque carnival and finally finding his perfect drummer. As the drum set shatters in a moment of hardcore jazz lunacy, we are thrust into the opening salvo of producer, solo artist, and shit-kicking drummer Giovanni Carnuccio III’s new album.
The majestic splinter of this head-turning intro perfectly conveys his unadulterated and singular style of clattering boom-bap drums, jazzy progressions, western-influenced guitar hooks, and blissed out orchestrations, all of which makes for as unique an artistic vision as you are likely to see all year. Of course, the ability to make records like this wouldn’t be possible if it weren’t for his decade plus of hard work, be it in his solo efforts or in his litany of production work with artists like Zach Aaron, Jason Eady, Courtney Patton, Turnpike Troubadours and a bevy of others in the indie/folk/Americana canon. In fact, it’s this hard work that has earned him countless wins & nods at year-end award shows, most prominently a “Best Americana Album” Grammy nomination with John Fullbright for their work on From the Ground Up.
While enduring the pandemic like the rest of the world, Carnuccio was struck by – and still exists within – a stretch of creative inspiration, using the past year to let his freak-flag fly: “[I] invaded an acoustic record with synths because so many normal everyday interactions and communications with people had just been forced onto screens.” Surprisingly, though Carnuccio has made a reputation for himself being a polymath on the Americana scene, A Matter of Time defies classification by mixing elements of psych-rock, trip-hop, jazz, and Ennio Moriconne, all while maintaining frenetic, whiplash rhythms. Aforementioned opener “Requiem” might be a daunting show of skill in someone else’s hands, but Carnuccio imbues it with the skittering immediacy and fluidity of Busta Rhymes – an inspiration on this song and others. Songs like “Hot Time Traveler” ride a Massive Attack-like gait, with clacking drums, while the strings and guitars create an acid-drenched dreamscape. And then there’s “PCHDMT,” which wouldn’t feel entirely out of place on say – Rosalia’s last record, all fluttering flamenco guitars and ebullient strings, with an additionally healthy serving of the psychedelic. Appropriately, the song itself was inspired by Carnuccio’s own trips down the Pacific Coast Highway.
Elsewhere, the playfully titled “Baby Godzilla Steps” tethers jazzy piano stabs to phased-out keyboards, giving us what you can imagine Mark Ronson and Tame Impala might create if they indulged their more cinematic tendencies. Fittingly, the album’s closing track “Why is This Happening” is also its most contemplative, lush, and engrossing, as Carnuccio utilizes his gift for creating atmospheric orchestrations and takes direct aim for the heartstrings. Pathos aside, these are songs that are “designed to be jammed out by a badass live band,” a vibe easily heard in the album’s expertly executed psychedelia; while being careful not to downplay or overstate the importance of their role in his early oeuvre as a solo artist, Carnuccio credits DMT, mushrooms, peyote, and other mind-altering subs with deference.
At this point, Carnuccio half-jokes, he is hoping for this whole “folk Mark Ronson shit to take off” before wryly qualifying that he might actually be “like an Italian unplugged Dr. Dre or something.” All jokes aside, this isn’t too far from the truth as his creative touch has added a dash of the cutting edge to a genre steeped in obstinate traditionalism. Instead of allowing himself to sit in tradition, Carnuccio aims to innovate by taking cues from the atmospherics of Nine Inch Nails, the pluckiness of the Punch Brothers or Cornelius, and the orchestral dramatics of Spaghetti Western classics.
Carnuccio’s genre-melding style, though lighthearted and playful, conveys a much more timely and heartfelt message than you might expect. Whatever the future holds for Giovanni as an artist, producer, and musician, now we have A Matter of Time, a kaleidoscopic journey reminding us to embrace creativity and cast our fate to the wind.
“Mouth-watering sonic clarity, modern flourishes that’ll make a gunslinger gawk, and bizarrely beautiful instrumentals.” – KUTX 98.9
“An acid-drenched dreamscape.” – VENTS Magazine