In between his work in
Psychic TV and his incipient techno career via the Plus 8 and Telepathic labels as the
Kooky Scientist -- to mention just two of his many interests --
Giannelli found the time to record an enjoyable EP for Wax Trax Records under his own name in 1991. Recorded in his hometown of Boston,
Fred is very much a full-on solo effort, with
Giannelli playing and recording everything himself, aside from the help of an engineer. Various vocal guest appearances crop up, though of a cryptically credited sort -- thus, Unidentified Teabag Slag, Doris & Orson, and Viva & Mia are some of the folks listed. As a whole,
Giannelli's work here touches at points on
Psychic TV's acid house obsession -- "V...For Vendetta" and "Rosebud" in particular -- while elsewhere pursuing diversions from guitar-heavy industrial dance to calmer, prettier mood music, as on "Quintessence." "Mr. Denny" is in fact a full tribute to
Martin Denny himself, the king of exotica, and is a fine combination of Denny's evocative style with
Giannelli's own harder-edged approach, topped off with sampled bits of phone conversation with the man himself. The CD version includes two further remixes. ~ Ned Raggett