Musicanova: Festa Festa (Fonit Cetra, 1981)

Eugenio Bennato and Carlo D'Angiò created Musicanova in 1976 after leaving Nuova Compagnia Di Canto Popolare, the Neapolitan band which settled the trend of folklore revival which would lately give rise to Il Canzoniere Del Lazio, Carnascialia and so on.
The purpose of Musicanova was to step aside from pure revisitation and move towards a (slightly) more rock direction and new compositions, faithful to the traditional style, which would enrich and make revive the local repertoire. Their style could be compared to the one of contemporary English and French "electric folk" bands such as Fairport Convention, Steeleye Span, Malicorne. Musicanova have a distinct Southern-Italian feeling and strong Mediterranean inflections which are reflected by Arabian-influenced minor harmonic scales and Teresa Di Sio extraordinary vocals. Their music focused much on the use of mixed compound meters but never fails to be tuneful and lively, thus confirming its refinement.
"Festa festa" is their last album and surely not their best. It's still good and pleasurable, though the absence of Teresa Di Sio is a notable defect. Its sound is more up-to-date than the one of their previous albums: atmospheric synths give many songs a rather "rainy" feeling and the overall mood's much more melancholic and minimal than usual. Some production elements foreshadow the stereotypical "Eighties" sound (sluggish basslines, reverberations, saxophone).
Their two masterpieces, the self-titled 1978 album and "Quando turnammo a nascere" (1979), can be download from the blog Italian Folk Music.



Tracklist:

1. Vento del sud
2. Canzone della fortuna
3. Ex voto
4. Canzone per Iuzzella
5. Te saluto Milano
6. L'acqua e la rosa
7. M'è venuta 'na voglia
8. A la festa
9. Nannaré

Download (320 kbps)