Agricantus: Tuareg (Compagnia Nuove Indye, 1996)

Conceived in Sicily, recorded partly in the Mali Desert, sung by a Swiss singer in a variety of languages (from French and German to Tamachek or Lingala): "Tuareg" is the emblem of world music, and one of the greatest masterpieces in the genre. It's not just a fusion of Mediterranean musical heritage, Touareg traditions and techno-trance structures of the flourishing "rave culture" of the mid-Nineties. And the point's not that the range of influences of is much richer (trip-hop, dub, dream-pop, ambient, drum'n'bass...), nor the charming voice and technique of singer Rosie Wiederkehr (somehow reminding of Cocteau Twin's Elizabeth Fraser), but rather the stunning beauty of the music the album contains. The atmospheres it creates are unique and deeply enthralling: they sound ancient and futuristic, luminous and mysterious, warm and solemn at the same time. I won't venture in further descriptions: luckily, the music doesn't need any explanation to disclose its magic.

Agricantus were a band from Palermo, founded in 1979 as a traditional folk ensemble. During the Nineties, they got more and more intrested to foreign musical traditions and electronic music. The entrance of Swiss singer Rosie Wiederkehr greatly enriched their formula, letting them focus on multi-language lyrics and phonetic experimentation. "Tuareg" is their second long-playing and brought them many critical prizes, such as Premio Tenco, Premio Augusto Daolio, and Premio Italiano della Musica.

Tracklist:

1. Ummiri
2. Hala hala
3. Ljuljuten (Tin-Zawatine)
4. Com'u ventu
5. Carizzi r'amuri (Es Souk)
6. Azalai
7. Tuareg
8. Disiu
9. Caruvana 'i sali
10. U coni coni
11. Dune

Download (128 kbps)

I couldn't find any reliable credits for this album. The line-up of the band was, in any case:

• Tonj Acquaviva: drums and percussion
• Mario Crispi: winds and keyboards, vocals
• Giuseppe Panzeca: guitar and mandolins
• Mario Rivera: bass and vocals
• Rosie Wiederkher: vocals and keyboards

Former Picchio dal pozzo member Aldo De Scalzi should have been involved in the recording, producing or composing process in some way (but I have no exact information).


Similar music on the blog:
Calicanto: Venexia (Compagnia Nuove Indye, 1997)
Militia: Elvengamello (Materiali Sonori, 1997)

Help with re-ups

Ok, I'd say sharebee.com is definitively KO. This poses at least two huge problems: how can I re-upload all of the about two-hundred .rar files I published in these three years, and where shall I put them in order to avoid any further mess of the same kind in the future.
I have no answers to the two questions above, so I ask you for advice. Essentially, I'm looking for: 1) a stable file-hosting site (no multi-uploads) that doesn't delete unclicked files too soon and - possibly - shows some basic stats that let me see how many people downloaded each item; 2) people who have some of the albums I posted in the past (because they got them from this blog, or just own them for any other reason) and would contribute to the enterprise of re-estabilishing the downloads.
As for now, I suppose it would be great enough if we could make some sort of "census" of the albums each one has on his HD and could re-upload. In the meantime, if any of you has some idea about suitable hosting sites...

Thanks in advance,
wago

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Ok, a quanto pare sharebee è definitivamente morto. Si pongono dunque due grossi problemi: come faccio a ri-uppare tutti i circa duecento file .rar postati qua sopra da tre anni a questa parte, e dove posso metterli senza rischiare di incappare nello stesso guaio anche in futuro.
Non ho risposte per le due domande sopra, dunque chiedo a voi. Per farla breve, ciò che cerco è: 1) un sito di file hosting che sia stabile (no multiupload, per carità), non cancelli i file troppo presto e - possibilmente - mostri qualche statistica essenziale che mi faccia capire quanta gente scarica le singole cose che posto; 2) qualcuno che abbia alcuni, anche pochissimi, degli album che ho condiviso in passato e potrebbe contribuire nel suo piccolo all'impresa di ripristino di tutti quanti i download.
Ora come ora, suppongo sarebbe già abbastanza riuscire a fare una sorta di "censimento" di chi ha cosa, per poi organizzarsi. E se nel frattempo qualcuno ha idee su possibili host...

Grazie in anticipo,
wago

Nakaira: Onde sonore dal Mediterraneo (self-produced, 2003)

"Mediterranean culture" is an invention. The musical traditions of the people are perhaps more different than they're similar, and though they've always been quite interconnected, they don't share any common origin or grammar.
Even if it is just a fantasy, though, the concept does have its appeal and, starting from the Seventies, many bands begun to explore the idea, making it more and more real as their music evolved and got richer. Born in 1999 and hailing from Sicily - the center of the Mediterranean Sea - Nakaira embody a very mature stage of this "new" panMediterranean musical folklore. Their repertoire doesn't just encompass Balkan tunes (Greece, Bulgaria) and an even more Southern/Arabic style (Sicily), but also touches more "Northern" sounds: Eastern-European klezmer, and Asturian/Breton celtic dances.

How do they manage to combine all of these traditions without sounding too confused and "touristic"? First of all, they don't mix them to the point that they're not recognizable anymore. Every track can be placed in a specific cultural heritage and is played with its musical values very clear in mind. At the same time, though, any song is slightly influenced by the traits of the other ones, and shares its instrumentation with them so that the sound's feeling is uniform despite the great geographic and musical variety. Their timbric palette is almost entirely acoustic (electric bass being the sole exception on this album) and extremely rich (look at the credits!); the most unique feature of the resulting style is its amazing levity: you would never expect it from such a wrapping sonic cocoon!

"Onde sonore dal Mediterraneo" is Nakaira's second full-length release: originally self-produced, it was re-recorded and reprinted in 2006 with the cooperation of Alfa Music and RAI Trade. The cover displayed here is the one of this second edition, but the tracklist lacks the additional tunes that were integrated into it (I couldn't find them).

Tracklist:

1. Gibli
2. Voria
   
3. Diserti
4. Muiñeira de Tormaleo
5. Breton gavottes
   
6. Krata ghia to telos
7. Klezmedley
8. Antelia
9. Dimitroula
10. Sema keimonos
11. Flavia's Air + El garrotin

Credits:

• Antonio Curiale: violin, viola, oud, castanets
• Franco Barbanera: clarinets, Galician bagpipes, whistles, bombards
• Mario Gulisano: darbouka, snare & frame drums, dzarb, bendhir, cymbals, voice
• Nektarios Galanis: Greek bouzouki, oud, voice, violin, mandolin, guitar, percussion
• Angelo Liotta: Irish bouzouki, bodhràn
• Gianpiero Cannata: cass, voice, cittern

Download (128 kbps)


Similar music on the blog:
Ritmia: Forse il mare (New Tone, 1986)
Zeit: Un giorno in una piazza del Mediterraneo (Materiali sonori, 1979)