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)

Aucan: Black Rainbow (La Tempesta, 2011)

Let's try something new. As you probably noticed, posts in this blog follow a strict cycle by decade: one album from the 00s, then one from the 90s, then one from the 80s... Until today, the 10s were totally ignored.
Including the current decade in the post cycle is quite a challenge for me for at least three reasons. The most trivial one is that as for now "the 10s" means just two years, so the choice is quite limited; this gets even worse since my policy for the blog is to post only music I really enjoy, and my tastes are quite difficult (and this was the second reason). Finally, there are already some excellent mp3-blogs following Italian latest releases (eg, The Breakfast Jumpers), and they're much richer, better-timed and more read than mine: what can I add? Well, I don't know. Probably nothing. But I'll experiment the same, and see if people like it or not. I'll monitor the downloads, and if they're ok... then I'll just keep on posting new albums alongside old ones.

Just another quick boring note before getting to today's album: have you noticed the fist icon in the left column of the blog? It links to Il Golpe e l'Uva Facebook profile. Subscribing will keep you informed of new posts, provide you some tasty links and videos that don't get published on the blog, and offer a good way to keep in touch, specially if you speak Italian - since the profile is in Italian.

And now, let's launch the new decade with a much hyped release...

I don't know of any Italian artist flirting with UK's dubstep tendencies. Or at least that was true before Aucan started incorporating halftimes in their music and make it sound more and more electronic.
"Black Rainbow" doesn't sound Italian at all. This is the most striking thing about it: it seems to come from London, Bristol or some place like that. It's some sort of eerie, metropolitan trip-hop hijacked into an electro-rock route. It features the same evil broken beats of Milanese or Caspa, deprived of the mud and made dry, massive and abstract. It's like Lightning Bolt goes to the club, with just a slight vocal hint at Portishead or Burial to content discerning palates.
Materpiece? Definitely no, but hey - it's damn good anyway.

Aucan are a trio from Brescia. Their first album came out in 2009 and was welcomed as the Italian response to Battles (it wasn't very good in my opinion, but neither Battles were, after all). 2010 saw them publishing an ep which marked their departure from math-rock, promptly confirmed this January by the release of their second album.

Tracklist:

1. Blurred (feat. Angela Kinczly)
2. Heartless
3. Red Minoga (Short Edit)
4. Sound Pressure Level
5. Storm
6. Embarque
7. Save Yourself
8. Underwater Music
9. In a Land
10. Away!
11. Black Rainbow

Download (320 kbps)


Similar music on the blog:
Dusty Kid: A Raver's Diary (Boxer Recordings, 2009)
Touane: Figura (Persona, 2008)

The Dining Rooms: Subterranean Modern, vol 1 (Milano 2000, 1999)

Trip-hop, italian style. Which means Portishead without the pathos, Morricone without the West, or just "Histoire de Melody Nelson" gone chillout. No (cyber)punk spleen, no ketaminic stagnations: this is not a night-drive through the post-industrial Bristol, but a late-night walk through the stone-paved arcades of the Padan Plain. Bricks, history and fog. Nobody around. A meditative sound: hushed voices, dewy e-piano, a hip-hop beat slightly jazzified, bringing some warmth. The thud of the double-bass resounding through the neon-lit mist.

The Dining Rooms are a lounge/downbeat combo from Milan. This is their first album.

Tracklist:

1. Occhi neri
2. M. Dupont
3. Il giradischi e i tuoi dischi
4. Cinemaroma 1
5. Keep calm
6. Jazz X
7. Susanna 2000
8. Hip hop hippies
9. Le crepuscule du matin
10. Dubterranean modern
11. Cinemaroma 2
12. Stromboli promenade
13. Triste, solitario y final

Download (224 kbps)

Similar albums on the blog:
miles_gurtu: miles_gurtu(Shakti, 2004)
La Crus: La Crus (1995)

Casino Royale: CRX (Black Out, 1997)

Milanese band Casino Royale began in 1987 as a reggae/ska band, but progressively incorporated electronic and hip-hop influences, finally coming to a full-blown and very original hip-hop album ten years later, "CRX".
The producer is DJ Gruff, already a veteran of the Italian hip-hop scene thanks to his work in the band Sangue Misto. The style is urban and deep-sounding, evidently affected by dub and the trip-hop experimentations of Massive Attack. Subliminal basslines, jazzy samples and restrained sci-fi effects are fractured by jagged rhythm patterns and form hypnotic, subway-like backgrounds for superimpositions of detached raggamuffin rap and dissolved melodic hooks. Even more often, the voice slips under the grooves, fusing with the music in a very abstract, but very enthralling melange.
I actually don't know who are the many vocalists who collaborated to the album: surely there's the band's frontman Giuliano Palma, but there are several different rap contributions (some of them in English, too) which give "CRX" a very collective and multi-accent feeling.


Tracklist:

1. CRX
2. Benvenuto in mia casa
3. The Future
4. Ora solo io ora
5. Oltre
6. Là dov'è la fine
7. Specchio
8. In picchiata
9. Homeboy
10. Hi-fi
11. Là sopra qualcuno ti ama

Download (128 kbps)

24 Grana: K Album (La canzonetta, 2001)

24 Grana are one of the most original Italian bands to come out of the late Nineties. Starting for their first album "Loop" back in 1997, they fused dub and trip-hop tendencies with Neapolitan language. Ska/hip-hop influences and their relation with the Centri Sociali anarco-leftist area put them near Almamegretta and 99 Posse as the main representatives of a new "Southern" trend in Italian alternative music. A mild psychedelic mood in their first albums, a decisive rock attitude and a less ideologically-charged stance contributed in distinguishing them firmly nonetheless.

Their third studio album, "K album", marked a shift towards a more lucid pop-rock formula. The sound forsook many of its reggae-drawn elements and took a far-seeing indie electronic direction probably inspired by "Kid A" and Radiohead's new course.
The songs of the album alternate Italian and Neapolitan languages and though their sound had now become very "English" their Mediterranean roots are always present in their harmonies and melodies. The frequent use of melodic minor scales higlights both their link to the Neapolitan tradition and the lead guitarist's appreciation of Radiohead's Johnny Greenwood's style.
Besides all comparisons, "K album" is an impressive collection of perfectly accomplished pop songs. Essential, though deep in their sound. Extremely varied, though always recognizable in style. Intensely inspired, nervous, urban and melancoholic.


Tracklist:

1. Pikkola kanzone per K
2. 'E kose ka spakkano
3. Kanzone doce
4. Kanzoneanarkika
5. Kanzone su un detenuto politico
6. Kanzone su Londra
7. Kanzone del pisello
8. Kevlar
9. Kanzone del fumo

Download (192 kbps)