dirty linen

Radio Planet 3
The Year of Italy
by Cliff Furnald

cd cover 2000 seemed to be the "Year Of The Italians," with a flood of compilations and new releases coming out, seemingly some sort of world music conspiracy designed to Mediterranean-ize the planet.

Probably the most talked about new band is Spaccanapoli ("divided Naples"), an ensemble of singers and musicians who mix socialist politics and commentary with a rough, aggressive and gorgeous musical sound. They are an expansion of Grupo Operario E Zezi, and that band's street-theater approach translates here in a bigger, broader palette of sounds. Lost Souls (Aneme Perze) [Real World] presents a fully realized musical concept, rooted in Neapolitan traditions like the tarantella and tammorra but unafraid to venture into extremely modern modes when the cause is righteous. The core ensemble is Monica Pinto on vocals, Marcello Colasurdo and Antonio Fraioli (who both contribute violin, piano, percussion, and some vocals), Oscar Montalbano on acoustic guitar and electric bass, and Emilio DeMatteo on acoustic and electric guitars, with dozens of guest voices and instruments backing them up.

The songs are not the stuff of romance and love stereotypically associated with Italian folk music. Spaccanapoli sing songs of rage, where volcanoes represent human self-destruction, an ironworker dies in a river of molten steel and the fishing grounds of the Mediterranean are destroyed by waste and pollution. Yet the delivery of this anger is incredibly positive and energetic. There is a strength and optimism in this music, an empowerment both instrumental and textual. These are not screeds; they are anthems of anger and hope.

There are five more recordings reviewed in this article in Dirty Linen #92 (Feb/Mar '91).

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