Search - Various Artists :: Rough Guide to Italia Nova

For most Americans, their knowledge of the music of Italy begins with Andrea Bocelli and ends with The Godfather or one of the tacky Mob Hits compilations flogged on late-night TV. However, authentic Italian music is incredibly diverse; each province harbors a specific culture and some populations even speak a separate dialect. Nowadays, younger artists have co-opted hypnotic, tambourine-driven Tarantella trance music from Salento or Neapolitan laments about Mafia victims. With an arsenal of manipulated voices and icily precise beats, they are grafting universal modernity onto proudly isolationist traditions. A few of the tunes, notably "Aradanse" by Alpha Bass (featuring Mascarimini), have intense Arabic or Turkish overtones, not at all surprising considering the history and geography of certain regions. Overall, these 13 tracks are among the most minutely calibrated, breathtakingly inventive folk/club hybrids ever created; past and future are twisted into an ascending helix, revealing each while improving on both. --Christina Roden