Electronic re-workings of traditional songs from the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. Often with this sort of fusion, the music is strong on one side and weak on the other. But FF strikes a pretty good balance: this is both decent club music and decent world music, with the electronics supporting rather than smothering or splintering the accordions & bagpipes. The vocals are in a strident traditional style that might annoy after a while. Not brilliant, but it caught my attention.

BPM noted on the back, for those who are interested in such things...

Fo's Picks: 1, 2, 5, 7, 11

1. very upbeat, very catchy
2. fast beat on a melancholy WW2 song
3. relaxed instrumental: bagpipes lead
4. midtempo electronic, monotone vox,
5. revolutionary anthem, slow & steady
6. blends N. & S. Italy w/tweaky groove
7. nice healing song: ambient piano, vox
8. midtempo party tune, happy
9. a cappella start, then a happy reel
10. relaxed, whispery & subdued; nice
11. speech, then a sad, powerful song of hardship with minimal backing
12. snippets of talk, music, etc. from the recording sessions, in a nice mix

[ Fo ] - 9/22/03