Customer Reviews

1.0

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As worldbeat continues to spread and diversify, it's really refreshing to come across something not only new and original, but captivating as well. As far as I know, this is the first group to take traditional Italian folk songs and fuse them with dance electronics. Rather than being just another entry in the often tired worldbeat arena, this album sings, pops, bounces, and sparkles. The female vocalist, Fiamma, is excellent, and the musicians with her are equally as talented.

As is true with the most sophisticated and skilled worldbeat practitioners, the group does not limit themselves to their native melodies and instruments. Inspiration is drawn from sources as diverse as Finland and the Celtic world. Aside from programming and keyboards, instruments include accordion, tin whistle, bouzouki, and uillean pipes.

This is a top-notch release!

After decades of bad imitations of Anglo-American pop music, some Italian musicians are now once again drawing from their roots, and producing unique works, with true originality. The group Fiamma Fumana ("Fiamma" is "flame" as well as the female singer's name, and "Fumana" is a mist, a fog) not only fits this description, but augments their music with Celtic sounds and the tools of modern electronics, seamlessly integrated. The result is full of the cheer and energy of Italian music, the power of a well produced contemporary sound, the completeness of an international sound. This album is fun, original, and it speaks to our world-beat generation as well as the folk generation of their Italian parents.

I am not a big fan of dance music, most of which is faceless, generic, and uninteresting beyond the dancefloor. But here, Fiamma Fumana make it exciting and interesting by combining their dancebeats with traditional instrumentation such as accordians, fiddles and bagpipes. The mix works, also because of Fiamma's own unique voice and the melodies that she weaves throughout.
Tre Sorelle is the standout, but this album contains much more to love, such as 1.0, Di Madre in Figlia, Mareoceano, and the giddy, infectious L.I.L.T.
If someone who didn't know a thing about this Italian group (or its language) were to hear the songs for the first time, they would bet money this was a group from Ireland or Scotland, as F.F.'s roots in that style of music are strong here.
All in all, its a fun album, a refreshing burst of beats and hooks that should delight all who hear it.

I really enjoyed this CD, but I'm an eclectic kind of guy. I don't mind that it's in Italian or that there's a bagpipe on nearly every track, but I can understand how not everyone here might get into it.

The vocals are top-notch: soaring and clear. Great singer and if you're into world beat and electronica, this one's for you.

I usually get more into bagpipe music that is just bagpipes and maybe drums added in, but not usually vocals, too. I do like this CD and even my wife does, who usually doesn't much care for the pipes. Seems like Fiamma had fun in making this one, and that's a major good thing, when someone really seems to enjoy what they're doing. It's interesting, too, that it's in Spanish, because usually when I think of bagpipes, I usually think of Scotland and maybe Ireland, but the Gaelic influence has definitely spread to other places, especially where the "British empire" used to be (e.g. India and even Nigeria ... I once heard bagpipe music by the Lagos police dept.).

Fiamma has lots of talent and good ideas that are undermined by the overwhelming electronic bass beat on some songs, overreliance on bagpipes, and her sticking to the cool European disco sound. The current band is good (part on this CD) and their shows are better than this (4/05). She would be well served to let go and lett her natural, acoustic talent and emotions come through more.