Lost Souls

Spaccanapoli | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 24, 2000)
• Original Release Date: August 29, 2000
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Real World
• ASIN: B00004U8S1
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #52,303 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #78 in Music > Pop > Euro Pop > Italian Pop

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Crossroads of Culture in an Amazing Italian Album, October 14, 2000

By 

Stuart Rice "Education Executive, Yoga Advent... (Tempe, AZ) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lost Souls (Audio CD)

Spaccanapoli take their name from a crossroad street in Naples. Nothing could better express the way in which this music intersects so many musical styles. Celtic music fans will hear uillean pipe like sounds; Arabic music fans will here the percussion and instrumentation of their culture; and Italian music fans will marvel at the fact that none of this conjures up images of checkered, red and white tableclothes.

The music on this CD is passionate and poetic in a way that only the Italian language can accomplish. The lyrics feature a myriad of alliteration and assonance, so that you're left in awe as lines like "Chesta capa ca m'abruzzia, ma vulesse ta faglia" become new tongue twisters to roll around in your mouth. The album books contains the lyrics and translations, so that you can get a feel for what they're singing about. However, you should not even delve past the excellent introductory notes, and give the album about two weeks as you just soak in the sounds. Instead, you can dance along as a song of social protest turns into a musical carnival, as drums and trumpets, clarinets and tambourines, and hundred other things spin you around and around.

If you've never bought anything Italian except food or clothing, you're in for a real treat. And fans of Middle Eastern and Celtic music might just find that this group is the bridge that explains the evolutions of their musical heritage. Get listening!

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Journey through European south, July 24, 2001

By 

Edmon Begoli (Knoxville, TN United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lost Souls (Audio CD)

This excellent album is beautiful blend of southern European (notably Napolitano) sounds supopported by strong, genuine lyrics. If you ask me today what is my favorite European band - answer is quick: Spaccanapoli.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ENERGY, BEAUTY, LIFE..., April 19, 2004

By 

Larry L. Looney (Austin, Texas USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lost Souls (Audio CD)

I'm a little late in reviewing this wonderful recording - it came out in 2000, another gift to music listeners from Peter Gabriel's Real World label. There's a quote on the back cover of the CD that sums up the album perfectly: `From the streets of Naples, vibrant energy, impassioned vocals and wild abandon - modern protest songs from ancient roots'. The members of Spaccanapoli were all part of a much larger musical/political group called E Zezi, formed in Naples in 1974 and involving `...more than 100 singers, instrumentalists and dancers' (description from the booklet to this CD). E Zezi was a true cooperative, taking the musical traditions of Italy's past and smelting them with the creative heat of political passion into a new type of urban folk music. Those passions - of politics and life, which are in reality intertwined so thoroughly - drive the music of Spaccanapoli with an energy that is beautiful, infectious and at times a little frightening (but what a rush!).

Naples is a city that has always embodied elements of other cultures - and it's easy to hear influences from around the Mediterranean in this music. The Roma element is particularly strong - sometimes more in sheer energy than in direct melodic or instrumental ways.

The vocals are handled by two incredible singers - Monica Pinto and Marcello Colasurdo (who also plays the tammorra, a traditional one-sided hand-held drum). Their voices are infused with a fiery power - but they are never out of control. The lyrics are all in Italian, with partial translations provided (the full translations are available on the band's website) - but not understanding much Italian didn't keep me from feeling the emotions conveyed here. The other three group members are Antonio Fraioli (violin, piano, percussion), Oscar Montalbano (acoustic guitar, bass) and Emilio De Matteo (acoustic and electric guitars). This core group of five players and singers is joined here and there by nearly twenty other fine musicians - never overloading the arrangements, always contributing just the right touch to complete the song. There are electronic keyboards in play on occasion - but for the most part, the instrumentation is acoustic, giving the recording an overall purity of sound that only adds to the power of the performances.

I have a feeling it'll be a rare occasion that this group ever performs live close enough to where I live for me to see them - but I can also tell from this recording that it would be a show I would never forget, so I'm going to keep my fingers crossed and my eyes open. In the meantime, I'd love to see additional recordings by them. It's been four years since this one - with the energy they display here, as well as the apparent commitment to their art, there's bound to be more where this one came from.