Tarantolati di Tricarico
Abballam
CNI/Look Studio (www.cnimusic.it)

The southern Italian group Tarantolati di Tricarico's latest CD clocks in at about thirty minutes, but Abballam is strictly an all-killer, no-filler affair. One of the features of the music of the Salento region (the 'heel of the boot' on the map of Italy) is the incessant beat of the tambourine. As on their prior release U'Squatasce, Tarantolati di Tricarico augments the hand drums of the ancient tarantism ritual with a whole battery of percussion. The tarantism ritual was a specific cultural therapy, designed to treat predominantly women who claimed to have been 'bitten' by a spider, resulting in a melancholic condition that could be cured by vigorous music and dance.

On Abballam, the group's focus has been refined and there is almost a pop gloss to the songs. "So arrivat i Tarantolat" kicks the album off with a rumbling, percussive gait that would light up the dance floor. "Ravatan" reminds me of a collision between Hedningarna and Vartinna in southern Italy, as Tarantolati di Tricarico play women's and men's voices off each other against the driving rhythm. Abballam also includes a video for the song "Ravatan," in which cupa-cupa tubs thump alongside full drum kits and gongs. Rhythm is the key here; and Tarantolati di Tricarico is intent on calling you away to the dance. "U'Sol" has more of the instantly recognizable southern Italian sound, tambourine-driven, and the violin hits the off-beats over the percussion to provide the 'disorienting' sound that would, in eras past, awake those who had been 'bitten' by the spider to return to their lives.

What makes Abballam a striking record is that while the songs are incredibly powerful, there is an under-riding eeriness to the music. "Che dici" is dark, dominated by male voices, with a drunken bass line and echoing answering calls cutting through the humid mix. "Sciuk e sciuk" features rapid vocals, the intent to drive a person into trance, while an accordion rides through the song. The last track, "Transumanza," is purely percussive, once more highlighting the trance element of the music.

Southern Italian musicians have told me that the music of the tarantism ritual is still vital today, as a remedy against the poison of modern society, characterized by wars, stress, economic disparities. Tarantolati di Tricarico has delivered an album that speaks to updating the old tradition, enticing the audience to dance, to sweat, and to lose themselves in the pulse of their land. - Lee Blackstone

Listen:
Ravatan
Abballam

CD available from cdRoots

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