Ballati Tutti Quanti

With voices, accordion, violin, guitar, mandolin, and plenty of percussion, Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino whip up the frenzy of the tarantella, long one of southern Italy's great folk traditions. In recent years they're just one of many bands picking up on the past and bringing it to the present, in this case with a very acoustic, driving sound. The percussion is at the heart of it all, the rhythms of trance, where dancing and singing become overlays to something that could originally counter the deadly bite of a spider. It's hardcore, and quite deliberately so, making no concessions to commerciality. In other words, it's not for everyone, but those wishing the real experience would do well to listen to this.