99 Posse
Corto Circuito

"What I think

thus in a moment

is short-circuited

with what I feel"

Now I want to focus on 99 Posse.

We know them for their music, defined by themselves as "bastard" because "it doesn't care about anything or anyone." It's a shame that in not caring about anything or anyone, Mr. Luca "Zulù" Persico and associates have received quite a few complaints. And over the years, the true personality of the former has also become apparent, showing a lot of inconsistency and hypocrisy, unlike the other members. There are some proofs here on DeBaser, from what I've noticed. I can't deny that I have a certain disdain for Persico as a person, both for how he presents himself to the public today and for how he has fooled us.

However, at least until 2000, I can't deny that 99 Posse released musically very good works even if with some imperfections. This "Corto Circuito" is no exception.

It's 1998. Two years have passed since "Cerco Tiempo," the first album with the voice of Maria "Meg" Di Donna, a new member of the band after the departure (which then didn't turn out to be a real departure) of Bisca (Sergio "Serio" Maglietta and Elio "100Gr" Manzo), and which I personally don't consider up to par with the reviewed album and the subsequent "La Vida Que Vendrà." Let's forget the somewhat light sound of the good debut "Curre Curre Guagliò," here the bases are much heavier. And the opening track "Buongiorno" demonstrates this in full. A very techno groove serves as a background to Zulù's excellent rapping...

"Buongiorno / è schiarata 'a matina e so tre ghiuorne ca nun dormo / buongiorno / st'addore 'e cafè ca se diffonde tuorno tuorno e che r'è / Napule se sceta e 'o mare brilla pe' cuntuorno neh uè"

The impact is devastating, and there's also a funny UFO Robot citation ("Mi trasformo in un razzo missile, con circuiti di mille valvole").

The title track is another of the album's high points, with a Meg more in shape than ever ("Io voglio tutto, anche l'impossibile, io voglio tutto ma sarà implacabile"), and an enticing guitar with a very "spatial" sound...

When the Subsonica come in the following "Me Siente?" Max Casacci's guitar and Samuel's voice dominate the 99's beat and Zulù's voice, and it raises the piece's level itself which, in my opinion, is not a masterpiece, but not bad either.

"Lettera Al Presidente" is a very peculiar song where Luca lets loose saying his piece to Italy's president (I think), sometimes using words that, in my opinion, could be spared (“maledetto il tuo dio”), and in the end deciding to exclaim a healthy "votta 'o sciato a 'ppunente." I also listen to this one willingly, but it's not one of the best songs on the album. "Quello Che" needs no introduction, we all know it a bit... I'd say anyway that with this piece one returns to very high levels, presenting an excellent drum beat well in line with Meg's voice.

"Era Na Vota" is one of my favorite tracks on the album...a story of a land in poverty told through a very dub base a la Almamegretta (this song in question could have come out from "Animamigrante,"!), with the collaboration of the legendary Daniele Sepe who plays the flute and the invocation for hummingbirds (!). We seem to hear droplets falling from the ceiling hearing the introduction of "Vulesse"...a song where Meg doesn’t bring out her best, but Zulù seems to fill the gap excellently by rapping verses like "Vulesse ma nun pozzo e allora faccio sulamente capa e 'ccesso."

Plenty of big guitars in the wonderful "Focolaio," another one of my favorite tracks...

"La mia testa è un focolaio di sovversivi / rubano, dormono, sbagliano, sbadigliano / ridono, partono, arrivano, piangono...with an excellent Arabic interlude with Marzouk Mehri on vocals as the cherry on top.

"Bon Voyage," written with the collaboration of Valerio Jovine, a relative of Massimo (I don't know if it's his brother), immediately strikes with its very sharp sounds, and a catchy chorus ("Cammino sull'orlo del baratro come se / non mi importasse più niente di me") where Meg manages to recover positively. "Nell'Era Della Confusione Semiotica" and "Siente 'O Fank," the latter featuring Papa J and Speaker Cenzou rapping, are two simple songs that don't leave much but are quite listenable enough. Worth noting is the excellent use of the "Sandokan" theme by the De Angelis brothers in the latter.

"Pagherete Caro" is an excellent choice to close a very good album... also lyrically quite heavy, as expected ("il simbolo italiano è la bandiera, e a me della bandiera italiana me ne passa p' 'o cazzo", "anatema a te e 'a rivolta padana"), but sounds fully in line with their style...with excellent use of the final chorus similar to those of revolts, to stay on theme, and a wah-wah guitar that blends everything well.

Well, I can't deny, having finished the CD, that it is one of the best works of the second phase of 99 Posse (the one with Meg).

Because beyond how it ended up (especially thanks to a certain loss of credibility and the aforementioned hypocrisy of Zulù), this album, if approached without prejudice, is very good, full of some flaws but worthy of being listened to more than once.