Almamegretta
4/4

Four Quarters

A prophetic title chosen by this Neapolitan band, one of the most important in our local scene of the much-maligned '90s. There weren't many who decided to combine Campanian tradition, trip hop, world music, and dub, creating a sound that was a true godsend.

Their dimension is not easy to describe, but it's definitely something that from the first listen really grabs you. From the EP "Figli Di Annibale" to the first full-length "Animamigrante", then moving on to "Sanacore" and "Lingo", it's a continuous evolution characterized by an atmosphere of joy, cheerfulness, reflection, but also by melodies that are never tiring, never repetitive, never pre-packaged.

1999: this time again, they mean business. The release of "4/4" shows just how tireless this band was back then.

Beats, sounds, voices, instruments, programming... everything is configured the right way, without flaws. All precisely through the seemingly simple formula of four quarters.

The "4/4" in the title are the predominant rhythms of almost the entire work, its core. But they are also the four minds that hide (or rather, hid... given how things ended up after 2002) behind the Almamegretta project: the excellent Raiz on vocals, the dynamic Gennaro T. on skins, Paolo Polcari on keyboards, and an unappreciated (and unfortunately forgotten) genius named D.RaD (aka Stefano Facchielli), an authentic sound manipulator, "deus ex machina" of the programming.

Like skilled chefs, Almamegretta manage to blend together at the same time reggae ("The Cheap Guru", a jab at fake gurus), drum'n'bass ("Mbikili", characterized by a bass drum that truly hits you hard), rocksteady ("Sempre"), funky ("Camisa Doce"), even rock ("Brucia", one of their most beautiful songs). But most importantly, emotions, millions, billions of emotions ("Oreminutisecondi", "Venus", "Chi", etc.). There are guests too, and this time they feature Sainkho ("Sainkho's Blues"), Leftfield ("Riboulez Le Kick", later Raiz would return the favor by participating in "Rino's Prayer" on their album "Rhythm And Stealth") and Dre Love reappears for a small cameo in "Figli Di Dio".

But above all, behind these "4/4" there is only one result: 1. And at the same time, behind this 1, there are 13 tracks. 13 incisive songs, sincere, beautiful. All waiting to be listened to over and over again.

Seatbelts fastened, this journey deserves to be experienced firsthand at least once in a lifetime.