Üstmamò
Stard'Üst

Albums like this one are not often seen in Italy, and even less will be seen given the commercial success they achieve (Üstmamò eventually disbanded).

Can you mix trip-hop, folk, techno, rock, and funk in an album sung in Italian and even in dialect? For this group from Emilia, the answer was yes. In 1998, they presented the world with their most successful album, and the world barely noticed with a handful of good reviews and “airing” two singles on the radio for about a month. But songs like these, with such well-crafted and original sounds, and such intimate and enveloping lyrics, deserved much more! It starts with “Cosa Conta,” their most “famous” song, characterized by a hypnotic chorus sung by the very talented Mara Redeghieri with a thin, sharp voice worthy of the best Antonella Ruggero. “Nostre Altre Vite” is a brilliant mix of zen and folk sounds that highlights a unique attention to detail and a freshness of writing. “Kemiospiritual” is another song that some might remember and is the pinnacle of the entire work: catchy but not trivial melody, the usual attention in the arrangement, and an overwhelming chorus.

An unique episode in the entire Italian discography, I believe, is the following “Mai Più”, an authentic piece of pure trip-hop complete with “scratches” and a suspended atmosphere that could easily have come from Portishead's pen. Interesting, although not a novelty for the Üst, “Open Cojon” is a funny almost reggae ballad whispered in a soft dialect, not embarrassing at all as one might think. The album reaches another of its peaks with the intense “Minimale,” where the Jamaican genre is wisely mixed with trumpets and electronic bases. “Rosa Di Rabbia” and “Stammi Vicino” are noteworthy for the refined lyrics by Redeghieri, but it is with “Opera Soap” that another almost unthinkable thing in Italy is achieved: it is a compact techno-rock piece with a touch of irony that lightens it considerably. The finale is entrusted to the title track, perhaps the least convincing episode, although it does not deny the desire to experiment with genres far from our culture (the piece ends with rave sounds worthy of The Prodigy!).

What can I say... If this album had been in English, perhaps we would be waiting for the new LP by Üstmamò, and maybe we Italians wouldn't be the only ones waiting for it... Not that this is right, mind you! Upon reflection, they were even more special precisely because they were able to experiment with the most alternative genres in the language of Sanremo!