“Italy” (Used 36 times)

Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino is Salento, Italy's foremost traditional music group.  They will perform as part of this Sunday's Global Fest at Webster Hall, NYC along with Debo Band, Yemen Blues, and many other incredible artists.  CGS made their U.S. debut last year, including the following performance on WFMU's Transpacific Sound Paradise engineered by Davey Jewell and Juan Aboites. At the time, host Rob Weisberg wrote:

Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino specializes in the driving rhythms of the pizzica dance and other ancient rhythms on traditional instruments. The pizzica is the local variant of the legendary mystical spider-trance-dance, the tarantella. 

Among the other Globel Fest performers are the afro-columbian group M.A.K.U. Sound System, the jaw harp master Wang Li, the Bedouin-inspired Yemen Blues, Malian rap group SMOD, and the Debo Band (FMA) -- an Ethiopiques-style ensemble who recently signed to Sub Pop and were recently featured on the FMA by LizB. For more Global Fest sounds, check out NPR Music's Global Fest Stream, curated by our own Rob Weisberg!

In our interview with headphonica you'll hear their reasoning on using the -NC license and the extra freedoms they provide live DJs.  Make sure you check out their curator page too.

In our interview with Bad Panda Records hear Claudio's plans for world domination and check out the tunes with which he plans to do it.  You can check out more of the "bad" music on their FMA curator page.

You'll also hear some discussion of German football favorites St. Pauli as well as Italian giants Juventus and AS Roma.

If you're a curator that releases music under a remixable CC license and would like to set up an interview, drop us a line here, on facebook or leave us a voicemail at (512) 686-6329.

As its name implies, the sound of the Italian label Acustronica extends beyond terms like "acoustic" and "electronica." While some releases are composed entirely of electronics, Acustronica's affinity for what they call 'real' instruments shines through in the timbre of every release. The tabla percussion on Martin Lowack's "Evening" (below) is a great example. The label's overall aesthetic often hints at jazz -- as in "Panthalassa" by Nheap (also the label's manager) -- but the form is twisted into moods beyond categorization. "We don't like genres' distinctions and boundaries," the label declares, so really, it's best to listen.

We recently welcomed six albums from Acustronica (FMA Portal), and I've picked out a few highlights below.

The Buenos Aires-born Classical guitarist and choral conductor Claudio Nuñez may already be familiar to FMA listeners through his output on WM Recordings. His Love Hurts, life Kills, Death Cures (el amor duele, la vida mata, la muerta cura) is the latest in Acustronica's 19 volume catalog, including some physical releases and paid downloads. These tracks are licensed under CC BY-NC-ND, you can dig in and reach out at Acustronica's website.

"We like mp3 but vinyl is our first love," says Italy's Bad Panda Records. They've been dishing out a fantastic weekly Creative Commons mp3 series for well over a year now, and Elephants At The Door, the debut LP from Dumbo Gets Mad, is out now as a 12" gatefold as well as a free CC download (pay with a tweet or a like!)

Along with the full-length, Bad Panda released the You Make You Feel EP (Bad Panda #82), with remixes by VEIT B, end's not near, Iròi, zwei.punkt, and Uphill Racer.

Bad Panda introduced the somewhat mysterious solo recording project turned five-piece band with one of the label's signature digital singles: "Electric Prawn" b/w "Plumy Tale" (Bad Panda #49). Take a listen and tell me if that hook's not bouncing around your head for the rest of the day, encouraging you to pick up that gatefold LP!

Oddio Overplay first introduced us to Digi G'Alessio, aka Cristiano Crisci of the group A Smile for Timbuctu. The prolific Italian artist shines across a range of releases, from the irresistibly sunny downtempo beats on Love, Beats and Piña Coladas to the slightly darker/more experimental electronics of The Rain Book.

With his newest release The Cinar Session (his first on the Bedroom Research netlabel), Digi tries his hand at the trending dubstep phenomenon with a slightly ironic twist that his label terms "Dumstep" or "Spagetthi Wobble". Whatever you wanna call it, it's really good!

Thanks to PK at The Peppermill for the tip on this one -- PK's been delving deep into bass music (in part through the 2999 project) and has been digging up some incredible stuff!