Figli Di Madre Ignota
Fez Club
Eastblok (EBM 013)
****
Full Price (41 mins)
Continuing on from their excellent recent releases, Berlin label Eastblok are back with another delicious find, this time from Milano, Italy. Fez Club play what can only be lovingly described as bastard music here on their third studio album Figli Di Madre Ignota (Sons of Unknown Mothers) –a wild concoction of klezmer, balkan, spaghetti western, brass and rock. With its thousands of kilometres of coastline facing Spain, the Balkans and North Africa, Italy has a distinguished history of absorbing sounds from elsewhere, chewing them up and spitting them out again in a unique, organic way. One of the most delightful brass records of the past few years came not from the Balkans, but from Italy, courtesy of Sicily’s Banda Ionica, and the good news is that trumpet maestro Roy Paci is also on production duties here. The references are too many to cover in a short review, but standout tracks include Theme from Paradise, a groovy, kitschy number in English with sparkling mariachi horns, the Tom Waits-ish circus vibe of Sadoman with its snarling bass clarinet, and the Slavic ska-punk party thrashout Ole Ole. Highly recommended.