HIT WEEK returns, with a free night of new sounds from Italy, presented with support from the Italian Trade Commission and FIMI. The night features innovative new music from Italy: Extraliscio (from Emilia Romagna) and Rachele Andrioli (alt-folk from Puglia)

Italian band Extraliscio was born in 2014, in the great tradition of liscio – the ballroom dance music of the Romagna region – mixed with a dose of rock and punk. This is music from the birthplace of Fellini, a surreal universe where anything can happen. The group began when clarinetist Moreno il Biondo, bandleader of iconic big band Casadei, star of liscio, dancehalls, and the clarinet, met Mirco Mariani, musical experimenter, refined composer, connoisseur and collector of old and rare instruments. They were joined by the signature voice of Romagna, Mauro Ferrara. The three musicians launched liscio into the future, bringing bring punk-pop into the dancehalls.

“Dancehall punk is the perfect cross between tradition and craziness, the physical and virtual space where the music of Romagna meets punk. A concert of ours can begin with a sort of offbeat waltz where a missed drumroll can leave dancers a bit wrong-footed. Or it can go off, like a spark, to the sound of the theremin, which reproduces samples of liscio big band music, waltzes, polkas and mazurkas and fires them off like mad, heedless of the tempos,” says Mariana. “In short, it’s all about tripping, in terms of both rhythm and dance. And only then does the real set list begin.”

Rachele Andrioli finds her sound between the traditional music of Southern Italy and her role as chanteuse, influenced by world music and jazz. She comes from Salento, in Puglia (Italy’s boot heel), birthplace of the ecstatic tarantella folk rhythm. Andrioli started performing as a member of the innovative Officina Zoè ensemble, and is now exploring a solo career. Her trance-vocals are amplified with looping, accompanied by the distinctive Italian frame drum, for a sound that transports listeners deep into Mediterranean roots. This performance is Andrioli’s US debut, after her participation in the all-virtual 2021 edition of Global Fest (in partnership with NPR Music’s Tiny Desk series).