It's not easy to understand exactly what this compilation is. First off, know that it's the debut release from newly formed label Pippola Music, the brainchild of veteran Paolo Favati, one of the people who helped give birth to the very concept of Italian indie music. Yes, this compilation is unusual, but let's not overdo it. What's certainly unusual is the presentation: two pages of the booklet crammed with visions that remain incomprehensible even after a sixth read. What we can gather is that the project was promoted by Gianni Maroccolo, formerly a member of Litfiba, Cccp, Csi and later Pgr. Across all these bands, Gianni has always been something of a restless explorer, and to this day, with mixed results, he keeps on searching—which is already a merit in itself. In this specific case, the aim is to spotlight a handful of new Italian/Tuscan names seduced by the magic world of electronics, and above all by sounds we might call "different" or "other".
Clearly, as with all projects of this kind, some fare better than others. Some tracks shine with their own light, while others still rely a bit too heavily on the light sources they're reflecting.
Listening to tracks like "Linea di Venere" by Cpt. Nice, you realize just how fundamental Scisma were to the evolution of technological pop in Italy. Another telling example is "Piove piano" by Blume. Though somewhat unjustly forgotten today, Mara Redighieri of Üstmamò was the voice that most influenced the new generation of female singers (certainly not the likes of the Anna Tatangelos still infesting the boot-shaped peninsula).
Then there are, as we mentioned, some very pleasant surprises and displays of uncommon inventiveness. That's especially true of "Nouvelle Cuisine" by A.M. Boys, a track that's strikingly Kraftwerk-esque, and not just musically: it's an excellent update/reproduction of the defining traits of the "boys" from Düsseldorf, right down to its retro-futurist sound. The lyrics offer the typical Hütter-Schneider-style collage of images, but applied to cuisine rather than visions of the future. It's an amusing reclaiming of Italian identity, more concerned with the stomach than with technology, complete with a globalist flourish that widens Kraftwerk's European outlook (the vocoder intones: "London, Paris, Berlin, Tokyo, Nouvelle Cuisine"). Great, really great: the best song of the bunch.
Also very welcome is "Electronic dancer" (again by Cpt. Nice), which revives the theory that Pac-Man was a prophet of nightclub alienation: repetitive electronic music and a dark room where pills are swallowed one after another to escape one's own ghosts. The musical backdrop follows suit, mimicking the low-bit sound of the video game.
The tracks by the compilation's own promoters are average.
The ending also surprises, with a remix of the Morricone classic "Indagine su un cittadino al di sopra di ogni sospetto", worked on by everyone involved, which reprises the famous theme while drowning it in electronic effects and detours.
The rest, unfortunately, is pleasant enough on average but struggles to make a real impact, though Pt-r's electronics at least deserve a mention. A decent starting point for everyone involved, in any case: it's only natural that there's still a long way to go.
Ride the wave of great music
Add OndaRock to your favorite sources on Google Discover. Don't miss our reviews, milestones and latest news straight in your feed.
30/04/2026
This article is an English translation of the original Italian text by Nicola Minucci, published on OndaRock.it. It was translated with the help of artificial intelligence, under the editorial responsibility of OndaRock's editor-in-chief, Claudio Fabretti.
Tracklist
- 1. Cpt. Nice - "Linea di Venere"
- 2. Blume - "Piove piano"
- 3. Gianni Maroccolo - "My name is Luca"
- 4. Paolo Favati - "Forbidden Flowers"
- 5. Paolo Favati - "Ongii (CSI Rmx)"
- 6. IG - "La culla"
- 7. A.M. Boys - "Nouvelle Cuisine"
- 8. Pt-r - "Balance To Death"
- 9. Cpt. Nice - "Electronic Dancer"
- 10. A.M. Boys - "Sala d'attesa"
- 11. Pt-r - "Ipnotism"
- 12. Blume - "Ninna nanna alla regina"
- 13. Insolita Band - "Indagine su un cittadino al di sopra di ogni sospetto" (Morricone Rmx)
AA.VV. on the web
AA.VV. on OndaRock
Go to artist page
All Reviews on Ondarock
AA.VV.
The Sexual Life Of The Savages
AA.VV.
The Next Wave
A worthwhile collection featuring eighteen names from Florence's new alt-rock scene
AA.VV.
Miniature (Vol. 1)
Forty tracks in thirty-seven minutes: the first compilation from MiaCameretta Records
AA.VV.
Fac. Dance 2: Factory Records 12″ Mixes & Rarities 1980-1987
A new volume of the anthology digging through Factory's rarities
AA.VV.
One Of My Turns – A Tribute To Pink Floyd
Fifteen emerging bands pay tribute to the legendary English outfit
AA.VV.
Roll This Compilation Baby
Twelve promising bands from Latina in a compilation moving between garage-rock, psychedelia and power punk
AA.VV.
On the carousel in the shadows
Mechanical dances of flesh and war rhythms toward a looming future
AA.VV.
Killed By Deathrock, Vol. 1
Eleven dark-punk gems from the Eighties collected in a compilation by New York's Sacred Bones Records
AA.VV.
Franz Schubert Winterreise
A triptych reinterpreting the cycle of Romantic lieder in a contemporary key
AA.VV.
C16 – Pure Italian Gems
Fourteen emerging bands from the Italian indie underground brought together on a cassette curated by Lady Sometimes Records
AA.VV.
A heartfelt tribute to Rodolfo Santandrea
An intense collection celebrating one of the brightest (and most overlooked) talents of Italian singer-songwriter music
AA.VV.
Dischi Spranti
The debut compilation from the Salento label, spanning third-world rhythms, sidereal escapes and electro-bass scores
AA.VV.
111122
An atmospheric kaleidoscope celebrating the first eleven years of activity by Rome's Stochastic Resonance
AA.VV.
Scared To Get Happy – A Story Of Indie-Pop 1980-1989
Sexless love in the age of new wave and post-punk, told through a compilation full of hidden gems
AA.VV.
Italy No!
A compilation charting Italy's no-wave scene between '80 and '85, with 14 bands drawn from every corner of the peninsula
AA.VV.
We Will Not Fall Vol. 1
A death-rock and goth-wave anthology raising funds for Emilia
AA.VV.
Join The Dark Side, We Have The Music!
A collection spanning dark-wave and indie-rock, put together by an up-and-coming German label
AA.VV.
Simmetrie – A Tribute to Scisma
14 emerging bands pay tribute to Scisma on this compilation, featuring Il Disordine delle Cose, Desert Motel, Es, Glitterball and Vanderlei
AA.VV.
Electronic Encounters: Special Edition
A heartfelt tribute to a Spielbergian celluloid dream
AA.VV.
Trevor Jackson Presents… Classics And Rarities 80-88
The eclectic producer digs out the gems of his collection, paired with remixes of better-known tracks
AA.VV.
New Wave Italiana 1980-1986
Spittle releases a collection of rarities, offering a thorough look at the artistic ferment of early-80s Italy
AA.VV.
Danza Meccanica
The first step toward rediscovering the hidden archives of Italian new wave
AA.VV.
Remote Control Vol. 1-2
The intriguing audiovisual zapping of one of the members of Sparkle In Grey
AA.VV.
Danza Meccanica 2
The second chapter of a new cornerstone in the rediscovery of the Italian wave scene
AA.VV.
Six Feet Below The Snow
A mix of drone and electronica, free to download, to melt the winter snow
AA.VV.
A Sepiachord Passport
An anthology dominated by uchronias. A grand crossroads in space and time between the 19th century, decadent theatre and modern music
AA.VV.
Prog Exhibition: 40 Years of Imaginative Music
Seven CDs and four DVDs for a total of nine hours of music, tracing Italian progressive rock of the 1970s
AA.VV.
The Lost Notebooks Of Hank Williams
A parade of artists led by Bob Dylan brings back to light the lost lyrics of the father of country music
AA.VV.
41 Pardons
A cult Australian label sees the light again through forty-one rare and unreleased songs
AA.VV.
Death Disco – Volume I
A rich compilation gathers the most promising names of today's varied wave, gothic and minimal synth scene
AA.VV.
Bustin’Out: New Wave To New Beat 1984
Dj Mike Maguire reaches 1984, right on the edge of that sprawling phenomenon known as acid-house
AA.VV.
Isvolt
A collection of just a few but essential elements defining witchhouse
AA.VV.
The Hidden Tapes
Minimal Wave continues its praiseworthy work of musical archaeology, unearthing '80s wave rarities
AA.VV.
The Leopard Tape
A collection of little-known but thoroughly worthwhile European and American garage-punk bands
AA.VV.
Disco Discharge: Mondo Disco
A double compilation, released alongside the companion "Disco Fever Usa", dedicated to bizarre, mostly European disco tracks dating from 1976 to 1984
AA.VV.
Disco Discharge: Disco Fever Usa
A double CD featuring 22 tracks of American disco-music, all rigorously drawn from now-rare 12" versions
AA.VV.
Generazioni – Un Omaggio al Santo Niente
A tribute album to Umberto Palazzo's Santo Niente. Among the sixteen guests are Giorgio Canali and Simona Gretchen
AA.VV.
Homeward Bound – 21st Century Troubadours
A look at the new country-folk scene, in this compilation from Uncut magazine
AA.VV.
Rock Against Mommies vol. I: Attack Of The Space Mommies
Sicilian label Kill Mommy Records celebrates its first two years of activity with a compilation
AA.VV.
Minute Papillon
Sixty artists for sixty tracks of sixty seconds each, in the new treasure chest from Second Language
AA.VV.
Romanzo Criminale – The Album
A soundtrack packed with Italian artists for the TV adaptation of De Cataldo's novel
AA.VV.
L'Anthologia. Punk and Post-Punk, 1977-1980
The formidable collection of Italian new wave, put together by Federico Guglielmi and released by Cramps
AA.VV.
Whom The Moon A Nightsong Sings
The manifesto of a genre, neo-folk, and of a label, Prophecy, under the banner of the naturalistic theme
AA.VV.
You Have Not Control
An all-Campania tribute to Ian MacKaye and Guy Picciotto's band
AA.VV.
Dfa Compilation #2
The electronic manifesto of the 2000s in the New York label's compilation
AA.VV.
Wall Street: Money Never Sleps OST
David Byrne, Brian Eno and Craig Armstrong join forces for the sequel to Oliver Stone's celebrated film
AA.VV.
Vertical Integration
Seventeen exclusive tracks and a magazine with just as many interviews, in four hundred limited copies
AA.VV.
Sing Me To Sleep, Indie Lullabies
Childhood and its magical world, between tenderness and modern lullabies performed by emerging indie artists
AA.VV.
Milky. Disco. Three – To. The. Stars
LO Recordings releases the third chapter in the "Milky Disco" dance series
AA.VV.
Nonplace 10th Anniversary Edition
To celebrate its tenth year, the German label releases a compilation featuring 15 unreleased tracks
AA.VV.
The Minimal Wave Tapes Volume One
Fourteen minimal wave gems rescued from oblivion, between third-hand vintage electronics and classic synth-pop
AA.VV.
Joan Of Arc Presents: Don’t Mind Control
Tim Kinsella selects eighteen songs to introduce a number of artists close to the Joan Of Arc universe
AA.VV.
Music And Migration
A colorful patchwork of styles on the first "official" release from Glen Johnson's peculiar label
AA.VV.
Sangennarobar 2009
A biting Neapolitan response to the long line of Buddha Bar compilations
AA.VV.
5: Five Years Of Hyperdub
The definitive dubstep collection celebrating the fifth birthday of the most important label on the London scene: Hyperdub
AA.VV.
Songs For A Child – A Tribute To Pier Paolo Pasolini
Rustblade pays industrial-flavored tribute to the intellectual from Friuli
AA.VV.
Leaves Of Life
The thousand shades of folk, in a collection featuring both established names and genuine talent discoveries
AA.VV.
Not Given Lightly
A double compilation featuring the leading artists of the Morr Music roster pays tribute to New Zealand indie-pop
AA.VV.
Fuorisessione '08
A various-artists compilation from Sardinia in support of Emergency
AA.VV.
Slumdog Millionaire
Ancestral and modern ethnic suggestions in an Oscar-winning soundtrack
AA.VV.
Dark Was The Night
A parade of indie stars celebrates the 20th anniversary of the Red Hot charity organization
AA.VV.
Palermo Shooting
The soundtrack to Wim Wenders' latest film, featuring unreleased tracks from Grinderman and Bonnie "Prince" Billy
AA.VV.
Disco Italy: Essential Italo Disco Classics 1977-1985
Rediscovering the cult side of italo-disco through a new Strut compilation
AA.VV.
Penguin Cafè Orchestra – A Tribute
A fine tribute featuring Sakamoto, Maskatsu and other Japanese musicians
AA.VV.
Disco Not Disco (Post Punk, Electro & Leftfield Disco Classics 1974-1986)
The third installment in the series, for nostalgics of new wave/post-punk/mutant disco and the like
AA.VV.
Readymade – Sartorial Sampler II
A rich compilation from the eclectic London label
AA.VV.
The Great Koonaklaster Speaks: A John Fahey Celebration
The US psych and avant scenes pay tribute to the Takoma guitarist
AA.VV.
The Imagined Village
The lights and shadows of a folk revolution that was only ever announced
AA.VV.
Wild Tigers I Have Known (original soundtrack)
The soundtrack to Archer's film, with a very indie cast
AA.VV.
Pisspounder
Noise and drums: the sonic apocalypse of 2007
AA.VV.
Clouds – A compilation Ep
"Post"-leaning sounds for newly-founded Roman label Raise Records
AA.VV.
Cowboys In Scandinavia: New Folk Sounds From Northern Europe
Folk sounds from frozen Scandinavia
AA.VV.
Cryosphere
Nine ambient-music essays for icy, uncharted lands
AA.VV.
What Would This Record Have Sounded Like…
AA.VV.
Loser My Religion#3
AA.VV.
California
A dark monument to free-noise from the land of the sun.
AA.VV.
The underground's golden ticket
AA.VV.
Corpses out for a stroll
AA.VV.
To: Elliott / From: Portland
AA.VV.
Condominium
AA.VV.
In The Beginning There Was Rhythm
AA.VV.
Milano After Punk (1979-1984)
An exhaustive anthology capturing a crucial phase of Milan's rock scene
AA.VV.
Music For A Revolution Vol 1 – Guinea’s Syliphone Recording Label (1967-1973)
An anthology tracing the history of Syliphone, post-colonial Africa's first state-run record label
AA.VV.
Nippon Acid Folk 1970-1980
Time Capsule brings to light eight gems of innocent, colorful psychedelia from the Land of the Rising Sun
AA.VV.
Sweet Rebels – The Golden Era Of Algerian Pop-Raï
Algerian songs of love and rebellion in yet another treasure courtesy of WEWANTSOUNDS
AA.VV.
Tsapiky! Modern Music From Southwest Madagascar
Sublime Frequencies points its compass toward southwestern Madagascar
AA.VV.
Ayam El Disco – Egyptian Disco, Boogie & Jeel Cassettes 1978-1992
Eleven tracks to rediscover jeel, Egypt's answer to disco music
AA.VV.
The Original Movie Sound Track: Saturday Night Fever
Wayward youth and disco music: the story of a massive cultural phenomenon
AA.VV.
Summer Of Soul (…Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised) OST
The history of Black music in Questlove's outstanding documentary soundtrack
AA.VV.
Nigeria 70. Lagos Jump
A Strut anthology of Nigeria's 70s funk scene
AA.VV.
Fight The Fire: Digital Reggae, Conscious Roots And Dub In Nigeria 1986-91
Nigeria's rich reggae scene surveyed in a double anthology courtesy of Soundway
Latest Reviews
FLOATING POINTS
Mere Mortals
A new experiment for Sam Shepherd, this time between electronic and contemporary music
NOTHING BUT THIEVES
Stray Dogs
The most markedly alt-rock work yet from the English band fronted by Conor Mason
SPACE AFRIKA
Quiet Storm
The new album from the Anglo-Berlin duo is an ode to resilience
ANGELA AUTUMN
Believer
New songs from the Zelienople singer-songwriter, written while wandering through the Appalachians
GURRIERS
Nobody’s Coming To Save You
Ten convincing tracks that confirm the talent and ambitions of the young Dublin post-post-punk quartet
BRENNAN WEDL
Brennan Wedl
Inspired by Kathleen Edwards, Lucinda Williams and Tom Petty, the scrappy debut from the Nashville-based artist
NED COLLETTE
Mixed Light
The Australian singer-songwriter's return is a tribute to the need to escape the logic of the mainstream
BORIS MAURUSSANE
Tears Of English Town
A refined blend of bossa nova, jazz, psychedelia and classical music
original design & development by
Edoardo M. Cappuccio
Edoardo M. Cappuccio
redesign by
Gabriele Brombin
Anna Quaranta
Gabriele Brombin
Anna Quaranta