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Il Secondo Coro delle Lavandaie (Second Chorus of the Washerwomen), is the new single by Mai Mai Mai, a continuation of the project's idiosyncratic examination into Southern Italian traditions & folklore.
The single reprises the themes of the project's Nel Sud LP, which represented a dark journey into the past of the Italian south, and which utilized sounds recorded by Alan Lomax and Diego Carpitella, taken from Italian ethno-documentaries made during the 1960s and 70s. In many ways the album signifies a 'Mediterranean Hauntology', one that avoids the pitfalls of nostalgia yet which reanimates the ghosts of a lost past, in the form of an evocative ritual.
With Il Secondo Coro delle Lavandaie, Mai Mai Mai looks again to the 'South', but this time encompasses an ethnic and folkloric tradition in a more contemporary way, conjuring a work in which art, music & theatre intersect.
The original version of 'Il Secondo Coro delle Lavandaie' was made by Roberto De Simone with Compagnia di Nuovo Canto Popolare and released in 1976, an iconic moment in southern Italian and neapolitan music.
Mai Mai Mai approaches this obscure gem of Italian folk music by retaining its organic aspects; the hypnotic voodoo drumming, the enchanting choir and the repetitive 'cantilena', yet filters it all through a Southern Gothic lens, as well as his unique, overall aesthetic vision. An intoxicating combination, heightened by the visceral voice of collaborator Maria Violenza.
Mai Mai Mai is an Audio/Video project, an idiosyncratic examination into Mediterranean and Southern Italian folklore, a dark journey into past traditions, made of blurred memories and hazy sounds.
It can be considered as a 'Mediterranean Hauntology', one that avoids the pitfalls of nostalgia yet which reanimates the ghosts of a lost past, in the form of an evocative ritual.