Alessandro Fiori (Mariposa) and Marco Parente, two of the most interesting songwriters in Italy’s current musical landscape, joined forces in a new project called BettiBarsantini.

Born in Fidenza and based in Milan, Giuseppe Peveri aka Dente (“Tooth”) is one of Italy’s most interesting and elegant young songwriters. His lyrics, apparently light and a little naive, are filled with brilliant puns, irony and disenchant.

Cotton summer dresses, a tattoo of Joan of Arc and the name of a 18th century Queen. Maria Antonietta, born Letizia Cesarini, is the most interesting new voice in Italy’s female punk-rock scene. Her stories combine the everyday adventures of a 20-something girl with eccentric, cultured references.

Levante is the stage name of Claudia Langona, a young songwriter born in sunny Sicily and now based up north, in the vibrant city of Torino. Her debut album is a long awaited breath of fresh air through the Italian female singer-songwriter scene.

Picture a beautiful sunny afternoon in Sicily, then imagine being on the road in California listening to Jack Johnson and Ben Harper. Mix all of the sounds and colors that come to your mind and you might get an idea of what Fabrizio Cammarata & Paolo Fuschi’s album “Skint and Golden” sounds like.

Cristiano De André is the son of Italy’s greatest folk songwriter, Fabrizio De André. Cristiano traced his own musical path during the past 30 years, releasing 6 studio albums. “Invisibili” is the opening track of his latest work, “Così in cielo così in guerra”. The song, half in Italian and half in Genoese dialect, is an ode to a friend lost to drugs, but is also a universal tale about youth, melancholia and the feeling of being lost, abandoned – invisible, in fact.

The Talking Bugs is a genuine musical recipe from the northern region of Emilia Romagna. Ingredients: two acoustic guitars, a double bass, percussions. Preparation: combine all the ingredients, immerse in the Mediterranean air and garnish with electronic sounds (just as needed). Enjoy it with any of your friends wherever they come from – all the songs on the album “Viewofanonsense” are sung in English.

This young collective is based in the region of Lessinia, in the mountains near Verona. (Yes, that’s Romeo and Juliet’s town!). They
combine traditional folk with psychedelic jams, magical tales with bucolic images. They’re deeply bound to the land, hills and mountains and at the same time influenced by the best of Anglo-Americans. The title of their latest album, “Ruvain”, means “making noise” in the ancient
language of Lessinia.

Appino is the lead singer of the Tuscan punk band Zen Circus. On his solo album Appino takes all the punk rage of his original band and channels it into a more introspective stream, looking back at the tradition of Italian songwriters and rock bands. One of the best releases of 2013, “Il testamento” (“The Last Will”) is a powerful snapshot of today’s Italian society.