Exorcism of people infected with an uncontrollable urge to dance is the subject of Tarantismo: Odyssey Of An Italian Ritual, a double LP and bilingual hardback book published by the self-described “cultural engineering platform” FLEE. They say that the word tarantismo, describing that uncontrollable urge, is derived from the phenomenon of tarantism, a state of being most often cited in 16th and 17th century literature from the province of Taranto in Apulia, southern Italy. Legend has it that those bitten by a tarantula become hysterical and dance frantically.

The double LP features original recordings of exorcists from Puglia made in the 1950s by Diego Carpitella, Ernesto de Martino and Alan Lomax, all sourced in collaboration with the Academia Nationale Santa Cecilia. It also includes six reworks by Bjorn Torske & Trym Søvdsnes, LNS, UFFE, KMRU, Bottin and Don’t DJ. The book includes original photographs plus nine contributions by specialists Chiara Samugheo, Edoardo Winspeare, Luigi Chiriatti, Don Antonio Santoro, Claudia Atimonelli and Pamela Diamante.

“Dedicated to the documentation and enhancement of hybrid cultures”, FLEE was founded in 2017 by Alan Marzo, Olivier Duport and Carl Åhnebrink as a record label, publishing house and exhibition organiser.

Tarantismo: Odyssey Of An Italian Ritual is released on 27 November. Pre-order on their website.