The vinyl compilation “The Dark Side Of Italo Disco” is a contrast to the numerous happy and danceable Italo Disco titles, because this sampler contains deep, mystical and melancholic songs. Flemming Dalum has selected very special titles distinguished by hard and dark beats. Masterpieces like “Body Heat” by Fokewulf 190, “Eagles In The Night” by Dario Dell’Aere, “Blue Room” by Kirlian Camera show an interesting facet of Italo Disco music.
“Dimmi Bello” was written in 1986 and is re-printed today after 35 years with the very kind permission of two wonderful people who have dedicated their lives to music and love of neighbor, Francesco and Lucia Varanzano.
Covering various classics is not uncommon in Italo Disco. Hardly a song that has not been pressed through the synth mill and spit out again with its own charm. This is also the case with the premiere release from the label “Mattoni Pazzi” with the “Monomax Band”: As the song title already reveals, you will find a reference to the Led Zeppelin classic on side A. In full 80’s Italo fashion, this version is peppered with synth riffs, glittering arpeggios, a thundering DX-7 bassline and almost gothic-tinged vocals. Side B is a remake of the remake and drifts off into the cosmic at a much higher tempo. A hypnotic repetitive bassline is underpinned with loving, oriental-inspired, lead melodies and vibrating soundscapes.
For this third chapter of the Wamono series, Yoshizawa and Chintam unheart some of the best and rarest light mellow funk tunes and disco boogie bangers produced in Japan between 1978 and 1988. Put the needle on the record, turn up the volume and dig right now into the Wamono sound – the cream of the Japanese jazz, funk, soul, rare groove and disco music developed throughout the years since the end of the sixties in Japan.
New brokntoys release coming from Made aka Mike Williamson.
Blast Attack “Terrible Time” is out now on cassette via Detriti Records. Sci-fi electro from a dystopian future.
Long awaited reissue of Connective Zone’s Qwerty EP. Originally released in 2002 on Emoticon, the deep electronica sister label of Headspace Recordings. Connective Zone, aka Lincoln-based duo Graham Sims and Simon Button, have been making their unique brand of deep techno for many years. Warm strings, thick chords, multi-layered synth melodies and crisp beats are the order of the day, with influences coming from early Detroit techno and ‘artificial intelligence’ era UK electronics. All four tracks pack a soulful punch, drawing from the past but allowing their individual sound to shine through. Rhythmically they range from straight-up 4/4 beats to more syncopated patterns, and are sure to find favour with more adventurous DJs as well as home listeners.
Rawax welcomes Thomas Barnett to the family. with the “Foundation Series Volume One”. Originally released in 1997 on Visillusion Records (Detroit).
Skudge and Nihad Tule are back as Taken with their second release on their own imprint. Highly effective techno explorations.
The sea breeze, the smell of sunscreen, the first kiss of summer, the sunrises of an island, meals with friends in the sun, fruit in your hands, sky of stars, reflection of the sun in the sea, the nights of summer. Closing the summer with the new compilation of Italo Moderni ”Mellow Bangers” as the name says, italo bangers but with a very club touch, a touch of eternal summer.
Following on from Mothball’s 2018 reissue of the Italo-oddity Fancy – “Null Null”, comes a follow-up collaboration with the maestro Raffaele Fiume. This time a long-overdue reissue of the sparkling Italo-disco duet by Radiators – “I Am Sure”, originally released in 1984. The original vocal and instrumental tracks are complemented here by an energetic remix from Mario Moretti. To finish off the record is a stripped-back “bonus beats” edit by Hysteric.
The new Blind Allies release will provoke your senses and create a rhythmic tunnel of the finest electro emotions. Tracks by Cyphon, Davide Piras, DVS NME, Obzerv, Olloy and Polytunnel.
The Kraftjerkz compilation series “Machine Funk Is Our Game” is back with another installment. Volume 5 features some long-time players like Alonzo and DJ Di’jital, while also introducing some new names to the Kraftjerkz roster like Konerytmi, Zarcon, Cybereign (remixed by Mr. Kraftjerkz himself, Kid Ginseng) and Bart Karlos. There’s really no filler on Machine Funk is Our Game, Vol 5. It might even be the best installment of the compilation series yet. In terms of quality, this is electro at its finest, and any of these six tracks would enhance any late-night set.
Interpretations created by The Jak. Made In Chicago. The Kid Jak strikes again with two infectious dance floor cuts. The A-side brings that oldskool Chicago and New York house music feel in it’s most direct form while the b-side has that psychedelic flavor over a simple beat track. “Experiencing music collectively is a critical part of absorbing it’s meaning and it’s unique ability to communicate abstract ideas that resonate differently with different individuals.”
Palmbomen II’s new album ‘Make A Film’ can be viewed as a faux crash course in film making plus the soundtrack to score your first movie. This beautiful double vinyl album comes with an extended step-by-step course on writing, directing and shooting your first film. To make it easy, Palmbomen II included twenty four tracks that set the right mood for different scenes, from “Medium Melancholy” to “Slightly Dark”. Everybody could ‘Make A Film’.
28 years ago Chris Mann and Paul Darking released their debut EP on Andrew Weatherall’s (RIP) Sabres Of Paradise. A year later another EP came out on the same imprint, followed by two albums on Weatherall’s label Emissions Audio Output and a bunch of EP’s on Emissions’ sub- labels. Two more albums saw the light of day on Iris Light Records, but the start of the new millennium brought a stop to the creative output of the production duo known as Blue.
Icelandic dub techno linchpin Yagya returns for a second release on his emergent label, Small Plastic Animals. The music Yagya crafts is spacious and atmospheric, using the techno tradition as a vessel for meditative as well as emotional exploration and experimenting with sound design according to a specific, patiently cultivated style. “Always Maybe Tomorrow” finds Yagya ruminating on the behavioral energy of environments as viewed from afar – the man-made electricity of urban expanses and the interconnected flora and fauna of ecosystems. Looking to his chosen tools as a means to express these ideas, he employed a non-linear approach to each of the four tracks on this EP, choosing to create musical systems in constant flux rather than composing each piece in a conventional left-to-right narrative. Yagya’s trademark voluminous chords and vast pads ebb and flow through filters controlled by LFOs and randomness, creating their own micro-incidents and macro evolution as though holding a mirror up to the environments the initial inspiration was drawn from.
The Hipodrome Of Music 