It’s been nine years since Antoni Maiovvi released Trauma on Bordello A Parigi and now, he returns with “Birds of Paradise”, his latest musical incarnation. This avian themed four tracker is beyond anything you’ve heard from this synthesizer wizard. Complex, deep and layered, the EP is testament to a talent rarely heard.
Ma Spaventi is a wonderfully versatile artist. Over his decade-long career, the Italian musician has turned his capable hand to everything from ambient to techno. Once again, he is expanding his sound palette and challenging expectations with “Vicino Lontano”.
In a future that is closer than it may seem, a vessel is sent back to earth, to find out what caused the final demise of human kind. Reporting and recording their findings, Lords of the Future are sending us tunes of sad robots, lonely algorithms and artificial intelligence in moral conflict with itself.
One of Stockholm’s finest exports, Elfenberg arrive at Bordello with four slices of synthesizer goodness. The duo open with “Forever Alone”. A cruising arpeggiator steers its way through glistening snares, rolling kicks and classic italo vocals. Night falls in the jungle “Conga Coronation”. The treetops bristle with birdsong, thickets of bongos, toms and rain sticks lead a path to dawning melodies. A wonderfully textured percussive piece, the track is intricately carved and demonstrates the diversity and depth of Elfenberg. The disco dipped futurism of “Sphere Of Missing Out” follows. Echoes of “Conga Coronation” rhythms are countered by beaming synth bars and vocoder lyrics with the Swedish pair pushing for the floor. “Cosmic Tribune” is the curtain close. Astral chords, spiralling key shifts and incising drums coalesce in this space inspired finale.
Bordello A Parigi’s latest release brings together two heavyweights for something particularly special. Aroy Dee, founder of M>O>S Recordings, has been at the coalface of machine music for more than twenty years; Marco Antonio Spaventi, an exceptional composer with over a decade’s experience. The pair offered the tear-stained vocoder ballad of “Desire” two years back, now they return for “Sorrow.” Crisp rhythms and considered synth scales form the bedrock from which J.C.’s emotion wrung lyrics ensnare. A tale of lovelorn pain, a psychological journey of lamentations and mistakes, the track adopts the heartache of wave romance and contrasts it with clean musical lines. The “Space Dub” of the flip transforms those powerful lyrics to give space for brightness to enter. Cascading chords and sunlight break through as arpeggio quivers introduce vocoder vocals in this superb re-interpretation that balances warmth with frigid shades.
Just in time for Hallween, ‘Night Of The Creeps’ is a fiery new disco single from Francisco and Malkuth that nods slyly to the 1986 cult comedy-horror movie of the same name, in which zombies, aliens and murderers all conspire to victimize their helpless captors. The track is a lo-fi electronic disco gut-puncher, replete with effortlessly processed vocals made to sound as demonic and low-pitched as LOTR’s Sauron. It speaks of nightmares, death, etc. On the B, Rodion serves up a nearly unclassifiable slice of horror acid, but to the trained ear it might be peggable somewhere between two interrelated styles, dungeon synth and EBM. Two absolute neck-biters from the Dutch camp, Bordello A Parigi.
Through darkness diamonds spread their richest light… Part five is here with Kiko & Endrik Schroeder from France, Club Mayz from Belgium, Martin Matiske from Germany and WLDV from Spain!
Following on from Tu Sei Pazza, Daniel Monaco returns to the Bordello with the bitter taste of the TB303 on his tongue. Acid Maria smoulders with the intensity of a Belgian new beat banger circa 1989. Smoky words whisper over rusted rhythms before the fog and strobe take hold. Cold strings haunt with snaking coils of 303 squawk growing ever bolder in this intense track. The flip is divided into two very different remixes. First up is Curses who approaches the piece in his own unique way. The fanfare and frigid lines of the original are expanded. Strings come care of guitars as a bright synth wave reimaging unfolds, a reimaging with one of the most daring breaks you are likely to ever hear. Younger Than Me close. This interpretation adds a fevered tone to the original. BPMs rise and pitches are pushed while chilly notes soon balloon into a frenzy to bring a full floor energy. Three tracks born to bring brimming basements into the beyond.
If you like your Italo-disco bright, full-throttle and peak-time ready, Thomas Blanckaert’s occasional work as Palermo Disco Squad (he’s better known for his rave-ready techno jams as Innershades) should be on your radar. It’s been four years since he last used the alias, but the project’s belated return to Bordello a Parigi is predictably triumphant. He sets his stall out with the freestyle and Bobby Orlando-influenced shimmer of ‘After All These Tears’, before opting for more chugging sequenced synth-bass and undulating lead lines on the slower ‘L’amice Geniale (theme)’. ‘Loupara’ sounds like a shinier, more sun-splashed ‘Please’-era Pet Shop Boys instrumental, while ‘The Return’ is a rushing, feel-good slab of freestyle/post-Italo fusion that’s as sunny and joyous as they come.
Bordello A Parigi announces the reissue of this italo club classic on 12″ vinyl. Written by Goomy aka Duke Lake aka Antonio Gabelli and produced by Alessandro Zanni and Stefano Cundari for the legendary Memory Records imprint back in 1983. This action-packed-track was one of those few italo disco productions that made it to the US airwaves with radio play on stations like WBMX.
Re-issue of this amazing italo banger, originally released in 1984 on Merak Music Italy. ‘I’m burning, I don’t know what to do. My love is like a furnace I know you feel it too. On fire, my heart’s in ecstasy I know we’ll stay together, the flames in you and me. I’m on fire, with desire for you. Can’t you feel it too. I’m on fire, want to be with you. Know you want me too. Being with you is uplifting me. Higher and higher so lovingly. Being with you is uptaking me. Farther and farther so dreamily. I’m on fire, I want you. Now I know you want me too. I’m on fire, I want you. Now I know you want me too.’
“I drive without emotion. I calculate each curve. I know that I will soon be the hero in the Grand Prix.” With Albert One’s lyrics ringing in their ears, steeling their nerves, a new generation of high-octane fuelled drivers fix their headphones and helmets. Formula One, the partnership of DJ Rocca and Aimes, rev their synth engines with the glinting ‘Digits’ and Racing 3000 is underway. The duo has some welcome surprises on-board, the spirited vocals of Fred Ventura for ‘Into My Life’ and the emotion-injected words of Hard Ton for ‘Step By Step’. Exhaust pipes flare and we’re cruising into the chicane of the title piece. Daring synthwork and lush notes are propelled forward by clean percussion as cheering faces flash by. An extended pit-stop is called. ‘Cocktail Time’. Caribbean cool and Latin rhythms are the tone set. Glasses clink and the barroom baritone gives voice to a world of electronic disco lounge. The tempo changes as darkness falls and Francesca Bono sings us a late-night love lament streaked in neon hope. No time for regret. Back behind the wheel and arpeggios rumble as ‘Turbo Slam’ glides from the city and back to the track. The chequered flag is in sight. Formula Uno are set for ‘Home’ as they shift into vocoders for a bright and free finish.
Through darkness diamonds spread their richest light. Part four of Diamonds In The Night is here with Zakmina from Lithuania, Elfenberg from Sweden and Some Chemistry and Pete Beluga & Du Chatinier from Amsterdam, The Netherlands!
The North of England is known for its musical prowess. Middlesbrough born Rees taps into that musical history while diving deep into lost disco, obscure wave and even the Middle East for his debut for Bordello. Three Eyes is a melting pot. Setting sail on bold beats and rumbling synthlines, Rees steers the listener through cascading chords, shimmering key shifts and serenading sirens to produce a truly unique dancefloor experience.
An obscure and hi NRG disco stomper from the mid-nineties unearthed by the Bordello A Parigi crew and produced by the one and only Bobby Orlando. It has glistening disco arps and throwback drum machine sounds powering it along with a great female vocal singing lines like ‘You can watch them making love on video.’ The opening Digital Mix is the best for us but the Vanzetti & Sacco cut gets a little more pumping for the peak time so will also come in handy.
A re-issue of this timeless italo ballad produced by Italian percussionist Massimo Pacciani. The song was recorded in 1984 in Marzio Bennelli’s studio in Florence with an Oberheim OB-X, Yamaha DX7, Marzio on guitar and the great vocals of Riccardo Galardini. They took inspiration from Flashdancers – Maniac (an italo cover of Michael Sembello’s ‘Maniac’) which they recorded the same day in Bennelli’s studio.
Balearic. Disco. Italo. House. These are the styles that forged Filippo Colonna Romano, aka Modula. The diverse musician has always drawn on a rich musical seam for inspiration. His latest album, Sounds from Montenuovo, calls upon a spread of sounds and styles. From the birdsong of the title piece, the listener finds themselves in the stripped electro-wave of “Party Crime” and “Night Warrior” with Pamina Chauveau offering impassioned vocals. The colder edges of emotions are exposed in the unsheathed funk of “The Anger” before the summer brightness and overarching warmth of “Looking At The Horizon”. Modula island hops from genre to genre, dipping into one sound before diving deep into another style to resurface with audio pearls. Tribal tones and melodic bursts come together in the exotic “Malicumbà”, a track which anticipates the pure synthesizer joy of the instrumental version of “Looking At The Horizon”. A vivid collection of imaginings from Romano’s studio, sounds that arrive via the clear waters of the Caribbean and the cinematic echoes of the 1980s. A voyage from beginning to end.
Originally released in 1982 on Cinofilm Produzione, Francesco Strippoli aka Armonics discovered the ‘Radio’ 7″ by pure chance last year near his home in Bari. It was in Vito Lisco’s basement, who written and produced this track together with Renzo Maria La Costa back in the 80’s. They polished up the original track and on top re-recorded the vocal parts, added some guitar riffs and remixed everything together for a modern take on this eccentric italo production by Evolution (L&L).
Bordello A Parigi is celebrating 10 years of existence, with a recently discovered unreleased Spanish vocal version of Mata Hari from the deep and dusty Blanco Y Negro vaults.
The Hipodrome Of Music 