Here comes the second volume of “The Dark Side Of Italo Disco“ compilation. This Italo Disco vinyl series is synonymous with deep, mystical, melancholic songs. Harder and darker beats make these songs selected by Flemming Dalum very special titles of the Italo Disco scene.
Pioneers, that’s what we call them. Not properly a giant team, but a bunch of forward thinking producers. In the heyday of the italo disco there was some forward thinking, a new way to address the club scene. 1985 is the golden year and if you want to get to the core of the synth-pop experience look no further ! This previously unreleased compilation collects a series of unbelievable tracks. An outstanding vision featuring la crème de la crème of the early 80s scene. All the way from electro wizard Alexander Robotnick to the astonishing performance of vocalist Mya Fracassini, through the French connection of Bigazzi brothers of Mon Bijou.
Killer rendition of the classic Led Zeppelin stomp, arranged by famous dj & producer Massimo Barsotti. Programmed by none other than Maurizo Dami aka Alexander Robotnick, this robotic version is delivered with alien vocals and cold as ice synth lines. Still a favorite for many international djs.
Based on an original idea by fellow producer Lennart, Ritmo Fatale & Slow Motion are joining forces in creating a new entity in the italodisco multiverse : Universo Parallelo. On this ten tracks various the idea is to showcase artists from both labels, trying to merge their Italian and French music approaches. Known faces, new aliases & fresh newcomers share the bill on this existing adventure.
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.
Waste Editions is back with a new compilation called 429 and once more, 4 new and colorful tracks were carefully chosen by the Andalusian label. The E.P is intentionally made up of four creative and admired artists. Besides and as is becoming the custom, these four diverse tracks are full of catchy melodies, touching arpeggios and powerful beats. Conscientiously, there is harmony between the four artists, Vortice Mortale, Imiafan, Asymetric80 and Undo & Casiowaves and without a doubt this compilation can show anyone no interest in trends and bet on music that the label loves and respects.
This was the sole release of ghostly electro wizards Zed, released in1983 by the mysterious couple of J.K. Eller and J.P. Enten. Universal love meets artificial intelligence in this feverish number.
Originally released in 1982 this pure electro-jam was a surgical trait d’union between the italo-disco phenomenon and the American boogie. The frantic vocal version is paired with the instrumental on the b-side. Scientific Saturday night fever with vocoder and the likes.
Originally released in 1981, this cosmic italian disco anthem written by Claudio Gizzi has charmed diggers the world over with its subdued mannerism and breathy vocals. Sounding like a Julee Cruise soundtrack cut meeting a Tuscan ‘theque, the song hears Italian TV presenter/actress Patrizia Pellegrino utter deep-resonating lyrics into a funky and dark beatscape, in what has been described as an ‘erotic futuristic ode to the cosmos’. Remastered and pressed to wax once more for your pleasure, ‘Miss You’ is a charmer and relationship-rekindler for the ages.
An Italo Disco rarity from 1985 now available again as a 12” maxi single. On side A there are the rare original versions and as a highlight on side B two new and exclusive remixes by Flemming Dalum and Viktor Ark.
Active for over 25 years as a music journalist, writer and author of books, Giosuè Impellizzeri was, for a period, also a composer. Through several records recorded since 2002 as DJ Gio MC-505, he has developed a sound obtained on the crossroads between chiptune, electro and synthetic disco with a few glimpses of funk, techno, house and EBM. Now completely dedicated to journalism, Impellizzeri has stopped creating music for over a decade. In the drawer, however, he still had unpublished tracks, written and produced in the past, and five of them now end up in this EP entitled “Saved From Oblivion”: from the cinematic “Il Bacio” to the legoweltian “Jupiter Lander”, from the biting “Picnic On Pluton” “to” Sexy Song “that plays with 80s synth pop up to cybernetics” The Eyes Of Memory “in which you can see trails of SID style. Made between 2005 and 2006 and recorded live in a combination of hardware and software instruments, the tracks of the EP are subject to an adequate and effective mastering.
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.
Something very special here with Slow Motion’s 48th release. Recorded while experimenting with gear at CIMM studios (Venice Biennale’s centre for computer music which Bottin co-designed in 2019), EYE-BM is a joint release between two of our heaviest hitters: hairy Fabrizio Mammarella and baldie Bottin. EYE-BM is three tracks of sinister music, sweaty electro with tinges of cyberpunky EBM and New Beat. The icing on the cake is the euphoric remix from Italian synth wave pioneer Alexander Robotnick. The acidic and jacking flavour might as well be the sound of your mind and body losing it on the dancefloor or missing your stop on the ass-bahn.
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.
A tale of paramount love for machines and the inextinguishable power of subjugation that lies in these button-studded boxes teeming with cabled bowels that feel so intimidating to the uninitiated, Italo Brutalo’s longed-for debut album “Heartware” is a 12-track voyage across 25 years of intense synth collecting, fiddling, composing and endless loving for audio synthesis and the art of how robots make human bodies jack. Throughout the twelve cuts that compose “Heartware”, a feeling of retro-gazing, candidly playful glee prevails.
Obscure Italo disco from back in the WBMX HOT MIX 5 days. This rare and in demand vinyl originally pressed in ’84 finally gets an official reissue via Turin Dancefloor Express featuring original versions along with a new I-Robots remix.
Members Only returns with 4 more Worst Edits. “Fake News” sets the tone with pulsing synth bass and New Wave guitar. Heady cut-up psychedelia and an appearance from John Cooper Clark on “Pagan Paradise”. The B-side opener is pure intensity, before a soft landing on tropical “It’s A Long Way Back”.
The Hipodrome Of Music 