Daso has recently jumped over to Spectral but his unique take on techno, thankfully remains intact. Starting out easy, yet propulsive, Meine chugs along with telephonic chirps, picking up chords here, panning synths there, all moving together toward this hypnotic, whirling vortex of bliss.
This is SO my Italo track of the moment. Produced by synth wizard Roberto Ferrante (aka. Pineapples! I love Pineapples!) in 1985 with Clio Bianco of Clio & Kay on vocals, its an exercise in what one should do, if one was to find oneself alone, with a synthesizer, drum machine and rad 80's vocalist.
I'm going back to Ojai for a family fun-tastic Thanksgiving, but don't be sad. I'll find my way back home to ARAWA next week.
The production's so tight on this. Minimal yet lush, funky, smooth and that drum beat... who needs cymbals when you can keep it this funky with a kick and a snare? Its the sound of you and your girl (or boy) out late, eyes fixed on each other, under the lights, for all you know the only ones left on the floor. This is Couples Only Skate people.
Over sumptuous strings, congas, horns, vibraphones and of course, his nimble guitar work, J.J. Cale (the reigning king of ARAWA road trips) kicks up his feet, and tells us how to treat a lady. Listen up kids, he sounds like he knows what he's talkin about.
Based on that belt alone, she's my nominee for official ARAWA mascot. Wow. This song isn't bad either, a cheesy but effective arena Italo anthem, but really, I just wanted to put that picture up.
Dream Disco gets lots of love from the disco fanatics but what about poor little Baby Dream on the B-Side? Its a schmaltzy love theme set at a plodding pace, with big strings, cascading pianos and warbling guitar leads all come together beautifully to create a grand cinematic feeling.
1. Who thought these nine greased up, intense looking dudes could make such lovely sunset music?
Rollerboys Recordings. My favorite label out right now. This is a little unfair being they've only released two EPs but hey, they're two for two. First Bogdan Irkuk (whose Coastal EP should be dropping soon. Yay!) and now Ultracity's Swetalic EP. Ultracity is equal parts Elias Raam from Arken (who pulls remix duties on this EP as well as on the Bogdan Irkuk EP) and Yourhighness. The EP features two originals, the aforementioned Arken mix and a really nice Fabrizio Mammarella mix. My favorite is the EP closer, Twelve Year Drive. Its just the most sweet natured song. The kind of song that would just sit still and finish the movie if you nodded off in their lap. It starts off slowly, building off a warm bassline until arpeggios start trickling down from above, washing over you in their shimmering brilliance. So damn pretty.
My friend Jaime (Tuscon represent!) tipped me off that Weird Tapes has a new mixtape up on his myspace and you know what? Its super sweet! Where else are you gonna hear Escort, Wings, Frida, smooth disco, Kris Menace, Bowie, Blaze, hip-house and even a dash of euro-trance in the same mix? Nowhere. Okay, maybe somewhere. But it won't be this good. So there.
How have I not posted this yet? This is easily one of my top five Italo tracks. Sounding like a english-as-a-second-language Elton John, Gary rides a track packed with all manners of quirky synth work and child-sung choruses. Feeling a little blue today? Gary's got your back. How can you not crack a smile to something this shamelessly cheerful and fun?
Oh the bottomless pit that is Italo. How I love falling in again and again and resurfacing with something this lush and gorgeous. You Got My Soul is like the theme song for an alternate reality version of Twin Peaks. Domina fills in for Julee Cruise and the rest of the regular band at the roadhouse while the clientele's rugged flannels and jeans are mysteriously replaced with brightly covered italian suits and expensive two tone angular dresses. The band strikes up, swaying slowly in time, gazes distant, their sound echoing through the dancehall. You step out onto the floor and under the single blue spotlight you find this melody...
Argentinian super-disco heroes Fernando Pulichino and Julian Sanza quietly cruised back through our orbit last month, dropping their first LP as the Spirals in the process. For the uninitiated, Pulichino and Sanza also record as 2020 Soundsystem and Silver City (whose 2005 self titled album I still adore) and (not) coincidentally all three bands happen to sound almost exactly the same. Why not just have one band guys? It's not like The Spirals is the best name ever and you had to make an album to use it. Imagine if you went by one name (my pick being Silver City). Then you'd have like, three really good albums and a bunch of other eps and singles as ONE band. All those Discogs people would probably really appreciate it guys. Ok. Enough suggestions from me. Heres the title track to their new album Without Control. Vocoder+synth+live guitar and bass= Yay!
