Winter may be here, but Italo sun is rising in the Netherlands.
In 1985 D.Carred cut two pieces of golden ray Italo. In recent years these Italo Summer days have languished in dark clubs and darker collector closets. Now D.Carred’s lost works are getting the re-issue treatment. Italo is a pretty varied sound, some influenced by disco others by synth pop and. D.Carred’s could be described as beach blanket Italo, chirpy with synth undertones. The tracks radiate Italian sunshine, dripping with youthful energy and innocence. Bordello A Parigi have revived Carred’s Summer kissed pop on a double EP, I Want to Know the World. The title track was released in ’85 on Carred’s DEM Records. A superb piece of Italo pop is the result. Male vocals, female backing and serious synth hooks are the basis of the sound. The track has a floor friendliness with a prevalent freshness, something that other Italo numbers have lost due to age and repetition. Following the instrumental is Rambles version of “I Want to Know the World.” In a peculiar twist the track was first titled “I’ll Go Where I Like to Go.” The vocals are the same, the tune is the similar but its a female vocalist on this ’84 take. This version was released on the seminal Gong Records, responsible for the likes of Sensitive and Big Ben Tribe. Instrumentals follow before we’re whisked back to ’85 for “You’ll Be A Winner.” Big synth chords are at the core, with addictive lyrics catching throughout. The beat is steady with a thoughtful structure. The instrumental gives the DJ some extra ground from which to work. Italo academic Flemming Dalum and fellow Italoite Mike Salta are called on for remix duties. The duo clean up the original and gloss it with a modern spaghetti dance aspect to give two modern takes on “You’ll Be a Winner.”
Another Italo aficionado is being drafted in by the Bordello for a full twelve inches. From Australia comes the authority that is Hysteric. This edit man has reserved himself to MP3, until now. Life is Cheap breathes life into four obscurities. I must admit the original tracks are mysteries to me, but do seem inordinately familiar. “Don’t Wake Up” opens. The track is a slow building instrumental piece of italo, a synth constructed floor piece. Some early disco sounds follows with “Diskoceke.” From the vocals it sounds like some 70’s Yugoslav obscurity, a Loud E vault track if there ever was one. Reverberating analogue is the aim of “Brother Martin.” The track bleeds synth and classic disco together, the piece having something of an 80’s Canada mood. A cosmic close ends the 12″, the slow flow disco of “On Earth.” A diverse outing from the Down Under man.
The Italo revival has been under way for a decent few years now. I-F pioneered it alongside the likes of Intergalactic Gary and the West Coast Netherlanders. The Cybernetic Broadcasting System was a beacon of the sound, as is modern day Intergalactic FM. Clone have been part of it. I Venti d’Azzurro Records have been trailblazing the second age since 2007. So is this renaissance a Dutch affair? Magicwaves and James Penrose are proof of otherwise, but the Netherlanders do seem to love their Italo more than most. Bordello and Otto Kraanen are keeping the Dutch finger on the spaghetti dance pulse. Model Man opened the Bordello in fine form. Hysteric has served up four clean cut pieces of synth infused disco. D.Carred is a superb addition to the catalogue, a real gem of a re-issue. Happy New Year Bordello A Parigi, an excellent job done in 2011.
Both releases are available on Bordello A Parigi.
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