La musica si muove appena: The ILM ITALO Poll (Results Thread)

it's pretty amazing how deep you can go and keep finding great songs.

“the years go by” is truly amazing. songs about the wasting of one’s life tend to kind of stay in that “bummed out” mode throughout (citation needed), but Fred unleashes a mega power boost with a massive chorus of hope and inspiration. So good.

damn, i am going to have to go through that list when i get the time. only ones i know of those are youtube megahit "faces" and nemesy - the nemesy album is pretty much the only good italo _lp_ i know of

Sensitive’s “Driving” sounds to me, not an Italo expert, like the halfway point between Shannon’s “Give Me Tonight” and Noel’s “Silent Morning”, which chronologically it sooooort of is.

so so good

“golden cage” isn’t Italo actually, it’s like bumrocks style r&b or something

here, have a youtube playlist

ah, i missed that you posted a playlist and have been looking these up manually! but it also means i got to find this great video for "you aren't fall in love"... i'm amazed and so happy that so many of these performances have been saved - the video for "a dog in the night" by mr. master is also really good...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xFnGvn2cFE

Nice! I dont think I put any “video” videos on that playlist. I’d love to see a video for “silent smiles”, Antonio Biolcati’s vocal performance is so damn majestic and he looks like such a hunky dramatic swashbuckler on his discogs photo

The Ram Band version of “Silent Smiles” is amazing too. Not sure which came first.

Thanks for the playlist, plenty of great ones I’d not heard before.

Some new discoveries for me from the Lost Italo/Euro Disco series:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4JC-HV0uSc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucgMP3oZBak

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGGGP-Dz0IE

^^been *loving* that novecento track lately, that chorus is such a belter. was pleased to realize that it's the same vocalist who sings "the night" AND "call me mr. telephone"!

also very much obsessed with this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5xbcnaE9H0

Not new to me, but they came up on shuffle, and I forgot how much they rock:

Gladiators - Quo Vadiz (fave lyric in the chorus: "We're the heroes / We are begging to fight")
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsVnTqmDBec

Gag - P.T. Dance (pretty sure I've been caught singing "He's Italian, little baby / Why you dance like penguin tiger?")
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldZw6wRxE0o

Re: Novecento - "Splendid Moment Together" is another great track with a wailer of a chorus

Very nice choices, I don't think I had heard either of those YouTube's, although I love Gags Flyin' Bolero which is such an incredibly atmospheric track.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jnb_9YgMN0Y

I feel the inspiration for “Flying Bolero” is the Kébekélektrik cover of “Bolero”—Gag’s version hints at the melody but never gives in. Cool A side though, yet another great one hit Italo wonder. I agree with the post above that this genre has seemingly no end of obscurities that turn out to be interesting*, especially if you factor in all the other strands of synth-dance that was happening around it.

*high tolerance of cheese/kitsch often necessary

The Hysteric mix on last week's Beats In Space is full-on italo, many on the slower/dreamier side: https://beatsinspace.net/playlists/1044/

I definitely slept on the almost-balearic vibes of M Like Moon – Sunlight, what a great track. Feels like I've heard it before in some other context, but can't place it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xpj7W5MgsoU

Also liked the slow mix of Diavolo and Fantasy's "Let’s Go For It"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARkA89zwAUE

Also, I do like the 2 new Ryan Paris/Sally Shapiro tracks (posted on the SS thread)

I have always wanted to try my own mix rather than just stringing together tracks on a CD and finally got around to making one... you gain some new respect for DJs who do this kind of thing live!

On soundcloud for the time being: https://soundcloud.com/user-429906735/babys-first-italo-mix

sounds good so far!

Nice work Skip. Agree with you about mixing italo live with the more variable structures (and tones). After initially learning DJing with (mostly) very linear house and techno tracks, learning to DJ earlier genres like italo were songs are valued as much as danceability, it definitely upped my DJ game. As a DJ who does not enjoy pre-preparing my set, my ability to think on my feet in the mix improved a lot.

Man I wish I could dance to these tracks in a club again… maybe next year…

The lyrics for Attack - Can’t Stop are hilariously clumsy. I love it.

Thanks Chew. One more, which is going to be all for now because Soundcloud has a 180 minute limit ;)

https://soundcloud.com/user-429906735/slow-motion-italo-discomix

Now that I'm listening to one of the mixes on soundcloud it sounds like garbage because of the bitrate... feel free to message if you want the full bitrate file.

because I'm in a Modern Talking state of mind:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jm12K2IVow4
Modern Talking • Do You Wanna

a lot can be (and has been) said about their ESL lyrics, but I think
I hear your heartbeat, heartbeat, heartbeat
Begging me for more
Oh, I need to hear that question
Like a dancer needs the floor
is pretty great

A new favorite for me:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UeVCFdcNFw4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6SZQOeJVYw

have lately been loving this my mine track that's not 'hypnotic tango':

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqM2VFvMlWw

love the susanne

new to me:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6T25SrEXXA

whoah my mine track is great

cool song and creepy cover art!

My Mine Zorro is a good one.

also digging this later valerie dore single (the last one under that name i think?) - could see it working in a balearic set

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Po-EyG26nTU

A little nonplussed at first but what an awesome guitar at the end.

is this the only Italo Christmas song?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpNWkKSA-GU

I DJ’d a few italo favourites among some other sonically related tracks recently on a video stream, here’s the watch again if people fancy a listen: https://www.timeline-music.co.uk/matthew-balaam-interleave-it-028-dec-2020/

Raggio Di Luna - Commanchero
The Real Deal - Salesman (Over-dub)
Riccardo Cioni and DJ Full Time Band - Fog (Extended Mix)
Azoto - Exalt Exalt
Talko - Psyko Flash
Salta and Roma - Doing It
Dario Dell‘Aere - Eagles in the Night
“Q” - The Voice of “Q”
Gaz Nevada - I.C. Love Affair (Chinese Version)
Fockewulf 190 - Body Heat
Evelyn Barry - Take It As A Game (Instrumental)
Kash in the East - Kamaleio
Sandwizz - Hey Chicas! Hey Chicos! (Do You Wanna Sandwich) (Sandwich Flip)
Tommy Walker III - Weak Neck
De-De-Mo - 'Cause I Need You 'Cause I Love You (Midnight Version)
Ghibli - I’m Looking For You (Instrumental)
Spellbound - ABCDEFGHIJLK.O.V.E., I Love You Baby
Trans-X - Living on Video
Mario Moretti - Danger In Deep Space
Monarchy - The Phoenix Alive (Disco Bloodbath's Dalston Dub)
Expansives - Life With You
Cristina - Things Fall Apart

Nice. Some all-time faves in there.

Thanks Emily, hope things are good with you.

Awesome

awesome rare track (by a german producer, apparently?): Pat - Back to My Boy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSq8Qs6bhqk

Perfect

Apologies if this has already been posted in the thread but this mix is still up and downloadable. I honestly can't remember how I found this but I've been listening to it for years. Nostalgia for sunny mid 80s summers, even though I never (knowingly) heard any of these tracks at the time.
https://soundcloud.com/neonjohnmusic/neon-vol-3-intermezzo-tranquilo

Pat - nice cheesy cut there.

Made a new mix, enjoy for the time being - Soundcloud doesn't have much storage space so it will probably disappear at some point. https://soundcloud.com/user-429906735/midnight-italo-madness-vol-3-underground

This was a new one to me, cool ~100 BPM track:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsjhpOmvTUc

Yeah I love that cover.. first heard it on this groovy bootleg : https://www.discogs.com/Various-Cosmic-Dancer-Voyage-One/release/480755

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZds6oz8C54

repressed on Dark Entries.

Recently went digging through a friends discogs and bought some holy grails to me but in the process discovered a bunch of other tracks that were new to me, and in most cases too expensive to actually buy but found a few on itunes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lG8L4omZSUI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJGI4IYrqYw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nx5LUnpl9UQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzcYG4yasKE

nice! that sahara band one is ace

this one's been on heavy rotation lately - evidently getting a reissue some time this year:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBWgC5e7dS4

some real choice cuts on this mix. also now i want limoncello

https://soundcloud.com/welcometorimini/lymoon17-suonodilimone

Diving into what could be the most amazingly uncool genre ever created https://t.co/Fn7MFnW6DT

— Pitchfork (@pitchfork) May 7, 2021

I was bummed he only hit me up for the top tracks at the end and I wasn’t interviewed for the article! Same thing happened a few years later when FIAT sponsored a boiler room Italo night. I was added at the end to a panel that included Josh from Dark Entries, Justin Strauss and Charlie Grappone from Vinylmania records. They had already booked the DJ lineup, I had to “offer” my services and Boiler room said “well we could put you on in the hour after the doors open but before the broadcast starts, from 9 to 10 and we can only pay you $300 but I assume you wouldn’t want that”. I was like uh, that sounds ok.

I started DJing to a huge empty room as people started filing in and by 9:45 had a full room of people dancing. At 10 I handed it over to Cheon and his Honey Soundsystem pals and the broadcast started. The other DJ’s that night were Jacques Renault, Juan Maclean and Nancy Whang and Disclosure. While talking to Josh and Jacques they both said something like “we’re gonna play Italo mixed with other stuff, who wants to hear just Italo?” And I was like if there’s ever a night to just play Italo this is it!