#THE DOUBLE HATS ON LUS' HORNS

[thesunlounge]

Reviews 188: Italo Funk

Italo Funk is a new compilation from Soul Clap Records presenting ten loved up and grooved out productions from an insane list of modern Italian artists. On the label’s Bandcamp, there’s an excellent write-up from compilation contributor Lele Sacchi that details the lineage of Italian dance music from its roots in American R&B and funk all the way through to 90s Italo-house. Within this vibrant yet underground house scene, a whole new generation of producers and musicians emerged, taking cues from their forbears while also pushing out into new and adventurous sonic territories and this 90s generation is where Soul Clap focuses their attention. But rather than presenting archival tracks and historical productions, the label instead asked the artists for new compositions and because of this, the compilation provides a welcome view into some of the far-out places the Italo sound has travelled in the intervening decades. And of course the music is pure fire, with a foundation of muscular disco rhythms colored over by an eclectic display of exotic shades and styles. There are many artists here that are old favorites, such as cosmic/balearic master DJ Rocca, vintage disco edit and boogie wizards Tiger & Woods, Dreamhouse Tropicana and sometimes Is it Balearic? contributor Deep88, and the Pastaboys-related Memoryman, Funk Rimini, and Capofortuna. But luckily, there are also a wealth of new (to me) artists such as Boot & Tax, LowHeads, Lele Sacchi, and Jolly Mare, each of which provides a whole new sonic universe to explore.

Soul Clap Records Presents: Italo Funk (Soul Clap Records, 2019) The most atmospheric cut comes first with “Macinare” by Boot & Tax. Sparkling cymbal taps cruise celestial waves of ambiance and blasted screams of static arc across the stereo field as enveloping bass pulsations are built from softly thudding kicks and subsonic currents. A wobbling jazz bassline walks through the mix and cut-up tom fills and wooden polyrhythms grow increasingly anxious while mystical horns blow muted sonic shadows and zany audial liquids slide across the mind. The song grows urgent once martial snare rolls and crashing cymbals start intercuting the flashing tom fills and as paranoid hi-hat patterns enter, everything comes together for a feverish hypno-groove where synths like alien woodwinds solo towards the sky…like spiritual jazz beamed in from another dimension. Capofortuna follows with “MA NU” and its low down synthbass hypnotics. Turntable scratches and bubbling voices samples join sampled crowd chatter while lofi cymbal and snare patterns glide through the air. When the disco kick enters, the filter opens on the bassline, revealing squelching synthfunk fire that supports the cruising double time hats. Cosmic pads stab out then flow in reverse while echo morphing, while vocal samples trail LSD tracers and psychedelic tones roll through the background ether. The slamming groove is also intercut by wild percussive transitions where tropical drum panoramas are overlaid by laser synths echoing eternally. And near the middle, we bust into a jammed out breakbeat that pushes the groove euphoria to a maximum while bending pads waver in place.

Tiger & Woods’ “Machete” sees snares splashing through puddles of gated reverb static while chugging electro-funk basslines sit beneath skipping clicks. Wiggling synth riffs scat alongside shuffling hi-hat patterns and tranced out snare rolls bring in drunken dreamhouse piano ascents, with several layers of ivory climbing together towards the sun. During hypnotizing drop-outs, the kick marches alone beneath French-touch filter clouds as the rest of the rhythms work back to full strength and sometimes the bass drums are sent through heavy high pass fx while island bongos drift in on a warm breeze, the groove growing airy and tropical while gliding on sunbeams. As when we smash cut back to the charged up disco fire, wonky resonant synth leads now converse with the radiant piano riffs. DJ Rocca compresses and crushes the drums of “Do U Lu Me,” while hi-hats and tambourines are mutated into blasts of white noise. An incredible vocal sample repeats the song’s title under spectral filtering until it is ripped into fractal shards…as if pools of neon fluid are dripping in all directions. All the while, a supremely psychedelic bassline sounding like a mutant clavinet growls down low and moves through the mix with hypnotic purpose. Vibraphones sitting under dubwise delay fx drop paradise melodies while flashes of horror movie atmospherics swirl beneath and sometimes the mix drops down to just the magical psych-basslines and panning hand percussion webs. And at some point, as the “do u luv me” vocal loop dances in the air, the rest of the drums slowly build back, eventually climaxing with a vibed out solo section of strange alien synth fx moving in ways that defy logic.

“My Brother” by Memoryman starts as marauding sub-bass currents work their way over some four-to-the-floor beat maximalism for an extended section of hard hitting club fire that is periodically brightened by nacreous synth vapors and organic woodblocks. Heady vocal samples diffuse through the mix while glowing house pads hover in place and off-time snare hits vibe out under layers of reverb. A charging tribal transition leads to a passage of pure propulsion, where birds flutter through layers of sonic mist and ghostly space synths descend and as the drums are reduced to just cymbals and snare and as the subaqueous bassline pulls away, gaseous electronics float alongside exotic synth trails through a wonderland of shadows. But eventually the swinging bass sorcery returns and the song rides high on a perfect paradise groove. Funk Rimini’s “Don’t Smoke” is deeply entrancing, as psychoactive voice samples and mind-bending ambient textures float over dusty percussion loops. Robotic disco beats emerge while alien bell tones float through the psychedelic clouds and a squelched and supremely fat MJ-style bassline drops acidic sunshine riffs. Ethereal pads diffuse into the mix before fading out and aquatic guitar loops riff towards the sunset while swimming through phaser clouds.  During a spellbinding section where the drums pull away, druggy voices chatter across the spectrum and fogbanks of colorful synthesis spring into and out of existence. Then, a glorious Rhodes performance brings the groove back home with its chilled and supremely soulful solo adventures.

LowHeads bring vibes of exotic sunshine with “Tsubasa,” as cymbals and hand drums pulse through a jungle of light. Robotic birdcalls pan ear to ear alongside liquid percussion textures and the kick drum pulls away almost as soon as it enters, allowing hypnotic organ riffs to work over the mind while hazy claps ring out. Electro-percolations underly massive bass stabs once the kick returns and we then find ourselves locked into some ecstatic ritual deep within a forest of groove. Hallucinatory drum fx pan around like the mating calls of extra-terrestrial fauna and at some point the kick drum again recedes, leaving behind a polychromatic world of synthetic nature sounds. As the fusion-tinged disco groove returns, ecstatic flutes fly through the humid air and attempt to converse with alien birds while beneath it all, thudding square wave bass sequences slide up and down the scale. Deep88 follows with a journey into the night, as “SP1200” revels in romantic deep house vibrations. City leveling kicks, panoramic claps, and thudding tom-toms nod out beneath balmy pads that hover like a twilight mist as harsh open hats keep the energetic groove gliding through space. Cosmic woodwinds rain down alongside interstellar mirage electronics…like glassy tones stretched into some sort of sinuous ether. It’s hard to overstate how massive the drums are, with the analog Roland tones dancing through subtle yet vibrant percussive patterns and overall, the song is mostly content to float endlessly on waves of dark fantasy, letting the hyper-active claps, cymbals, and snares control the drama while the soul swims through a cosmic ocean of sparkling synthesis.

A cerebral voice sample is cut-up and delayed in Lele Sacchi’s “Proud” while tropical bongos work over the mix. The bass drum pulls away as slapback shrouded snare and cymbal breaks jam out beneath euphoric rave stabs and once the kick returns, we find ourselves in a mediterranean paradise of gliding disco romanticism. Rapturous pianos rain down peace and harmony while flutes dart around like sunlight reflecting off water and it is impossible to resist the body moving rhythms and surrounding wonderland of soulful Italo melodics. The euphoric rave synths and ambient breakbeats return during a zoned out midtro and once we drop back into the paradise disco flow, it’s like sunshine raining down, blue waves crashing to shore, and bodies moving mesmerically as sea-foam tones and island dream atmospheres fall from the clouds. Jolly Mare’s “Dribbling” features a solitary splatter-kick marching through a new age wonderworld of arpeggiated electronics and feedback squiggles. Ebullient sequences fly over the uptempo kraut-disco stomp with springy tones of metal and glass while hyno-shakers pull the mind further into the groove. Oscillations move like clouds of cosmic dust, hand drums roll through infinite echo-chains, filtered conversations drift all through the spectrum, and evil twanging basslines emerge, eventually embellished by deep space squelches. Sometimes the song reduces to just kick drum, kaleidoscopic hand drum webs, and sinister bass riffs, as shakers evoke rattlesnakes and mystical desert vistas. Other times, everything cuts away, leaving the low slung basslines and psychedelic metal and glass sequences to intertwine with intergalactic broadcasts, radar transmissions, and disorienting alien liquids.

(images provided by Shine PR)