Urlaubshits

It seems amazing that in the past few years, despite the revival and critical reappraisal of Italo disco as a musical form, and a record label that proclaims “Italians Do It Better”, there are still very few Italians making contemporary Italo disco. Until now there has been one of real note - Black Devil Disco Club, but given that Bernard Fevre was producing this stuff back in the 70s, it feels somewhat wrong to call him a contemporary producer of Italo. Thankfully, with Bottin’s debut album, Italy has a native nu-Italo producer to be proud of.

The album’s title may conjure up images of a Goblin inspired trip through Dario Argento horror movie nostalgia, but in actuality it is filled with thick, Moroder-esque basslines that inspire dancing rather than dread, though there is a definite undercurrent of something creepy which runs throughout. The album begins with, aptly enough “Horror Disco”, which sets the tone for what follows. It starts with a chirruping synth line which really holds the track together, constantly bubbling away in the background, like a demonic chattering, which, in conjunction with the low, rasping spoken vocals, make the track sound like an exorcism being carried out in a disco. But the emphasis is always on the disco, as the focus is very much on the melody driven elements, but with just enough atmosphere beneath the surface of each track to justify the album’s title as a whole. The other track that makes real concession to the title is “Disco For The Devil”. It plays out like the opening theme to a long lost B-movie. It’s the only track on the album with sung vocals, but they are delivered with the kind of delivery that is necessary of lyrics like “Down on the dancefloor someone is creeping/You’re at the discotheque you should have been sleeping”. It’s phenomenally camp, but it works because it feels so utterly authentic (perhaps because the vocalist is one Douglas Meakin, who has worked with Goblin’s Claudio Simonetti).

But horror movies aren’t the only trope that seem to provide inspiration for the sounds. With it’s trumpets “Venezia Violenta” has a sound that apes car chase funk and blaxploitation grooves more than it does Italian slasher flicks. But it’s “Theme From St. Mark 30124″ that manages to floor me every time. Possibly even managing to outdo recent Italians Do It Better release “No Static” (which is also on the album) for sheer pleasure, it has a slightly housier feel (especially in the some of the sounds at the higher end), with dubby vocals offering a rhythmic element which helps to stop the huge bassline from dominating.

More than anything though, this album feels like a trip back in time. Tracks like “Magnetic Cat” and “Undercover Monkey” utilise the kind of melodic playfulness that characterises a lot of genuine Italo disco, with the instrumentation to match (flute, strings, wonky synths). But it’s the darker edge to Italo that Bottin nails which stops the album from veering into the realm of pastiche. What really has to be applauded however, is that in a genre increasingly dominated by remixes and singles, Bottin has managed to create an album, 14 tracks in length which maintain enough quality to make him no longer one to watch, but a producer who has well and truly arrived .

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Download:> Bottin - Theme From St. Mark 30124

Horror Disco is out now on Bear Funk

Buy it on CD from Juno