Digital Emotion

Digital Emotion - Go Go yellow screen

"Formed in Denmark in mid-1983, Digital Emotion recorded two memorable albums of their funky electronic dance music. Their 1984 self-titled debut outing, which featured such infectious dance tunes as "Get Up, Action" and "Go Go Yellow Screen", was followed by Outside In The Dark, a year later. Both albums were produced the production team of Adam and Flesiner, whose past credits include overseeing recordings by the Videokids, Monotones, l-Vira and Q-Matic." (from Allmusic.com)

"Go Go Yellow Screen" by Dutch group Digital Emotion is about as solid as they come. Produced by Adams & Fleisner, this partnership produced a lot of hi- nrg electro for Break Records in the 1980s. Their style seems to have been co-opted by bubble gum dance groups from the 90s (aka Aqua and Venga Boys).

Digital Emotion - Get Up Action

Digital Emotion - Go Go Yellow Screen (download)

Glam, Clio, and Robert Ferrante

"More Than Ever" by Glam is an epic track from Italy circa 1985. This one gets a lot of play in Italo mixes I have heard online as well as internet radio. So naturally I felt compelled to put it up here. The clipped and repeated vocals give it a sampled sensibility and the signature delayed synth tones make this song hard to ignore. Produced by Robert Ferrante and Clio, who also collaborated on Clio's "Faces." Both "Faces" and "More Than Ever" feature Negel inspired album artwork from Patrizio Squeglia.


Glam - More than Ever


Clio - Faces

Glam - More Than Ever (download)

Clio - Faces (download)

Kwick - Too Lonely to Be Alone

Kwick - Too Lonely To Be Alone

I have always had a soft spot for funk, boogie, and soul and this track by Memphis based Kwick from 1983 has quickly made its way into my rotation. The band served as a backup on the Stax label in the 70s but renamed themselves Kwick after Stax folded. I was first drawn to the chunky bass and the smooth, quiet storm groove, and then the lyrics drew me closer. You have to respect the man who writes a song that gives an honest look at intimate moments alone.

Kwick - Too Lonely To Be Alone (download)

Francesco Napoli - Balla Balla

Francesco Napoli - Balla Balla

A wonderful medley by Francesco Napoli, I can't stop listening to Balla Balla! Check out his web page and his discogs page for more information.

Francesco Napoli - Balla Balla (download)

Wonderful Blogs to Make Your Music Collection Swollen

You don't need to speak any language to like good music. And bloggers around the world are putting up great tracks to listen and download. Its amazing what you can find when you start digging into the internet like a record store. A mutual interest and passion for music has united me (even in superficial ways) with people all around the world. If you have not yet checked out some of the blogs I have linked to do yourself a favor and start exploring what they have to offer.

Kefir - I just added this new one tonight. Kefir, from Russia offers some choice tracks for perusal and download.

Italo4You - This one has been on my list for a while and it is full of tracks. Another Eastern European exploration into Italo, they use rapidshare which can be a pain in the ass sometimes but its still full of great free music.

Italo-Disco-Funk-Music - Dario.zg has dropped by Italobot to spread some love and his blog can really put Italobot to shame. Please go over there and find yourself welcome.

Italo-Deviance - A conglomerate of Italian, French, American, and Dutch bloggers and DJs they have some cool re-edits and tracks on here.

Mister Italo - Mr. Italo has some great tracks and mixes for download. Stop by and explore the wealth of late 70s and early 80s disco and dance music they have to offer.

Arawa.fm - I have written about Arawa.fm before. These fellow San Franciscans are on the pulse of what is hot and hip right now. A mixture of 80s, Video art, and all around awesomeness, Arawa.fm never fails to please.

BeatElectric - Another San Francisco blog full of the hottest boogie R&B and funk. These guys are doing it real funky. Some of the stuff they post is like jelly and it just makes me melt. Keep it up.

Really there are so many great blogs out there and with a little patience exploring these blogs and their links can put you on course to discover music and music sources that make your collection swell to obnoxiousness.

No More Pop 7 - The Electrolytes Dance

No More Pop |7| - The Electrolyte's Dance

Playlist:

1 - Intro - Raumpatrouille Orion Lancet Start
2 - Boris Deart - Экология (1995)
3 - Keen K - From The Outside
4 - DMX Krew - Come To Me
5 - Bottin - Magnetic Cat
6 - Boris feat Daniel Wang - Portato
7 - Kinky Roland - Amber Raisin
8 - Alex Cima - Anna (1986)
9 - College - The Light Of Your Dress
10 - James Jack Rabbit - Let Us Have Love (1989)
11 - Young Monday - Prls
12 - Phoreski - Track 1 (Quiet Please! Album)
13 - Big Ben Tribe - Heroes (Instrumental 1983)
14 - Rubber Room - Take Me
15 - College - I Need a Better Engine

Download Mix

I received another mix from No More Pop featuring Neo Filigrante in the email today. These mixes have a brooding darkness to them that is somewhat consuming. There are some good moments on this mix so I thought I would put it up. Check out some of their other mixes at nomorepop.net.

Michiel Van Der Kuy, Laserdance, and Hotshouse Records

Primero - Oh Que Calor
Here is a track from the Netherlands circa 1987. I heard this one on Polska Stacja amongst some other great tracks that are helping me get through the day. And lo and behold it was produced by Michiel Van Der Kuy, a member of Italo supergroup Laserdance. This one came out on Hotsound Records a Dutch label that put out a lot of the Laserdance catalog along with other 'Hi-NRG' Italo tracks. It looks like Laserdance was there first issue circa 1986.

Alexander Robotnik

Alexander Robotnik - Problems D' Amour

One of my favorites from Maurizio Dami circa 1983. He has stuck in the production game through the 90s and 2000s. Check out his myspace page for more information. His production for Mya and the Mirror's "Hesitation" in 1984 is addictive. Just wait for the chorus and you will be hooked.




Mya & The Mirror - Hesitation (download)

Trans X - Living on Video

Trans X - Living on Video (1983)


Trans X had a crossover hit in 1983 with "Living on Video." And they have parleyed this one hit into a one hit empire.
Check out one of the many covers on youtube.


Pakito - Living On Video 2.9

Squash Gang and Indalo Music *

Squash Gang - I Want an Illusion (1986)

I featured this on my most recent podcast and it is a beautiful track. Produced by Felix B. Mangione for Indalo Music, this Spanish group had its biggest release with "I Want an Illusion" but also released the track "Moving Your Hips" in '87. And now it looks like they have reunited for some releases in 2009 that keep with the old school Italo sound. Indalo had a string of great hits including Tonight by Ken Laszlo, Bolero by Fancy, and Boys by Sabrina.




Squash Gang - I Want an Illusion (download)

Italobot Podcast 05 - Forgives the Sommelier

Italobot Podcast 05 - Forgives the Sommelier (58.3MB)
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Italobot Podcast 05 : Forgives the Sommelier
01. Dance - Betty Miranda
02. Johnny Johnny - Lala
03. So You Aren't Fall in Love - Mark Tower
04. Just a Story - Mike Rogers
05. It Isn't Changed - Michael Maltese
06. Africa - Anthony
07. I Want an Illusion - Squash Gang
08. Love Games - Robert Camero
09. Computerized Love (vocoder version) - Tango
10. Souvenir - Saxophone


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Sorry its a little sloppy. I had it all nice and smooth but the computer program went kaput and I had to start over. Enjoy the songs.

No More Pop |6| - The Burned Heart Of Ms. P

This arrived in my email a few days ago and I just got a chance to give it a listen. Its a pretty cool mix of electronic Italo -synth-vocoded-techno by No More Pop with Neo Filigrante.

Check out this mix from No More Pop entitled "The Burned Heart Of Ms. P."

1 - The Hasbeens - I Fall To Pieces
2 - Virgo Four - Do You Know Who You Are (1989)
3 - Six Brown Brothers - City Hall (1988)
4 - Tensnake - Toshis Battle
5 - Brian Ellis - NRG Tester
6 - Quartz - Chaos
7 - College - The Light Of Your Dress
8 - Astroport - Midnight At Mars
9 - White Maison - Night Driving (Williams main remix)
10 - Gesaffelstein - The Other
11 - Villa Nah - Ways To Be
12 - Downtown Party Network - Walk on Ice
13 - Explorer - Enjaw J (1982)

Italobot podcast 04 : Little Cella's First Italo

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Italobot podcast 04 : Little Cella's First Italo
01. Stop Fantasy - Plus Two -
02. Play the Game - Cool Runners
03. Glow of Love - change
04. Cybernetic Love - Casco
05. I'm Ready - Kano
06. Collision - sphinx
07. Shari Vari - Number of Names
08. Love Again (remix) - Savage


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Just a quick mix of some great tunes dedicated to my newborn baby girl. Enjoy!

Sandro Oliva

G.J. Lunhi - Acapulco Nights

Oh man I'm going crazy today with the posts but I have so much to give!

Sandro Oliva had a heavy hand in some amazing Italo titles. I already gave him a nod for his work on Ken Laszlo's Hey Hey Guy but I was excited to find his name on the label of Mark Tower's "You Aren't Fall in Love" and G.J. Lunghi's "Acapulco Nights." The list of titles that have been touched by this guy is long and he still is doing his thing.


Mark Tower - You Aren't Fall In Love (1983)

Mark Tower - You Aren't Fall in Love (download)

8 bit Computer Music

And now for something completely different. Some cool 8-bit music from Commodore 64 games including this sweet Robocop Commodore 64 loading music. Hearing some of these made me want to use some of these 8 bit sounds for myself. And lo the internet offered a solution.


The basic64 is a VST plug-in that will let you synthesize 8-bit sounds. It is a VST plugin so its not standalone. You will need audio software like FL Studio, Cubase, Nuendo, etc to run it.

Download it here

Gaznevada

Gaznevada - Special Agent Man

Gaznevada has me twisted with these releases from the early 80s. The Italian outfit recorded through the 1980s and has a consisntent sound of smooth synth disco. Follow up on them on their myspace page or check out member Marco Bongiovanni's website.

Bagarre

Bagarre - Lemonsweet

Sorry for the hiatus but things have been hectic. Here is a track from Italian group Bagarre that made some waves in the early 80s. I came across Lemonsweet on the Cybernetic Broadcasting Station Top 100 (now Intergalactic FM) but their song Dirty Love really speaks to me.


Bagarre - Dirty Love

Marco Bresciani, Radiorama, and Saxophone

Saxophone - Souvenir (1984)

Download Souvenir - Saxophone


OMD - Souvenir (1981)

This beautiful cover of OMD's "Souvenir" was produced by Marco Bresciani. Here I have included it with OMD's original from 1981.

He also did some extensive recording with Radiorama, recording one of my favorites "Chance to Desire,." His other work with them included "Vampires," "Aliens," "Yeti," "Fire," "Bad Girls," and more. What a wonderful imagination. I got a little carried away because the videos for "Vampires" and "Aliens" were too much.


Radiorama - Chance To Desire (1985)


Radiorama - Vampires (1986)


Radiorama - Fire (1987)

Italobot Podcast 03 - Rides a Boat to the BBQ

Italobot Podcast 03 - Rides a Boat to the BBQ
01. Buona Sera Ciao Ciao - Mauro
02. What My Heart Want to Say - Roger Meno
03. Cause You Are Young - C.C. Catch
04. I Want (remix) - Anneclaire
05. Serenade - Shah
06. Magic Symphony - Blue System
07. Shy Like an Angel - New Romantique
08. Toledo Girl - Cosa Rosa
09. Vamos a la Playa - Righeira
10. Voulez Vous Dancer - Ricchi e Poveri
11. Pile Ou Face - Corynne Charby

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Here is the next installment of the Italobot podcast. I just put some fun songs on here that I had to get out of my system. A little bit of Italo and a little bit of Euro-Pop for a fun day in the sun with some friends. Hope you enjoy.

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Muriel Dacq

Muriel Dacq - Tropique

Discogs describes Belgian born Muriel Dacq as a 1 1/2 hit wonder but I think that 'Tropique' has to count as 2 hits because I just cannot get sick of this song. I featured it on the first podcast and it just sets such a celebratory mood. I had to get it up here on its own along with her other big hit 'Là où ça'


Muriel Dacq - Là où ça