La Batteria- "ST" - 3304 Penny Records 2015

   So hopefully you are familiar with David Nerattini (Little Tony Negri in the blog world) Well if you don't know he is also an incredible musician and drummer in modern band La Batteria along with Emanuele Bultrini (Guitars) Paolo Pecorelli (Bass) Stefano Vicarelli (Hammond C3,Clavinet,Fender Rhodes, Clavicamebalo, Celesta, Piano, Mellotron, Mini Moog, Prophet 5) and this is their new release on Penny Records.  When he sent me this I was quite blown away, I mean  I mostly care about old classic library and soundtrack records but this record is that good, that it deserves our attention.  They claim influences by the great composers of the 70's, Ennio Morricone, Stelvio Cipriani, Alessandro Alessandroni, Bruno Nicolai, Goblin & I Marc 4, and I would have to agree with that.  The record was initially intended as a Library record for Romano Di Bari on his Flipper Music label and mastered in historical Telecinesound Studios, property of Maurizio Majorana, bass player of I Marc 4.
   The recording to me is pretty modern sounding, think Calibro 35 as far as recording quality goes, but the style is very retro and true to the Italian librarys of the 70's & 80's.   The record starts with "Chimera" a beautiful acoustic guitar and harpsichord intro that falls into heavy compressed hip hop beats with super italian harmonies over the top.  THis is followed by, "Vigilate" and "Scenario" dope poliziotteschi style jams with heavy beats and wah fuzz guitar.  Next they take a step towards electro with, "Formula" which sounds like it would fit any number of Italian horror movies.  "Manifesto" is a complete rocker full of  female scat vocals and heavy riffs, "Dilemma" is a proggy Italian monster.  "Incognito" even has a De Roubaix meets poliziotteschi style.  THe album closes with "Persona Non Grata" a nice resemblance to Cipriani classics for sure with its repeating harpsichord and heavy beats.
  La Batteria will be released on CD & LP & Digital in Feburary 2015, European countries can buy it Here
USA residents can buy it from Forced Exposure Here
  For more info on David Nerattini and his day job at legendary label Flipper records, read here
You can stream the whole record on David's Youtube playlist here


 

Stelvio Cipriani & Various - Do You Like Dancing? - CAM CML 181 - 1980 Disco Funk Awesomeness!

  What a nice surprise with this one, I wrote it off cause of the cheesy title and because I don't like to dance, haha.  Boy was I wrong, while the majority of the A side is crap, side B is full of Cipriani gold.  Pretty much all the Cipriani stuff from the later CAM's is golden, like "A Wide Range Of Colours" "Rhythmical Movement Vol.1 & 2".  First let me talk about the non Cipriani tracks, A6 "First Family" by Maestosi & Trecca is just amazing beautiful melodic and beat driven, love it.  A7 by Patucchi is a really vibey lounge track.  B6 by Rustichelli is a great spaced out bossa track.  Now to the Cipriani stuff, B1 is spaced out lounge at its finest, B3 is a great bossa track led by piano.  Next are the 2 best songs, B4 "Green Eyed Woman" is a perfect porno funky jam not to be messed with.  Also my favorite "B5 Private Lessons" spaced out disco funk perfectly suitable for porno music.  Totally untouchable, those chord changes give me chills every time, just listen to that punchy stabbing rhythm guitar.  Soundclips ripped from my personal collection and MP3 Trades accepted. Chris Tillotson

Gianni Fallabrino - Progetto Europa - 5508 002 Fontana - 1980 Top Notch Prog Jazz Funk Disco!

  This record is crazy good.  Obviously if you disregard any 80's library even early 80's  as not your thing, then this one won't be the one, haha.  When listening though I don't ever get a cheesy 80's vibe and actually might be the funnest Fallabrino to listen to I can recall.  When I saw the cheap price tag I thought gap filler but no way, this is a mixture of high class jazz, funk, disco and prog, my favorite genres.  Every song is entertaining and interesting for sure, it's not often you hear a band change styles from song to song like this.
   My two favorite jams on this are A5 "Insegne Luminose" one of the finest prog disco songs I've ever heard, has all the goods, female scats, fuzz, driving beats and dark bass lines.  This song is followed by A6 "Autodromo" which at times reminds me of King Zerand scoring the Cannibal Apocalypse OST.  Other notable jams are, "Leitmotiv N.1" and "Passeggiando"  but really they are all amazing.
  This one's on the same label as Fallabrino's "Musica Nella Spazio" which sells for mega bucks so don't assume it will remain cheap, every library record started off cheap don't forget, but who knows maybe I just have bad taste, haha.   My Full 320K rip from my collection and please behave yourselves and don't leach my rip or youtube links as your own, though I know some of  you still will, haha.   GET IT HERE    Chris Tillotson