Franco’s 5
Tony Allen – The Same Blood
Tony is my all time hero, when he drums you can’t stop dancing, I could have choose any tracks by him really. Watching him I learned you can be super groovy if you peace yourself and play quiet, exactly the opposite of what pretty much everybody does.
Sobanza Mimanisa – Kiwembo (Congotronics 2)
Dirty, groovy, rough, psychedelic, love every bit of this.
Grace Jones – Hurricane Dub
Grace Jones, anything from here seriously. This cut features the mighty drum & bass kings Sly and Robbie, you can feel where I got my delays and reverb trademark dubs. Deep!
Sylvester – Need Somebody To Love Tonight
Bass line, sick groove, lush pads, I think Cassius really got inspired from this, love it!
Massive Attack – Angel
Probably my top album, so un-pop and dark it becomes ultra pop. featuring the best singer in the business. Reggae is in veins.
Bruno’s 5!
Sly & The Family Stone – Family Affair
This is where everything has started for me. Learning glorious bass lines on my bass guitar and going deep into RnB and Soul. This one tracks has always been my favourite, incredibly groovy but laid back at the same time. Super!
Depeche Mode – Just Can’t Get Enough
When I first heard the keyboard sound I fell in love for those 80s synth lead sounds! that’s why they are extremely present in my productions as well. I literally just can’t get enough! OK sorry…
Giorgio Moroder – From Here To Eternity
He’s obviously just the pit of the iceberg of Italo, I discovered his music and then dug deep into this electronic sound of Italy back in the days. I think Franco & Bruno productions have a very peculiar Italo vibe, it’s a precious background we have in common.
V.A. – Space Echo – The Mystery Behind The Cosmic Sound Of Cabo Verde Finally Revealed!
Synths, dirty funk and percussion, a great match I couldn’t get inspired by. This is one of my favourite compilation, just brilliant!
Capofortuna – Crush On You
Definitely one of the best releases came out lately, DJ Rame form Pasta Boys and Funk Rimini joined forces to make these great tracks! The prove awesome things are boiling in city of Bologna (besides tagliatelle of course).
Franco & Bruno – Grazie e arrivederci EP (PARTYFINE)
Franco Agario & Bruno Belissimo are a new act who hit the ground running with this fantastic debut EP on Partyfine, the label run by Yuksek since 2013. As well as two collaborative solo tracks, both artists also remix one of the tracks each to great effect.
The pair pride themselves in having some fantastic disco credentials as well as a fine grasp of their studio machinery. Their authentic, timeless sounds are fully formed and mature in both execution and ideas.
Opener ‘Arrivederci’ is a brilliantly flabby and slow motion but drawn out disco epic. It has wobbling drums and hooky little percussive patterns with expansive synths taking you to the stars. It’s deep and cosmic and one to bring subtle joy to the floor. The excellent ‘Grazie’ picks up the pace with huge, warm kicks driving it along. Here the bassline is busy and knotted, the pixelated chords have an astral feel and there is a really uplifting sense of mood throughout.
Then comes the Frank Agario remix. His vital version of ‘Arrivederci’ is busy thanks to the arpeggiated chords that dance about the mix as a heavy bassline drills deep. It’s rooted to the floor yet reaching for the skies at the same time and offers plenty of fresh disco perspective. Closing out a stellar EP is the Bruno Belissimo remix of ‘Grazie.’ It’s a real tease, with rump wiggling bass and more perfectly programmed chords jumping about the scales as pumping drums bring the pressure. It explodes into a hands in the air moment at the mid-point and is sure to get a huge reaction.
These are four fantastically innovative new disco tracks from one of the most exciting new acts in the game.
Franco & Bruno – Grazie e arrivederci EP (PARTYFINE) Cat No: PFEP25
