Released in 1984 on EMI Electrola, Blue Visions’ ‘Visions’ is something of a cult favourite amongst cosmic/italo fans. Straddling the groove continuum of space disco and the synth soundscape of a sci-fi soundtrack, this is what the Tomorrow’s World theme would sound like if it was re-imagined by Danile Baldelli. Or something like that.

Blue Vision – Visions

Hello! Here’s my specially commissioned mix that I recorded for this year’s Magic Waves Festival. Showcasing the wide range of electronic music that we love, this mini mix smoothly glides from classic new beat, cosmic Salsoul to vintage Italo and nu wave house (well, I hope it does ).

Enjoy!

A x

Tracklist coming soon!

Days Are Numbers’ House Of Magic Waves Mix

Days Are Numbers’ House Of Magic Waves Mix by daysarenumbers

MAGIC WAVES 2010

I’m delighted to present an exclusive mix for Days Are Numbers from the delightful Casionova! Recorded just in time for this weekend’s Magic Waves Festival (have I mentioned that this week??), this delicious mix comes from one the finest purveyors of all things Italo, electro and everything in-between. Co-founder of Cyber Dance records with Ali Renault and Spruxx and creator of Magic Waves internet radio show aaand the aforementioned festival, Casionova is one of the stalwarts of the underground Italo/electro scene (and all round good guy). Devastating dance floors with his electric and beguiling mix of Italo pop and synth disco, this specially curated mix glides and bewitches and is a tantalising taster for the upcoming festival.

Hope you enjoy it as much as we did… spread the love!

Casionova… A Days Are Numbers Magic Mix

Today’s Single of the Day is from one of my favourite musical duos of all time, Deutsch-Amerikanische Freundschaft (or D.A.F to you and me). Comprised of Gabriel ‘GabI’ Delgado-Lopez (he’s the sceptre wielding gentlemen in the above picture) and Robert Gorl, they were proclaimed by none other than John Peel to be the ‘Grandfathers of Techno’ and to this day the pair remain the sleazy stalwarts of everything EBM, NDW and industrial.

Taken from their 1981 album Gold Und Liebe, ‘Goldenes Spielzeug’ was produced by legendary Kraut-rock producer Conny Plank, who also produced Gabi and Robert’s first three studio albums. Gentle yet menacing chimes are placed over the top of a tough and hypnotic analogue sequencer and drums, with D.A.F’s trademark intimidating vocals barking instructions to the dance floor. This is Golden techno-pop at its finest, sceptre and all.

D.A.F – Goldenes Spielzeug

MAGIC WAVES 2010

To celebrate the forthcoming Magic Waves Festival, Days Are Numbers is going all Italo, electro and synthy for a week! With special mixes from Casionova and one from yours truly, we’ve also got loads of, ahem, magical tunes that will gear you up for the weekend, starting with N.O.I.A’s 1983 Italo classic, ‘The Rule To Survive (Looking For Love)’.

But first, here’s the quick Resident Advisor blurb about this year’s festival…

The Magic Waves online radio station will celebrate three years of on-air activity this month with a two-day festival at Corsica Studios.

Taking its cues from I-F’s now defunct CBS, Magic Waves has set out to broadcast the best in Italo, electro and disco. To celebrate their third birthday, they’ve managed to secure some of the biggest names in both the UK and Dutch scenes as well as dragging some of the old guard out of retirement especially for the festival, which takes place next Friday and Saturday. Alden Tyrell, Legowelt, Mr Pauli and Moustache Records owner David Vunk will lead the charge from the Hague, whilst the UK is represented by a wealth of artists from Dissident Records’ roster, including Heartbreak, Ali Renault, Casionova, Helium Robots and Brassica as well as label owner Andy Blake. Their biggest coup, however, lies with the older acts they have on the bill, with Fred Ventura, Fockewulf 190 and Oppenheimer Analysis all set to grace the main room of Corsica.

N.O.I.A – The Rule To Survive (Looking For Love)

MAGIC WAVES FESTIVAL 2010

The sophisticated gentlemen pictured above has nothing to do with this Frightenin’ 45 but I thought it was would be nice to have a picture of a skeleton going out on the town rather than some ‘orrible Halloween picture. Look! He’s got a top hat!

Anyway, here’s an oldie but a goodie from A Number Of Names that’s guaranteed to get your bones shakin’!

Released in 1981, Sharevari is a seminal Detroit/electro/italo/disco-not-disco (delete where applicable) oddity. Its freaky robotic rhythms and spooky synths still send dancers into raptures, as this famous video will testify…

Still a classic!

A Number Of Names – Sharevari (instrumental)

Hoped you enjoyed yesterday’s incredible selection! Here’s part 2!

G.A.N.G. – Incantations

Stunning cover of two Mike Oldfield tracks rolled into one – namely Incantations and Foreign Affair. It’s as slow as they get but epic in its interpretation of the originals and mesmerisingly beautiful.

Camaro’s Gang – Fuerza Major

Alex Novaga-produced gem on Superradio that might be the best track ever made!!! A personal favourite for The Italo Exit.

Casco – Cybernetic Love

Salvatore Cusato was one of the most important Italo Disco DJs and his debut release as a producer was Cybernetic Love. Although it wasn’t a hit at the time it has gone on to become one of the most well-known and well-loved Italo Disco anthems of them all.

Jessica Blue – The Dark Of Light

Another Salvatore Cusato production from a couple of years later that was released on the fantastic Memory Records label. While getting a much higher level of success on its release than Cybernetic Love did it nevertheless remained amongst the less well-known trcks of the genre until relatively recently.

Stopp – I’m Hungry

O’Gar – Playback Fantasy

An Italo Disco anthem that never fails to set any dancefloor alight, and with one of the slickest pieces of sleeve-art we’ve ever seen.

Wish Key – Orient Express

While the train theme had long been milked to death on countless disco hits before this one, Wish Key’s ‘Orient Express’ is certainly one of the best. The melody is so infectious that it will be stuck in your head for days.

Crazy Gang – Every Sunday

Claudio Simonetti produced this band who made one album, and as you could expect from one of the masters of Italian music almost every track on the LP is a classic.

Sammy Gordon – Making Love

Pineapples – Come On Closer

Roberto Ferrante produced this when he was just 18 years old, and it sounds as fresh today as it did when it first came out. Recently resissued on Flexx records there’s no excuse for not owning a copy!

Mr Master – A Dog in the Night

Marzio Dance – You Can Do It

Amazing track from Xenon Discoteca’s top DJ/producer Marzio Dance. Although not as well known as Xenon’s Galaxi or Symphony which he also produced, this has tremendous mid-synths with an effortlessly catchy chorus and deserves to rank alongside his other classic works.

Endgames- You’re First, You’re Last, For Everything

Cellophane – Gimme Love

Alex Novaga gem that was one of the anthems from Rimini’s Club Cellophane. Made using tape loops and cheap synthesisers it’s one of the most enduring standards of Italo Disco to this day.

What a list! We just want to say a massive thank you to Celine and Joe for putting together this list. Hope you’ve enjoyed it as much as we have! Be sure to check out Italo Exit’s Facebook for more details, click here.

We love lists here at Daysarenumbers, so we thought we’d get some very special guests to put one together for us…

The Italo Exit is an upcoming club night this Autumn in Shoreditch run by Celine Ammeux and Joe Barnes. Driven by their passion for the classic sounds of Italo Disco, they aim to bring a true representation of the genre to the capital’s dancefloors and spread the good word of Italo Disco to anyone who’ll listen! They’ve compiled this list of classics, obscure gems and lost treasures to show us what they and the genre they love so much are all about – positivity, dancing and most of all… incredible music!

BWH – Stop

An undisputed classic of Italo Disco, Stop contains one of the most memorable piano refrains you’ll probably ever hear. Sung by the wonderful Helene and rounded off with a bassline that doesn’t stop building until the end, there’s no way you will be able to stop your body from moving along…

Mr Flagio – Take a Chance

Containing possibly the best vocoder line in musical history (and no we’re not exaggerating!) this is one of those rare cover versions that not only holds its own but possibly tops the original. If you want an entrance to what the Italo Exit is all about, this is it!

Pinto’s Device- Radio Star

Wanexa – Man From Colours

Produced by the legendary production team of Rago & Farina the original of this record is next to impossible to find these days, and it’s easy to see why – dark, majestic, dissonant and empowering this is early 80s doom-futurism at its finest.

Fockewulf 190 – Gitano

As a certain Italo DJ once said of this track in an interview: “It sounds like a cosmic sea-shanty sung by Viking Gods”. Mystical and hard-rocking, they don’t come much more classic than this. Guaranteed to destroy any dancefloor!

Methusalem – Time Machine

Steel Mind – Bad Passion

Slow-building and with slow bpm’s this track has one of the most addictive grooves you’ll ever experience, and lyrics that stand among the finest in Italo Disco. We can’t recommend this one enough…

Alba – Only Music Survives

A slightly more obscure track produced by the legendary Nicolosi Family and one that deserves a lot more recognition. Beautiful pianos, haunting vocals and stunning production mark this one out as something very special indeed!

Phaeax – Talk About

Jago – I’m Going To Go

A classic played much at the time of its release by the likes of Hotmix 5, this one appeals as easily to mid-80s Chicago as Italy and sounds as good today as it did twenty-five years ago.

My Mine- Hypnotic Tango

Another track that got adopted by the Chicago House movement (mainly because of its visionary use of the Roland TB-303) this has remained a firm favourite amongst Italo fans everywhere ever since it came out. The chorus is something that has to be heard to be believed!

Tato – Crazy Boy

The last track produced by the legendary Jacques-Fred Petrus, who some would say through his founding of the Goodymusic label was the father of Italo Disco. It’s remained amongst the most obscure tracks of the genre ever since it was a flop upon its initial release in 1986 but has recently been re-discovered and surely can’t remain obscure for long!

Number One Ensemble – Back to Heaven

Tantra – A Place Called Tarot

Celso Valli was one of the leading musical forces in the early years of Italo Disco, and Tantra were an act who enjoyed considerable success at the time on both sides of the Atlantic. A Place Called Tarot is an epic that will take you away on a mystic journey…

Azoto – Exalt Exalt

Celso Valli also produced Azoto, whose Disco Fizz LP is possibly the greatest Italo Disco album of them all. Almost any of the tracks could have sat well in this list but we picked Exalt Exalt, a sci-fi disco fantasy about a crew of a spaceship rocketing on towards certain destruction… vocoders, space choirs, relentless rhythms and the most solid bassline this side of Antares all make it an absolutely unforgettable sonic experience.

Read part 2 tomorrow!! Also, find out more about the wonderful Italo Exit here!!!

Released on the fantastic Italo label Discomagic in 1985, ‘Digitally’ was the instrumental b-side to Plastic Mode’s seminal track Baja Imperial. An excellent and essential synth-heavy piece of  Italo, it frequently features in the setlists of the likes of James Murphy and Metro Area. So enough of my yakkin’, let’s groove on!

Plastic Mode – Digitally

Taken from former Rainbow keyboardist Tony Carey’s ever-so-slightly-offensively titled 1982 instrumental  album Yellow Power,  the track ‘Radio Tokyo’ re-entered my consciousness yesterday when Mike Simonetti featured it on his stupendous FACT mix.

Drawing influence from Japan, Carey’s debut album has been described by the man himself as being “cult birth-of-techno cutting-edge at the time” and it’s hard to disagree with the Rainbow dude when the LP is packed with futuristic electronic sounds and synths. Radio Tokyo is a whirling yet slightly dystopian sounding Italo song, and is a splendid cut from this much sought-after record.

Still a dodgy album title though….

Tony Carey – Radio Tokyo