Hand Stamped, Hand numbered, Limited press, with insert.

An oddly familiar/familiarly odd entity floating about the relatively cohesive surface of contemporary electronic music, Belgium-via-Italy based duo Front De Cadeau has been knocking genres askew and blowing overused terminologies out of the water with unrelenting panache over the past decade. Championing a sound unmoored by vanishing trends and cross-pollinating approaches, F2C punch back in on Antinote with their anticipated debut album, “We Slowly Riot”, an 8-track mishmash of tunes previously released and not.

Bastardizing tried-and-tested rave tropes by slowing the tempo down to barely recognizable shapes and contours, Hugo Sanchez and Maurizio Ferrara dish out a new high in their ever expanding discography. Free-falling down the K-hole with no parachute on, “La Ketamine” burns slow but steady. A practically immersive dub filled with processed minutiae and vibrational drums out a mystic forest, it’s a helluva trippy post-industrial joint that unfolds, heady and empyreumatic to the bone. “We Slowly Rot” puts on offer a buggy script-like swing, adorned with F2C’s trademark blend of spoken word and jacuzzi-warm vibes, whereas “There is Something Wrong” steers us into further sizzling, syncopated groove territories through a fevered meshwork of sliced-and-diced vox samples, overheated machine talk and primitive percussions on a African Headcharge tip.

Draped in eerie, 8-bit-infused layers and Arabian Nights ambiences, “Slam is Slam” treats us to a spookily fun Oriental mix of hot-tempered darbukkahs and FX-soaked riffs. The outrageously sensual “Ouvre Ta Bouche” is a tactile invitation to get down in some dark alcove of sorts and more if you hit it off. A steely dub primed for post-party divagations, “Climate Change” slowly veers off into verbed-out industrial jazz as bars run by, while “Legal Illegal” cuts a path of acid-dipped dancehall from outer-space across the club. Last but not least, Jewish clarinets quietly move along waves of sedated bass on “Casa Gaza”, rounding it all off on a dreamy, cinematic note that serenely phases into a liquid-like roller over one solidly deeper-than-deep home stretch. More

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Mugwump's Subfield label introduces its first signings with the Belgian-Italo duo Front De Cadeaux (brilliantly named after the Belgian EBM pioneer group FRONT 242). Front De Cadeaux are DJ Athome & DJ Hugosan. Hugo runs the Roccodisco label with Italian disco mastermind Rodion (Gomma/Nein) while Belgian killer DJ Athome has been spinning Italo wave & House in Brussels since the 90's. They expertly produced their own brand of "Supreme Rallentato", which is a fucked-up slo-mo italo, acid, disco, techno and house hybrid that so rightly fits with Subfield's mission statement of covering subgenres. Their 2 first outings on Roccodisco have been remixed by Fabrizio Mammarella and Optimo's JD Twitch, and a staple in Ivan Smagghe's sets. This full Ep on Subfield features 2 original F2C obscene & dirty slo-mo tracks at their most playful, "Ouvre Ta Bouche" and "Front De Cadeaux Theme" plus the magnificent dub-house of "Killers". Remixes comes courtesy of Factory Floor's Gabe Gurnsey (DFA) in a quite brutal bleep-techno mood and Manchester's nu-balearic kingpin Ruf Dug (Music For Dreams), getting into what he described as a " 808 snare roll warehouse analog fucked-up version". Don't sleep, it's a biggie. More

Roman artist Heinrich Dressel delivers a sparkling gaze into the future with the glistening ‘Lambda 2077’. Opening with powerful, guttural drones and sweet sweeps from ‘Nebulosa’, the broad sonic scope of this LP is beautifully demonstrated.

Growling arps and magnetic, synthesised moans are throughout this record. Dressel cultivates a cinematic, cerebral experience throughout each track, delicately weaving a visceral soundscape. The rising, slicing tones of the atmospheric ‘CEM 8220’ provide a compelling journey through meandering arps with a defined structure. ‘Arpeggio Jawa’ swims into action with a watery, colourful arpeggio sailing through each intriguing section.

‘Francisco’ opens things up with an electro-tinged, thunderous remix. Building upon the chordal gravitas of the original, the remix provides the release with an acidic percussive journey. The swirling brilliance of the title track ‘Lambda 2077’ presents itself as stunning, emotive work which prepares you for the decade Heinrich Dressel is heading to next. The machine lead release shows Heinrich Dressel as a consistent unstoppable force behind the synthesiser, culminating in an astonishing, sophisticated record. More

Ma Spaventi makes a slick return to Slow Motion Records with the captivating ‘Tornerò’.

Descending arps trickle into ‘Tornerò’ from the get-go. Vocoded vocals flutter through the masterful mix, weaving into inviting synth swells. Defined drums are firmly felt across this record.

‘Non Ce L’Hai Solo Tu’ is a Detroit-infused, fierce floor filler. Layering vocoder motifs with crisp synth stabs make for many a euphoric payoff. The intelligent entwining of electro, early Detroit house and Ma Spaventi’s effortless earworms are plentiful. His gift for haunting, strong melodic intonation is prevalent in ‘Costa Brava.’ A grounded, growling bassline rasps throughout the track, reeling you further and further into this whirlpool of brilliance.

‘Tornerò Reprise’ closes this magnificent EP beautifully. Whispering vocal lines are hauntingly blended with synthesiser noise, keeping in line with the swells across the record and resolving the first edition of ‘Tornerò’ with a more acidic conclusion.

The revered Italian producer, mixing and mastering engineer makes his abundant sonic expertise clear in this enticing LP. Encapsulating his talents, ‘Tornerò’ transports you to Ma Spaventi’s unmatched state of flow. More

Repress!
As head of Italian (centric) Slow Motion label (and international artist sister imprint, Wrong Era), and through his own productions and remixes, Franz Scala has been pioneering the retro-futuristic aesthetic of club culture weaving together elements of proto-house, wave and Italo for the nuovo contemporary dancefloor long before it’s current vogue. Now alongside Bordello A Parigi, and supported by Sameheads, Slow Motion presents Scala’s euphoric debut album Mondo Della Notte.

A homage to the world of the night where Franz plies his trade. Solid production and understanding of the various references informing the contemporary dancefloor imbues this set with a quality of permanence. Each track clocks-in at around the seven minute mark accommodating all Scala’s retro influences providing the space for walls of sounds to expand and unfold along these infectious rhythm voyages.

Industrial guitars signal the title track’s intent while ethereal vocal snippets escape the machines hailing to the listener through densely effected, spacey drums blurring the boundaries between disco and wave. Stelle’s cross-continental tunnel trip takes the listener to a darkened dancefloor. Flickering light emerging by way of rapturous synths complementing each other in short radiant bursts resulting in a steady, off-kilter workout that wouldn’t sound out of place during the latter years of The Paradise Garage. Cometa’s urgency hurtles through the void towards it’s destination gaining momentum with each synth stab and chorus leaving the impression you’re listening to some long lost classic that just collided with the planet. Dreamline a rhythm dense Chicago influenced jam packed with desolate, metallic strings; whispered, twisted vox, and haunting phrases. Rising from a swamp Chrono startles the listener, the track’s infectious trippy patterns reminiscent of the hazy trance that occured when clubbing collided with guitars at the dawn of the second summer of love. Museum of Illusion comes at you like John Carpenter scoring a heavy giallo soundtrack. The artist’s trademark tough, italo-informed drum workouts are best illustrated by Scala’s rework of One Way Love. The composition’s rhythms’ morphing into a darker proto-house framework with a tougher edge than it’s previous incarnation. Gladio’s hypnotic tribute to the foundational cyber-funk of Detroit ends this trip into the nether world of strobes and speakers, a sword-edged machine conversation between a measured motor-city bass and responding off-world hardware, the tracks warm undertones taking you inwards beyond the industrial world these sounds originally emerged from.

It is a tribute to Franz’s careful, attentive approach to his love of music that, for the first time, after a decade running Slow Motion, he finally releases his own productions through his own label. Mondo Della Notte, a collection of contemporary mutations grounded in previous era’s, is the culmination and testimony to his artisanal dedication to his own creative output and his obsessive enthusiasm for what moves the dancefloor. Enjoy this journey through the night. Ascolta forte.

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Summer is coming sooner this year, and you can tell from the heat of the two latest releases from Slow Motion: yes ladies and gents, Italian Dance Wave Compilations are back! The first of the two, “Italian Dance Wave Disco Sette”, is here to delight you: starting from a half Italo and half Asian influenced Altieri track, killing it with a dancefloor belter that will make you sweat the night away, raving sensations guaranteed. Lukebox (Fabrizio Mammarella and Umberto Saba from the duo Loudtone) will serve you a slightly more downtempo, modular, weirdo beast that will make your head bang without you even notice: banger. Back on your turntables, is also Robotalco who is providing some proto-house extravaganza and adding some charme to the dirty, chunky beats of the compilation. Last but not least, José Manuel, delivering a touch of biting deep house and electro tribal feels to close the gap, and make us scream “hell yes”.
1 Altieri - Red Town
2 Lukebox - Angola Acid
3 Robotalco - Cheers In Space
4 José Manuel - Got Down More

The eight chapter of the infamous Slow Motion Compilation series, “Italian Dance Wave Disco Otto”, has quite some hidden gems to be discovered. Beginning with a track from Marcello Giordani DJ (half of the duo Marvin & Guy), that expresses a perfect Italian melancholic sunset (as the title also states), energetic, strong, but always poetic. Always following that "beachy" vibes we find The Caribbean House, serving a track that could last a century, and we would never mind. Electro hints mixing with deep and balearic vibes: ears glued to the headphones. Moreover, we have again Slow Motion queen, System Olympia with a track that could make even nuns sweat on the dancefloor: beats and bass to die for. To close this chapter, you can pamper your ears with a angry balearic track from Gallo, not suited for the more weak hearts, that’s for sure.
1 Marcello Giordani – Viserbella Sunset
2 The Carribean House – Pavone Nero
3 System Olympia - Scandalous
4 Gallo – Not Enough More

Milan’s Brioski returns to Slow Motion for his first sole record following his appearance on the Italian Dance Wave compilation. Onertolati is four tracks of tweaked-out disco madness, off-kilter rhythms and electronic brain flutters. It’s kind of like being stuck inside a particularly sexy ECG machine. One of the heads and the dancers.

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It’s been a while since Marcello Giordani last release. Now the man who powerfully relaunch the Italo sound in 2008 with the acclaimed blog Italo Deviance is back on the scene after 2 years of hard work and research into the deepest and obscure Italo sound.
This 6 tracks LP travel through again into the unique sound of the early 80’s Italo Disco built with spacey analog sounds, some cheesy atmospheres and a touch of primitive Trance chords. Marcello’s taste is very clear and specific when we speak about Electronic Disco and this LP is totally inspired by artists like Farina/Rago, Sangy, Alexander Robotnick, Alessandro Novaga, Doris Norton and also from his experience collecting and playing this shit during the last 20 years. If you want to give a name to the style of this LP, call it “Organic Italo”.
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Shanghai based, Altieri second release on Slow Motion and it is an absolute belter. An insane mix of acid and middle eastern influences that punches its way to the cerebral cortex and takes no prisoners. Sure to any drive any discerning dance floor into overdrive, Spazio Terra is backed up with a peak-time remix from the man that always can Fabrizio Mammarella.
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