Back in June the Netherlands finest analog Disco merchant, Boogie DJ and all-round nice, smiley, fella; Auxiliary Tha Masterfader released the single Disco Machine. Disco Machine was his first release via Brixton dancefloor collective Nude Disco label arm. We said “Sounding authentically like an early 80s European dancefloor hit, Disco Machine sets up all the genre’s tropes for Aux to give them his own person spin. Synthesizer gold.” Did you hear that? Synthesizer GOLD!
Aux’s music is for people who love synthesizers, for people who love the history of European dance music; Italo, Boogie, Disco and beyond, and for people who from whom dance music is about more than the drop. It’s music for those souls who can be taken to other planets, losing themselves in the robotic ebb and flow and the dancefloor. Aux is a man with a passionate love of vintage dance music and a hardware studio to be envious of; a killer combination.
This month Nude Disco released a companion to Disco Machine. It’s titled Disco Machine: Italo Edition. That’s pretty straightforward in terms of titling. This new release, as you’d expect unless you were painfully inept, featured four of the modern synthetic Disco scene’s brightest rising stars whipping up some mechanized Italo magic all over (the already quite Italo itself) Disco Machine. The Sanfernando Sound, Italo Brutalo, A Copycat and Rimini Rimmers all deliver pulsating reMixes of the track. Here’s a couple of fresh examples.
Manchester’s dark electronic overlord, The Sanfernando Sound serves up one of his special blends of classic EBM, mid 80s Italo and early Futurist SynthPop. Like that jacket you’re wearing brings out the blur of your eyes, The Sanfernando Sound can bring out the ominous, aggressive side of a track; his reMix is a pounding Italo juggernaut. Built on rock solid beats and factory floor basslines, this reMix strikes a nice balance between industrial Funk and uplifting grace with an airy lead line, accompanying the original’s vocoding, that glides across the mechanized dancefloor backing.
Italo Brutalo’s reMix is, ironically, not as brutal as The San Fernando Sound’s. A shuffling and skippy affair, Brutalo plays with the original’s groove with a syncopated bassline and a bit of a Pet Shop Boys vibe. Intertwining springy and flanged synth bass and choppy arpeggios all come together in a complex mix that presents as a deceptively simple whole. Multiple layers of rippling electronics weave the tapestry of a mid-80s Mediterranean dancefloor smash. This tune almost makes you see in VHS video effects.
♫ Auxiliary Tha Masterfader – Disco Machine (The Sanfernando Sound reMix)
♫ Auxiliary Tha Masterfader – Disco Machine (Italo Brutalo reMix)
Auxiliary Tha Masterfader’s Disco Machine: Italo Edition is out now.
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