VA - I-Robots - Turin Dancefloor Express present Phantom Record (2018)

Opilec Music celebrates the Italo Disco institution in fine style delighting us with the most important tunes from the legendary Phantom Records; a ride deep into the world of this cult label that during the 70's & 80's produced music that had already been acknowledged as a serious influence on modern disco sounds. Emerging in the late 70's early 80's, Italo bridged the gap between Disco and House, and was a staple of seminal Chicago D.J.'s like Frankie Knuckles, pioneering many of the drum machines and synths used today. I-Robots, the best connoisseur of the genre, especially for what concerns the Piedmont area, played the role of a curator and selector with his projec "Turin Dancefloor Express". The eleven track collection album features originals and rarities officially licensed for the 1st time to Gianluca "I-Robots" Pandullo during the 2016 that also re-edited 2 tracks. The album comes with original Phantom Records logo on front and original 7" and LPs covers and photos of the era on the back for the vinyl edition repressed with a special collaboration with Opilec Music and Mondo Groove. It starts with "Come With Me" by Carlotto. Roberto Carlotto is a keyboard player and singer very active since the 60's. His solo recording career began in 1971 with a 7" which was followed by the progressive rock cult album "Dedicato A Giovanna G." signed under the pseudonym Hunka Munka. Already distinguished in those years for its remarkable technique and the high quality of its equipment, an incredible number of keyboards and even the first examples of electronic tape batteries. "Come With Me" is an incredible unique Rock-Disco tune pressed only on 7" and highlights all its instrumental and vocal abilities on a tight rhythm. In the album there are the original version and the long "I-Robots Reconstruction". "Cometa Music Hall" also came out as 7" vinyl edition released to promote the homonym discoteque. A kind of Psychedelic-Disco still very current produced among others by Enzo Draghi, key figure of the Phantom. Roberto Ferracin is behind the "Music One" project, that only produced one album of short Electro-Disco jingles. Here the 4 most powerful. Every Italo Funk-Disco collector knows "Radio Cosmo 101", a soulful jazzy Disco-Funk produced by the homonymous radio station that was born in Alessandria in 1975 from the idea of Tony De Giglio, his two brothers and a group of friends. At the end of 1974 Tony saw "American Graffiti", hence the idea to create a free radio, at that time very popular thing in Italy. The programming will take place at De Giglio's house and the wavelength was, in fact, 101 Mhz. It will immediately become a serious, demanding thing, with programming that begins in the morning at 10am and ends at 11pm. The flood of 1994 put in serious danger the future of the private radio, which however saw the end of the programming only in January 2003. In the album there are the original versions and the long "I-Robots Reconstruction". "Don Luigi Bernini" is a Piedmont priest lent to Music; it was started by his father who played the organ in church; in those days the electric organ did not exist and therefore the father used the little Luigi to push the bellows. The boy soon learned to play too. He then entered the seminary but continued to study Music and graduated from the Vivaldi Conservatory of Alessandria in piano and choral composition. Later he also gave the teaching of music education at the State School. It was introduced into the world of Pop Music by producers Riccardi & Albertelli and debut with a single in 1977. Of his discography the most interesting work is undoubtedly the weird "Telepatia" of 1979, produced in collaboration with Roberto Ferracin (Music One) and Enzo Draghi, an experimental album, electronic, psychedelic, with the theme of good and evil always in the foreground, from which it is "Whirlwind"… For all Italo maniacs