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AZZURRO 80

After the successful 7-inch release of Agip, Roman producer and composer Azzurro 80 is back on Four Flies with another triple-single that continues his love affair with dreamy synth-pop and Italian Eighties culture and society.

"Notte Inchiesta", on side A, could be the title music to an imaginary '80s investigative/true-crime program broadcast on late-night television. Clearly reminiscent in mood and texture of the soundtracks of late-70s/early-80s Italian detective-action films, it brings back the jazz-funk, post-prog and fusion overtones that characterized the music of those films. In short: a contemporary-retro sound nestled somewhere between Goblin's funk-oriented recordings, Azymuth's "Jazz Carnival", and electronic disco with a sprinkle of new wave.

Side B opens with "Equilibrio", which could serve as additional, more dynamic music for the same TV program mentioned above. The style is once againelectronic jazz-funk, but here we have abreak built upon a trail of notes chasing each other.

In contrast, "Sambuca", the single's closer, is deliberately nostalgic and melancholy. Perfectly suitable for visual narratives of an Italy that no longer exists, it sounds like one of those great Italian soundtrack themes that are able to convey tension and calm at the same time. The track is titled after the anise-flavoured liqueur that Italians often drink after their espresso, because "making references in my music to things that are part of our national popular culture is really important to me", as the artist has explained.

TRACK LISTING

1. Notte Inchiesta
2. Equilibrio
3. Sambuca

By popular demand, Four Flies is proud to present a repress of Azzurro 80's AGIP, this time with a blue cover. The 7" vinyl single, which marked the artist's debut on the label, draws its energy from and is inspired by the Italian library scene of the 80s. More specifically, its retro but innovative sonic landscape combines shiny synthesizers and dynamic jazz-funk with pop and television culture.

As he himself explains, the name "Azzurro 80" is meant to refer to a particular shade of light blue: "a worn-out, faded light blue that feels retro and outmoded", just like the color adjective "azzurro" feels a bit outmoded these days (most people seem to prefer "celeste"). Through his music, he aims to evoke precisely that color, and the nostalgic but comforting combination of sounds that corresponds to it.

Side A features AGIP, titled after Italy's first national oil company (later absorbed by Italian multinational oil and gas company ENI), whose famous logo is a six-legged dog spitting fire. The track transports you to a night-driving scene seen through the eyes of a kid sitting in the back of a family car (i.e., the composer himself back in the 80s), the asphalt roads dimly lit by yellowish street lights surmounted by the fire-spitting canine.

Side B opens with ASTROTENSIONE, a cosmic synth-pop journey through a nebula, almost like the sonic depiction of someone touching a fast traveling asteroid, while TELEFONO GIALLO is a tribute to the late 80s Italian true crime and docudrama TV show of the same name.

Just let the tunes spin on your turntable and follow Azzurro 80 into his reimagined version of the Italian Eighties.

STAFF COMMENTS

Millie says: If you missed out the first time then you're in luck, sleeved in a blue cover this time around but just as Balearic and breezy as the first (if even more so now) don't sleep on this one.

TRACK LISTING

1. Agip
2. Astrotensione
3. Telefono Giallo


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