Collection: [Best Italy]

Nino Lepore

Club Band

Best Records get right to the heart of true Italo disco with this body-poppin' killer from 1983. REM were made up of Paolo Alfani and Nicola Serena, both based in Florence and well ahead of the curve with their experimental electronic disco sound. Making fantastic use of the Mattel Speak & Spell for their vocal hooks, this enterprising duo cooked up a veritable club bomb with their fusion of sleek drum machine rhythms, throbbing acid basslines and romantic synth tones that would come to be widely used in Detroit techno some years later. There's a full original take of the track on the A side, while the flip features a tweaked "remix" version to give you even more of that robo-vocoder action.

A near-mythical release from the Italian composer/bassist/karate don Pino Presti, Shitan was a one-off project in 1977. Slow, pensive, full of tension and loaded with detailed cinematic elements, it still sounds forward-thinking today. No surprises that the original 12"s regularly go for hundreds. Madly the long version never made it to the original 12" so this is the first time the full five minute version has been available. As if a repress wasn't enough reason to jump on this!

Coco Bill

Neddy Smith

Kongos

Stopp

Kristal

Fabrizio Fattori

Plustwo

Thunder

Kash

Orlando Voorn's Frequency alias reaches back to the start of the 90s and the beginning of the Dutch techno legend's career. As has been evident from a series of releases on Clone spin-off label Repetitive Rhythmic Research the name bears plenty of inspiration for Voorn in the modern age, as he juggles vivid, sounds with impressionistic flair to create the kind of non-conformist twist on Detroit techno you might otherwise associate with Terrence Dixon. 'Turn The Light' is as sultry as it is freaky, whether you opt for the original mix or the dub. Alden Tyrell and Serge are on hand for a remix of the track which heads more directly towards gritty Euro techno intensity, leaving Voorn free to roll out a masterclass in broken beat dub techno funk on incredible B2 cut 'Space Dub Work'.