Skull Snaps
It's A New Day / Trespassing

Four Flies keeps digging into the secret archives of Alessandro Alessandroni to bring hidden treasures back to light. After two successful releases - the EP Afro Discoteca and the compilation album Lost & Found -, it is now the turn of a new 7’’ single featuring two tracks with a strong soul-funk influence, sung by the Maestro’s beloved Cantori Moderni in a typically Italian harmonizing style, poised somewhere in between gospel and disco music. Both tracks are previously unreleased and were recorded in the same 1976 sessions that birthed Sangue di sbirro (Knell / Bloody Avenger), his most blaxploitation-inspired soundtrack.“Shine On”, on Side A, is a disco-funk anthem driven by a killer rhythm section, with heavy drum breaks and bass lines enhanced by a powerful brass section, string interludes and Fender Rhodes phrasings with a distinctly jazz-funk flavour. In the same vein, “Prohibition” on Side B is a mid-tempo funk floor-filler built on a super groovy bass line on top of which are layered prominent brass and Wurlitzer passages. This is another great find that expands the known horizons of Alessandroni’s discography. And it won’t be the last one...

Harmless Joking Edits by Molio HoliTwo songs from Molio Holi’s back catalogue get the Secret Disco treatment in all their extended dance glory."Harmless" sounds like the Happy Mondays doing a post-late-late night, early morning recording session in Ikebukuro. Taken from Molio Holi’s excellent full-length cassette "Yopo," released in April 2021 on Everyday Ago, the track is all shakers, finger snaps, lazy tight bass, bongos, sixties-tinged psychedelic drones, blasted keys, and catchy call and response vocals with the most too-cool-for-school delivery this side of the Yamanote line. Secret Disco reworks the number to the 9'57" mark. With no additional production, the loping, 111 bpm ditty is extended for all its blissful worth."Joking" pictures New Order smoking cigarettes with The Cure in a rainy Kabukicho alley at 4 a.m., all eyes on the puddles gathering at their feet. Released in December 2021 on Molio Holi’s own Soleil lunatique imprint as part of the brilliant "White Sunlight" EP, the song combines sparse drum machines, synth bass, melancholy chiming keys, and searing, razor blade guitars. The beautiful vocals are a detached kind of sorrowful, an aloof despondency. Secret Disco splices up the original, rearranging it to more than twice its original length to maximize the pensive 120 bpm dance floor experience.

Sensational by Erika de CasierSensational expands the universe of Erika de Casier’s 2019 self-released debut album Essentials. Where Essentials dealt more with the infatuation stages of love, Sensational has more of an attitude, aiming to dismantle the stereotype of single women looking for love, tackling relationship dramas and the toxicity of dating. It was a chance to rewrite scenarios in ways that empowered her, fantasising about what could’ve been.Sensational was produced by de Casier and Natal Zeks and is a breath of fresh air to anyone with a passion for music in all its genres, as much influenced by Aaliyah and Janet Jackson as house, garage and techno. With hushed, pillow-soft vocals and production that references turn-of-the-millenium sounds, de Casier’s sound surveys the past while looking to the future.

ITALIAN LIBRARY SONGBOOK VOL. 1 | Alessandro Alessandroni by Jessica Duncan, pAd, Alessandro Alessandroni

Happy Milf Records are proud to present Tony Cook’s The Lost Tapes Vol. 1, a 4 track EP, consisting of all original Modern Funk/Proto-House previously unreleased songs.The legendary Tony Cook, one of the most influential artists of Funk music, and James Brown’s drummer, has produced many great records since the early 80’s, from Boogie, Electro Funk, and House Music.This EP showcases the versatility of Tony Cook’s creative repertoire and is a testament to his very unique style of production.