ANTONI MAIOVVI Schallplatten & CDs

Review: The first release from Minimal Rome in some time sees label boss Valerio Lombardozzi curate a mini album of dramatically charged power electronics themed around "the silence and the noises of the plague". Lombardozzi naturally features under his Heinrich Dressel alias, and is complemented by solo contributions from Giallo Disco founders Antoni Maiovvi and Vercetti Technicolour along with Alessandro Parisi and Umberto. Fans of cinematic synth heavy soundscapes are probably licking their lips right now, and the five tracks do not disappoint. Dressel's opening "La Peste" is almost yearning in its widescreen deployment of synths, whilst "Spitalfields 1665" from Maiovvi is a more forceful arrangement. Not Not Fun regular Umberto is a more stripped back, restrained mood with "The American Dream Plague" whilst Parisi's "Calamitas Calamitatum" is full on Giallo dancefloor horror and perhaps our favourite here!

Review: Antoni Maiovvi's latest synth EP 'Birds of Paradise' is a dark, brooding release that draws inspiration from classic horror soundtracks, avian themes and early synthwave. Like something between an 80s title theme for the mothman and a modernist fever dream for automobiles taking flight, each track here is named after a quirkily-named bird, whether that be the Quetzal or the Streamertail. In keeping with the thermal-riding and soaring feel of the music, every track contains subtle birdsong as its texture, not to mention beautifully danceable yet minimal melodies.

Review: Antoni Maiovvi, a Bristol born artist of no fixed European abode, has been infiltrating strains of Obscure Disco, Synth Disco and Italo-Disco for several years now, but if feels as if the wider world is finally ready to embrace his gothic vision. As the Giallo Disco label he runs with Vercetti Technicolour grows, so does a creative partnership with Umberto for Death Waltz Originals, and now we have Avrokosm. Some six tracks long, Avrokosm is a fine debut for Amanda Brown's Not-Not-Fun label, charting new levels of Maiovvian mysticism and dancefloor pleasure - see "Road Worn" and "Afternoon Youth" for the most compelling examples of this latter facet. The sci landscape sleeve artwork from Annita Rivera is superb too!