Mondo Groove Italy Schallplatten & CDs

Review: Alkemy's Come On EP, released on Mondo Groove from Italy, delivers a captivating blend of deep house with influences of Balearic and Italo house. Side-1 features the original version boasting a mid-tempo groove with a nostalgic 90s vibe and rich melodies. In contrast, the DJ Ralf remix injects a more upbeat and techno-infused energy, offering a futuristic twist to the original track. On Side-2, 'Cloud' presents a melodic and deeper journey into the realms of deep house, maintaining a danceable rhythm while delving into more introspective sonic territories. Meanwhile the GNMR Reworked version takes a leap into the future with its proto-techno sound and deep synth vibes, offering a refreshing and unique perspective .Alkemy's Come On EP demonstrates the artist's versatility and innovation within the deep house genre, providing listeners with four examples of quality dance music.

Review: Cicciolina. Now there's a character. Disco-pop singer, porn star, politician, and ex-wife/muse of legendary shiny balloon artist Jeff Koons i it's fair to say the Italo-Hungarian icon has worn a few hats over the years. Perversion features a selection of reissued tracks from her 80s heyday, including the magnificently titled 'Sexy Porno Shop', which in itself renders the record worthy of consideration. If you hadn't already guessed from the preamble, the music is kitsch, to say the least, with bubblegum vocals, earworm synth lines and generally pulsing tempos. But there are hidden gems: the (ahem) innocent vocals and twinkling melodies of 'Goccioline', the rousing congas and inspired 'no drugs, I love sex, much more sex' vocal of 'No Drugs', and the brilliant cover of the Rolling Stones' 'Satisfaction'. Echoing far, far simpler times, it's either politically incorrect nostalgia or pioneering, sexually liberated abandon. Either way, it's bags of fun.

Review: Riccardo Cioni is well-known as a mastermind behind early Italo disco, coming up in the Florentine disco scene with his troupe, Bella Band. His later solo outings, first made on the cusp of the 1980s, marked a more electronic shift, and 'Darkness Inside' is a strong example of his best work from that time. First released in '84, the three tracks on this early nu-disco heater cement Cioni's chops as a deft, swift and talented producer, with vocoded jams such as 'Go Break' and city slap-bassers like the title track locking in something timelessly futurologic. It could only ever have been a product of its time, though; these are three serene, yet hard-hitting, proto-nu-disco bangers.

Review: Amasser of over 100 million streams in 2024, 'Ora che non ho piu te' ('Now I No Longer Have You') was one of Italy's top electropop hits of 2024. Attracting a panoply of remixers for use in their own DJ sets, Mondo Groove now commit four of the choicest of said redoings to a vinyl press, enlisting such first magnitude stars as Benny Benassi and DJ Ralf. Progressing through fine layers of burbling synth and cooing sentiment, we're most taken, however, by Samuele Sartini's closer, which the roar of crowds into descending synth beneficences, causing all heaven to break loose.

Review: Nigerian disco-boogie act Galaxy's sole, self-titled album has become a holy grail for Afro-boogie collectors over the last few years, so it's no surprise to see Italian crate diggers Mondo Groove giving it the reissue treatment. It was produced by Jake Sollo - one of Nigeria's premier funk and soul musicians of the '70s and '80s - and recorded in the UK, though it was originally only ever released in his home country. Full of killer grooves (Randy Taylor's bass playing stands out), spacey synths and group vocals from the trio known as the 'Galaxy Girls', the set is packed with highlights. Our picks include a sublime, slow-motion reggae-boogie cover of the Police's 'The Bed's Too Big Without You', the intergalactic, club-ready brilliance of 'Galaxy' and the unbridled, life-affirming sweetness of 'Next To You'.

Review: Moana Pozzi was primarily a pornographic actor, but during the 1980s and early 90s also notched up a number of club and crossover hits in her native Italy. This 12" from Mondo Groove brings together her three most sought-after cuts, adding in an extra unreleased treat in the shape of 'Bonita', a breezy-and-sleazy house-not-house number of the Balearic kind that was apparently a firm favourite in her 'spicy' live shows. Perhaps the best known of the included classic cuts is 'Supermacho (Extended)', where Pozzi's sleazy and dead-eyed vocals rise above a throbbing Italo-disco groove and chiming melodies. Elsewhere, 'Impulso Di Sesso' is a more dubbed-out and dreamy chunk of eccentric Italo-disco, while 'Let's Dance' is a synth-sporting, Madonna-influenced synth-pop treat.

Review: Unknownmix were Swiss-based singer Magda Vogel, electronic talent Ernst Thomas, Krautrock drummer Mani Neumeier and Hans-Rudolf Lutz and we have just unearthed some of their early classic in our warehouse. This time the outfit gets remixed on Mondo Groove by some venerated talents. 'Django' (1984 version) opens up with freaky and experimental vocal loops over percussive beats and then the Daniele Baldelli & Marco Dionigi remix has a more club-ready groove with loose percussive jumble and acid-infused synth bass lines. 'Japanese Funk Machine' is included in its original form and as a Delphi remix that flips it into a proto-house jam.