BLUE GAS Vinyl & CDs

Review: Celso Valli's one-off project Blue Gas produced an all-time Balearic killer in "Shadows From Nowhere". It's so smooth, Best Records have decided to return to it after their 2016 reissue with a fresh proposition for the diggers who can't get enough of this timeless gem. This time around, New York-based producer Danilo Braca has been given free reign to deliver his own interpretation on the B side, coming up with a nine-minute dream that accentuates the rhythm section and nudges up the tempo just a touch to make it supremely funky, but without losing that all important dreamy atmosphere.

Review: In the previous reissues we talked so much about this fantastic piece and "Marie", a very cinematic and supportive song, that now it is appropriate to dwell on the re-visited version of Danilo Braca that extends beautifully on the AA side of this new remastered reprint. Danilo who lives in the big apple often frequents Ibiza, perhaps also for this he has been able to exalt the most rhythmic elements of "Shadows from Nowhere", putting the beautiful falsetto beats to excessive movements, just like the waves that wash themselves on the sandy beaches of the White Island. His teacher Mario Gentili from Layer Bows added a beautiful arrangement for the strings and his Italian-New York collaborator Alvise Marino spread some fragments of guitar powder on top. That's it. 9 minutes of pure bliss, but also of catchy rhythm!

Review: Archeo Records are at it again with another fine curio from the hidden corners of Italian electronic music history. This time it's the turn of Blue Gas, a one-off electronic disco project from Celso Valli that originally came to light back in 1983. The title track is a sumptuous Balearic diggers dream, all airy pads and laid back funk basslines. Elsewhere "Marie" is a surprisingly uptempo B-side, although here it's squeezed onto the A-side to make room for Manu Acheo's extended edit of "Shadows From Nowhere" which pleasingly drapes itself across the full spread of the B-side.