Italians Do It Better US

Review: Saxophonist and keyboardist Jorja Chalmers has accomplished much over the course of her career - she's toured and recorded extensively with Bryan Ferry and Roxy Music - but debut album "Human Again" marks the first time she's stood centre stage as a solo artist. She has all the ingredients to succeed on her own, though: a bold look, a supportive label in Italians Do It Better and a signature style that's in turns creepy, claustrophobic, cinematic, atmospheric and seductive. More importantly, "Human Again" is superb, offering a synthesizer-powered mix of dark ambient instrumentals, David Lynch style soundtrack pieces, drowsy and clandestine sounding songs and cuts that wrap her distinctive saxophone solos around the most evocative of electronic soundscapes.

Review: After the brilliance of his intoxicating Themes From An Imaginary Film album, there's no doubt that Chromatics producer Johnny Jewel is on a roll. Here, he returns to his roots to helm the fourth full-length from the futurist crew, their first since 2007. In typical fashion, it's a beguiling set that draws on Jewel's usual cinematic influences. Musically, it sounds like a particularly heart-aching road movie, shuffling across the mid west via dark soundtrack moods ("Candy","11th Hour" and "Dust To Dust"), fragile balladeering ("Birds Of Paradise"), eyeliner-laden electronic moodiness ("A Matter of Time"), and Johnny Marr-goes-to-the-movies indie-pop (see "Kill For Love", "Into the Black" and "Back From The Grave").

Review: ** REPRESS ** Italians Do It Better continues with their deluxe reissue pledge for 2010 delivering the definitive edition of Chromatics classic 2007 album Night Drive. For a multiplicity of reasons (most notably misplaced master tapes) the version that has gained a million column inches in the past three years was never meant to be heard, an incomplete demo version burned to hand out at tours. Having located the masters some 18 months later, Simonetti and co do the smart thing in presenting this deluxe edition, replete with the five tracks missing from the demo CD and fully remastered. Thus Johnny Jewel's original cinematic vision is presented in its full glory seeping in analogue warmth. Enough words have been dedicated to the tracks that filled the 2007 demo version that it seems redundant to spill any more ink on the matter though the Kate Bush cover does sound delicious! The five extra tracks make this a more than worthy purchase, from the poignant piano heartbeat of "Shining Violence" to the final departure via the Carpenter esque synth dynamics of "Accelerator".

Review: Johnny Jewel's beloved band Chromatics made a lot of people very happy when they returned with this new album back in October. Now pressed to vinyl, Closer To Grey will be familiar to long time fans - it mixes up Italo, indie rock, pop and plenty in between into a lush soundtrack that is of no particular time or place. There is even a bit of trip hop on "Light As A Feather" and "Touch Red" and dalliances with chamber pop on "Move A Mountain." Its the tried and tested sound of Chromatics, then, but with some fresh new influences that only make it all the more essential.

Review: The Desire trio is made up of John Padgett, Megan Louise, and Nat Walker. Together, they've released a handful of EP's and an LP for the excellent Italians Do It Better, and they return to the label with a new six-tracker of off-the-wall, sultry synth disco. "Under Your Spell" is a soundtrack kind of tune, where Louise's vocals ride ever so well amid crunchy, mid-tempo drum machine beats, but there's also plenty of uplifting discotheque fun such as "Don't Call", and the supremely funky "Mirroir Mirroir". The B-side features a moodier vocal mix of the title track, the quirky bleeps and beats of "I Can Dream About You", and the beatless vocal mix of "Don't Call". Whether you're into synth pop, coldwave, or disco, Desire is sure to please your needs.

Review: Say yes! The definitive gossamer Italo floor fuel of Ida No and Johnny Jewel's Glass Candy outfit enjoys an expanded reissue here on sexy lavender vinyl after over a decade out of print. Nothing but synthetic positivity as both the title track and "Drumm" stride with an almost marching feel before "Where Time Sits Still" plunges much deeper into moody new romantic cinematics. Elsewhere other highlights include the slinky poignancy that lingers from every spacious bass pluck on "City Lights" and the trembling ambience and pressurised atmosphere of the finale "Sanctuary". Yes please.