Palmares Vinyl & CDs

Review: Those with even a basic knowledge of Italian dance music will have come across Alex Neri productions before; during the 1990s, he recorded loads of house (and less frequently, techno), under a wide variety of aliases. In 1991, he donned the Axe Corner alias (alongside studio buddies Adriana Dodici, Marco Baroni and Pietro Peretti) and delivered Tortuga, an EP of moody blends of house and techno that now sound surprisingly far-sighted. A-sides 'OUT-SLD' and 'IN-SLD' are both forthright but funky techno outings whose bleeping lead lines and thickset grooves pay tribute to the then-massive bleep & bass sound (albeit without the colossal sub-bass and dub reggae influences that style was famous for), while flip-side cuts 'BAD-SLD' and 'SLD-Effects' deliver tougher, late-night takes on the organ-rich Italo-house sound.