PIERO UMILIANI レコード& CD

Review: Dialogo Records continues to explore the vast back catalogue of Italian soundtrack and library music specialist Piero Umiliani, a composer famed for combining his love of jazz with all manner of global musical styles. First issued on his own Omicron label in 1975, Polinesia saw Umiliani and his band of talented session musicians give their updated, mid-1970s take on the exotica sound first made famous by Martin Denny. It's a hugely evocative and entertaining listen, with Umiliani's compositions making extensive use of lilting pedal steel, sweaty percussion, spacey analogue synthesizers, cheery chants, toe-tapping rhythms, easy listening orchestral arrangements and post-funk grooves. It's quirky and eccentric of course, but also hugely alluring and brilliantly performed.

Review: The first official reissue of Playtime by popular and prolific Italian composer, Piero Umiliani. Incorporating styles like jazz, easy listening/lounge, rock, funk, and bossa nova to a genre largely dominated by orchestral scores, he penned some of the most outstanding kosmische music from the '60s and '70s with over 150 titles under his belt. Originally released on Umiliani's own Omicron label in 1968, the album has been remastered from the original recordings by Noah Mintz.

Review: Piero Umiliani is a cult electronic musician who released his greatest album 20 years ago on Easy Tempo. On it, Umiliani experimented in his Sound Work Shop studio on all sorts of analogue machines and now, decades later, his legacy lives on with this new record, L'Uomo Elettronico. It is made up of three previously unreleased tracks, plus rarities and hidden gems, all composed between 1972 and 1983 and remastered from the original analogue tapes. They show a lighter, more playful side to the artist with singing synths, hissing hi hats and snaking rhythms that make for fascinating listening.

Review: Four Flies present another masterpiece from one of the all-time greats of Italian soundtrack and library music, Piero Umiliani. His work on the 1974 film Il Corpo ranks amongst his most famous work, and now two pieces have been selected from the soundtrack and presented on this exclusive single. 'Chaser' on the A side appears in an exclusive extended form which has never been released before, while 'Hard Times' on the flip remains the archetype of Italian jazz-funk perfection. This is a limited edition so don't hang around as these are sure to fly out.

Review: Piero Umiliani aka Moggi, is the man behind Omicron Records and plenty of seminal library records from the 1970s. The Italian jazz musician, most famous also for scoring many film soundtracks, here has one of his most dance-y tracks served up by Four Flies. It features an original version as well as a special edit retouched by Jolly Mare. The original was recorded in 1978 under one of his many other monikers, Rovi, as a way of not over saturating the market with his name at the time. It is a cosmic beats that chimes with the emergence of that sound and still does today.