Now a brief history lesson: Johnny Jewel and Mike Simonetti created a label called Italian Do It Better. I first discovered them through a couple albums they put out by bands Glass Candy and the Chromatics in 2007. They also put out a killer compilation called "After Dark" which featured Glass Candy and the Chromatics along with "label-mates" Mirage, Indeep, Farah, and Professor Genius. The Chromatics had roots in punk music before gradually shifting to italo-disco inspired electro with the release of Night Drive in 2007. Glass Candy had a similar shift in 2007 with the release of B/E/A/T/B/O/X. Both albums are great, in my estimation, and feature very similar styles.
The Chromatics have gone on to put out the critically acclaimed Kill for Love last year. They were featured on the Drive soundtrack in 2011, a soundtrack which Johnny Jewel was originally supposed to produce, however, because of in-fighting, between the studio and the production team, Johnny was ditched in favor of film composer Cliff Martinez who essentially made Italians Do It Better sound-a-likes. Meanwhile, Johnny Jewel composed Symmetry's Themes for an Imaginary Movie. He also got "Under Your Spell" by Desire (a new Italians Do It Better Johnny Jewel group) along with Chromatics "Tick of the Clock" on the Drive soundtrack. College and Kavinsky were also featured on the soundtrack at Johnny suggestion.
Which pretty much brings us today, right? Ok, so there's a new compilation out called "After Dark 2". Obviously, it's heavily inspired by Mr. Jewel and features some new bands for the label including Appaloosa (who had a single on Kitsuné in 2008/2009), Twisted Wires, along with the aforementioned Symmetry project. It features a great sampling of Italians Do It Better staples with three songs from Chromatics, four from Glass Candy, and a smattering samples from their colleagues on the label.
There's not much evolution in the songs on the compilation, but it's still filled with the slowed down italo-infused numbers that the Italians Do It Better people love (and me too). One stand-out, Twisted Wires' Half Lives, sounds like the beautiful baby of James Murphy and Johnny Jewel. Borrowing some of Jewel's signature fuzzed drums and adding a little bit of DFA's humanity giving soul. At the same time, Appaloosa's a bit interesting. The music is good. The singer is... well... she adds... something... She has a french accent and sings english poorly. With lyrics like "...love is such a precious thing, the heart searches down, shining deep in the sky!". Yes, I get it. They're trying to do the whole Italo-Disco thing of poor english lyrics in a foreign song, right?
The Chromatics sound less like 2013 Chromatics on this compilation and more like 2007 Chromatics. Which is great if you like it, but doesn't break new ground. "Let's Kiss" by Mirage is a 9 minute homage to Giorgio Moroder with extensive use of a vocoder. When are we going to get a Mirage album? Farah's "Into Eternity" sounds like it draws from Italians Do It Better and Nine Inch Nails. The anxiety laden track is great. And Mike Simonetti adds one of his, patented, computer Italo-Disco tracks (good background music at a lounge).
Overall, I like the compilation, however it doesn't move the label forward and sticks them firmly planted in their roots. Twisted Wires provides glimpse into a promising future, but if you liked the previous work you'll like this compilation. Oh and you can find it on iTunes.
MaGoGo approved.
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