Ltd. Ed. 350 copies
By popular demand, Four Flies is proud to present a repress of Azzurro 80’s AGIP, this time with a blue cover. The 7″ vinyl single, which marked the artist’s debut on the label, draws its energy from and is inspired by the Italian library scene of the 80s. More specifically, its retro but innovative sonic landscape combines shiny synthesizers and dynamic jazz-funk with pop and television culture.
As he himself explains, the name “Azzurro 80” is meant to refer to a particular shade of light blue: “a worn-out, faded light blue that feels retro and outmoded”, just like the color adjective “azzurro” feels a bit outmoded these days (most people seem to prefer “celeste”). Through his music, he aims to evoke precisely that color, and the nostalgic but comforting combination of sounds that corresponds to it.
Side A features AGIP, titled after Italy’s first national oil company (later absorbed by Italian multinational oil and gas company ENI), whose famous logo is a six-legged dog spitting fire. The track transports you to a night-driving scene seen through the eyes of a kid sitting in the back of a family car (i.e., the composer himself back in the 80s), the asphalt roads dimly lit by yellowish street lights surmounted by the fire-spitting canine.
Side B opens with ASTROTENSIONE, a cosmic synth-pop journey through a nebula, almost like the sonic depiction of someone touching a fast traveling asteroid, while TELEFONO GIALLO is a tribute to the late 80s Italian true crime and docudrama TV show of the same name.
Just let the tunes spin on your turntable and follow Azzurro 80 into his reimagined version of the Italian Eighties.
