Paloma Supersound

Four Flies sheds light on the catalogue of the enigmatic Paloma Records, a DIY record label founded in 1983 by Bolognese composer, arranger, conductor, and singer Paolo Zavallone, who, after a long career in pop music and at RAI television, decided to venture into the world of library music publishing.The 12 tracks on this compilation were composed by Zavallone, who co-produced and co-arranged them with his friend Mauro Malavasi. The Paloma Records catalogue comprises just five LPs, all released solely for circulation among industry professionals and not for commercial distribution within a two-year period. Like typical library music albums, these LPs had very simple, plain artwork that hid their creators behind a game of smoke and mirrors fanciful pseudonyms, names of non-existent studio bands, and even figureheads. But despite its enigmatic nature, today the label's small catalogue reveals its extraordinary potential: it's utterly iconic in the way it captures the sound of Italian music in the early '80s, and not only in the library genre. For instance, we find the youthful, lighthearted cheerfulness and playful silliness characterizing early-80s Italian light comedies (Zavallone had been involved in his comedian friend Ezio Greggio's film debut). But there's also a certain type of action music driven by aerobic-sporty boogie-funk, perfect for dance scenes. Not to mention plenty of slowed-down disco, often with elements of fusion ("Bengala"), as well as the ever-present action-packed funk, used in many early-80s Italian films to create a sense of urgency and evoke a detective-genre vibe ("Police", "Questura", "Africa Dance"). And, of course, electronic music, here in the form of krautrock-influenced tracks built solely on layered synths, and which seem created specifically to score TV investigations, political debates and current affairs features ("Teulada", "Cronaca Nera", "Telespazio").What is particularly surprising is the modernity of tracks like "Green" or "Atmosfere": they're like pristine.

1: Atmosfere
2: Telespazio
3: Cronaca Nera
4: Teulada
5: Questura
6: Police
7: Africa Dance
8: Attualità
9: Bengala
10: Green
11: Prateria
12: Terzo

Composer: Paolo Zavallone

Number of Discs: 1

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