2022

Swimming is the first release on Periodica International, and finds Daniel Monaco collaborating with MC Matsui for two tracks of oceanic esoterica, wherein grooves of spaced-out disco and Mediterranean funk meet textures of early electro and hip-hop. Skeletal dancefloor drums anchor flamboyant basslines as they work between liquid smoothness and a staccato pulse, cosmic keyboard accents melt down like starlight, and synth leads snake through solos of alien baroque and Arabian exotica while palm-muting guitars and tropical mallet flourishes add further colourations. And guiding the grooves are the lysergic musings, spoken word serenades, and proto-rap poetics of MC Matsui, who comes off like a stoned mystic wandering the beach as turtles and dolphins call him out to sea. (Words by Braden Balentine - The Sun Lounge).

In the studio of the small Italian town of Cremona, some of the famous but early representatives of a not-yet-named- music style called Italo Disco get together to record a song. Among them are the most active and influential singers, producers and arrangers of this musical movement from Cesare Pasquali to Jimmy Mc Foy including Ottavio Bacciocchi.Most importantly, two friends, Larry Pignagnoli and the famous Ivana Spagna, were writing a song together. It has been unnoticed so far, but always had the power and stamina to make the dead dance.Pardonnez-nous, but here it is !

After the recent reissue of their first eponymous album, Favorite Recordings proudly presents Vegas, the second LP from Venezuelan band Esperanto. Rare and sought-after for many collectors, it was recorded in between Las Vegas and Caracas and originally released in 1981. Following bandleader Jorge Aguilar in his musical trip to the infamous American city bathing into flashing lights and vivid colors, we're invited to an excursion in Disco, Boogie and Jazz-Funk territories. Finally reissued, fully remastered, Vegas will be available as Gatefold Tip-On Vinyl LP.With great care and attention to details, Esperanto managed to create a very convincing sequel to their Jazz-Funk debuts. Vegas keeps indeed a perfect balance between various influences. Through energic disco beats with intense funky solos, catchy AOR-influenced songs, where Jorge delivers convincing vocal performance, or sunny jazz-funk slow jams, the album still reveals something quite authentic. And this feeling echoes surely the one that could have been felt by Jorge Aguilar while discovering USA on a trip - where it all started for the music he loves. Like sometimes a foreigner's enriching view on some local specialty, he surely brought with the band all his authenticity and young but vibrant experience while convincing at the same time major labels for distribution.With certain notoriety coming with the release of their first album, Jorge Aguilar and his drummer Pablo Matarazzo planned to go to Los Angeles for a few gigs. But once there, they realized their contact had to leave for Tina Turner's tour in Europe. Before that, he invited them to come along to Las Vegas and eventually meet musicians there. Luckily, the plan worked perfectly: Jorge came back to Los Angeles

Mystic Jungle makes a much-awaited return with Deviant Disco, a new 12” of sun-soaked groovers released through Periodica Records. A culmination of several years of writing, vibing, and influence mining, these compositions represent the producer’s most varied and expansive works yet, and to fully realize his vision, Mystic Jungle invited the entire West Hill Studio crew to contribute narcotizing layers of pop vocal mesmerism, and additional touches of guitar, bass, percussion, and synth.Strains of Italo disco, balearic boogie, and freaky funk are interspersed amidst passages of Nigerian highlife, soft focus AOR, kinetic Hi-NRG, and exotic lover’s rock, resulting in a personalized voyage through a paradise of sound, one that is unmoored from the concerns of modernity, and celebrates instead a hedonistic naivety, and a desire to dance all day in spiritual ecstasy.