Disco Sunday #12: Kano
Stefano Pulga, Luciano Ninzatti and Matteo Bonsanto were Italian producers who came together in 1980 and helped pioneer the Italo Disco sound, releasing records together under the name Kano. The key change from the disco sound that preceded Italo was the addition of sequenced synths to disco’s 4 on the floor and funky electric bass. An additional innovation was Kano’s introduction of the talkbox into the genre. If Moroder had worked with Roger Troutman from Zapp and Nile Rogers of Chic they might have sounded like Kano.
I was talking to my boy BT Magnum from Beat Electric about Kano’s “I’m Ready” and it emerged that we had similar epiphanic experiences upon first hearing it. When this piece of synth-disco perfection dropped at the Arrow (RIP), he hounded the DJ for the song’s title, and upon learning it he kept muttering it under his breath all the way home so it wouldn’t be forgotten in the drunken night. As for me, I first heard the song on the fantastic FabricLive 33 by Spank Rock earlier this year. When it came on I suddenly felt transported to the night club Trax in Washington DC, circa 1981. In this vision, I was a cage dancer, and there were lots of gay black men, and…hmm, I guess it was sort of a nightmare…but the song is ill.
Trainspotters will note that a sample of this song was the basis for Tag Team’s infamous “Whomp There it Is.” But don’t let that count against Kano. Similarly, fans of the Kris Menace track “Discopolis” will recognize this next song, “Another Life”, since its where they sampled the main hook:
MP3 “Another Life (12″)” – Kano
MP3: “Discopolis” – Lifelike + Kris Menace
Like breakdancing “man-bots”? Then you’ll love the video for “It’s a War”:
Now I’m going to go read the New York Times and have an espresso. Because it’s motherfuckin’ Disco Sunday.
xx,
BvL
wow, cool shit. i’m not a big SR person, so I passed on that Fabriclive session – looks like I made a mistake.
oh, the “discopolis” link is wrong.
Thanks! Fixed it. Yeah, the Spank Rock Fabric is pretty rad – I like how they jump around from one track to the next quickly, and how they mixed in a lot of original stuff. I’m super stoked to hear Justice’s Fabric coming up – sounds like its about 80% Yacht Rock.
these tracks make me want to cop a DeTomaso Pantera immeeeechiately, then maybe go on a sleepless, amphetamines-fueled four day bender and crash the shit into one of Aaron Spelling’s many swimming pools. what could a man do with that many pools i wonder?
love,
Kasai
p.s. good to see i didn’t just link my blog to that of a dilettante. keep bangin’
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here’s a 320 version for all you blog people out there:
http://deejayk2.blogspot.com/2008/09/sunday-morning.html
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