It would seem that there was something in the water in Italy during the tail end of the 70s and the beginning of the 80s. We recently highlighted this via our recent Free Download artist, but another Italian artist who is just as influential is Francesco Farfa. Incredibly, he was already a working DJ by the early 80s and that was before the age of electronic music. This just meant when the advent of drum machines dawned across the music spectrum Francesco was already armed to the teeth with skills honed playing funk and disco when early proto-house began filtering through to Europe. This melding of sounds and technique has produced an incredibly moorish combination of dark, brooding electro, stripped back for minimal or maximal floors, a better word can be used to describe it all – timeless.
Francesco has been producing for just as many years and his first works can be traced back to the beginning of the 90s with outings on legendary labels such as UMM, Plastic Fantastic, as well as his own (now shuttered) Area Records. Alongside Joy Kitikonti there were a great many highlights. As a result of a certain 90s chart hit Joy sadly went down the hard house/trance route, Francesco stuck to his guns and has, over the years delivered timely reminders of why he is so revered.
In recent years Farfa has again drilled down into his sound and through decades of hard work has now emerged, rejuvenated like never before, and has found a legion of fans new and old. Some will be well acquainted with the Italian, but the lucky ones will just be discovering him for the first time. Either way, his mix for us this week is a killer masterclass in the art of selection. Seldom-heard gems and brand-spanking new weapons are both given equal air time, but when put together in the manner that Francesco does, its hard to tell which is which.
More information about Francesco Farfa
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