Italians do it better

Italians do it better is something more than just what used to read in Madonna's t-shirt in the 80's. It's also one of the most stylistic and focused indie "dance" labels around. Their bands were one of those new acts we all liked when we started DWTF in 2009.

A recent RA article talks with the label manager Mike Simonetti and goes a bit into the history of the label. I recommend you check that out for a quick recap of his story and musical taste.

Even more importantly, I recommend taking a look on Simonetti's and Glass Candy's Johnny Jewel's Soundcloud pages.

Mike has loads of edits he's done there for download in a hi-res format. None of the usual crappy disco mutilations that are called edits, but instead wisely picked songs that are given little edit qualities. Here's a sample one.

SPREAD YA WINGS - Mike Simonetti edit by mike simonetti

Johnny Jewel on the other hand gives out - I kinda wonder why - loads of IDIB instrumentals for free as WAV's. I have always had twofold attitude towards Glass Candy's lead singer, so these instrumentals really hit the spot for me. Just amazingly beautiful stuff, like this one:

CHROMATICS / RUNNING UP THAT HILL by JOHNNY JEWEL

Picture listening these while you're driving, at the moment when the night hits the town and the streets are all rainy and neon lights lit up. I really should play these more often.

- Peffis

"Ain't a problem I can't fix, cuz I can do it in the mix"

If you're a dj, online mixes are like your calling cards. It's pretty much consensus of everyone in the dj community these are the best way to show your talent in picking awesome tunes and putting them together so they make more sense together than apart. They're also a great justification to the claim that dj's do their best to present music you wouldn't hear on radio or tv.

They also provide a pretty good learning experience, when you have to go through your records and try them together. After a while you can look back and proudly listen what moved you then when you had made a mix.



Here's THREE masterpieces of a mix. All of them have spent weeks and months in my mp3 player. All of them are also downloadable, so you can have fun with them while biking or doing some other summer outdoor activity.

DJ Anonymous: Disco #5 (2010) by DJ Anonymous

Everyone in Finnish dj scene knows dj Anonymous. He's a dj legend, great blogger and the go to guy of Helsinki when you need wisdom on good music and it's history. Here's my absolute favorite mix from him. It's generally a bit difficult to mix disco smoothly together, but this mix draws the lines from different records out of different eras and countries. Some of these records are so rare I'll probably never hear them in a different context, but they work so well here I don't mind that much.

LEXX - Live-DJ-Set@BoutiqueHostalSalinasIbiza by Zukunft

The second one comes from Swiss dj and producer called Lexx. You can take and learn so much from this balearic and sunny mix. It's not really beatmixed together at all, but still it's seamless in atmosphere and feeling. After I heard this mix I rushed to cop at least five of these tracks.

MIKE SIMONETTI & JOHNNY JEWEL / ALBUTEROL by JOHNNY JEWEL

The last one is a bit of a contrary to the sunny and beachy atmosphere Lexx's mix. It's Johnny Jewel and Mike Simonetti of Italians do it better fame. This one's really classy affair too. Not so much obscure findings, but household records just played a bit slower or edited a little. These records make so much sense together, they paint a whole stylistic picture of nightlife in town.

So whats your favorite mixes?

- P-Funk