Some records arrive like quiet whispers from the past, yet their echoes are bold, haunting, and impossible to ignore. The Italian Library Songbook series does just that – resurrecting the almost forgotten, breathing new life into the obscure works of Italian soundtrack virtuosos, whose artistry, while hidden, never dulled. Volume II of this project shines a knowing spotlight on the prolific Piero Umiliani, whose music has always hovered in the liminal spaces of popular consciousness.
If you’re someone who cut their teeth on the sounds of B-movies, surreal soundtracks, and the textured landscapes of library music, Umiliani’s work will feel like home. And yet, in the hands of beat-maker Moonbrew and composer-keyboardist Paolo Apollo Negri, it’s a home you’ve never quite entered before. Their vision, paired with the ethereal voice of singer-songwriter Tilde, doesn’t simply revisit the past – it reinvents it.
Take “Nel Villaggio,” for example, one of Umiliani’s lesser-known gems from his 1975 album Continente Nero. It’s a track that could easily be lost to time—a marimba-driven instrumental, a relic of its age. Yet Moonbrew and Negri hear something more in that hypnotic marimba line, something timeless. By reimagining the piece with a potent mix of electronic synths and fresh, head-nodding beats, they lay the groundwork for Tilde’s vocals. The resulting track, “As If It Matters,” feels at once grounded in history and entirely untethered from it—a dreamy, ethereal soundscape that shifts between worlds.
There’s an art to drawing a straight line between then and now, and Italian Library Songbook – Volume II does just that with both reverence and boldness.
The tactile warmth of vinyl – a format that in itself evokes memory and physicality – only adds to the experience. As does Luca Barcellona’s cover design, drawing on the elegance of bound literary classics, anchoring the record in an aesthetic of timelessness, all while inviting listeners to appreciate the craft that vinyl still offers.
This is a conversation between eras, genres, and sensibilities. Moonbrew and Negri aren’t merely remixing Umiliani, they are living in his world, understanding its boundaries, and gently pushing them outward. It’s a feat not just of musicianship, but of imagination and intuition, finding the pulse in old grooves and translating them into a new rhythm, one that’s just as hypnotic, just as resonant, and perhaps more relevant than ever.
Available digitally and on 7″ vinyl 8th November 2024.
Links:
Moonbrew & Paolo Apollo Negri feat. Tilde – As If It Matters [Four Flies]
