Pitchfork

Mike Simonetti definitely has our attention these days. The Troubleman Unlimited founder has been releasing gorgeously dark disco by bands like Glass Candy and the Chromatics on his new Italians Do It Better label; the imprint's After Dark compilation snuck up on us to grab Best New Music honors this year despite an extremely limited initial pressing. Simonetti has just turned in a 53-minute "Balearic Sabbath Mix" for UK blog Allez-Allez, and it doesn't exactly define "Balearic" the way seasoned techno listeners might expect. The chilled-out vibe here comes mostly from organic-sounding 1970s pop, soul, and funk.

The mix opens with the crackles of Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks' "Frozen Love", from their pre-Fleetwood Mac 1973 LP Buckingham Nicks-- insanely, still unavailable on CD except as a bootleg. Next up is "Right on for the Darkness", a bitter yet funky polemic released that same year by Curtis Mayfield. A similar mix of strings, horns, and beats could show up on an Italians Do It Better track, though not with Mayfield's distinctive falsetto. Paul McCartney's goofy, piano-driven 1976 Wings single "Let 'Em In", Stevie Wonder's hardtime 1973 Innervisions classic "Living for the City", and Sylvester's 1979 disco come-on "I Need Somebody to Love Tonight" are among the other inclusions. If this mix signals a new direction for Simonetti's imprints, it'll be interesting to watch. And yes, Mike confirms that the last track on the mix is Black Sabbath.

MP3:> Mike Simonetti: "Balearic Sabbath Mix"