Kano - Greatest Hits (c) 1990 Unidisc
Artist....: Kano
Album.....: Greatest Hits
Type......: Album
Source....: CDDA
Tracks....: 12
Genre.....: Dance
Label.....: Unidisc
Catalogue#: SPLK-8025
Encoder...: LAME 3.97
Quality...: VBR kbps / 44.1KHz / Joint-Stereo
URL.......: http://www.discogs.com/release/249230
Tracklist:
----------
01 It's A War 06:53
02 Now Baby Now 05:55
03 Cosmic Voyager 06:20
04 Ahjia 06:16
05 Super Extra Sexy Sign 06:29
06 I'm Ready 07:13
07 I Need Love 06:04
08 Another Life 07:12
09 Ikeya Seki 05:42
10 Queen Of Witches 06:17
11 Holly Dolly 06:33
12 Another Life (Remix) 06:27
Total:111,1 MB/ 77:21 min
Release Notes:
--------------
Perhaps more than most other groups in their field -- due to both
excellence and the length of their discography -- Kano exemplified
Italo-disco, the strain of dance music that featured production work
from Italians who were, for the most part, descendants of Giorgio
Moroder and Claudio Simonetti. Italo-disco helped take dance music into
completely synthesized territory and had a profound effect on early
Chicago house and Detroit techno producers alike. Often funky, sweetly
melodic, and exuberant to say the least (and, yes, occasionally tacky
beyond belief), the style yielded dozens of singles by almost as many
artists/aliases that continue to be hunted down by young DJs. In
addition to having lasting value in underground clubs in the States,
Kano's music, in particular, has been twisted and flat-out lifted since
its release (see A Number of Names' 1981 single "Sharevari" and Felix
da Housecat's 2001 track "Glitz Rock" for two examples). Kano was
helmed by a trio of producers -- Luciano Ninzatti, Stefano Pulga, and
Matteo Bonsanto -- and their work from 1980 and 1983 is anthologized
here. "It's a War" (a Billboard dance chart hit), "Now Baby Now," and
"I'm Ready" are the big three, full of prominent handclap tracks,
blazing synth zaps, bouncing programmed rhythms, and vocals that are
alternately left in the raw or processed to sound like robots. The
remainder is pretty hit and miss, but nothing is boring. The worst
overall track is "Super Extra Sexy Sign," which is still worthy of
repeated listening for the rundown of astrological signs ("Scorpio,
Cancer, Virgo...") and the drastic leaps in vocal registers that take
place with each change of vocalist. Not everything here is gold, but a
handful of these songs are necessary in any self-respecting dance fan's
collection.