Customer Reviews

Jet Sounds

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

A couple of corrections from a previous reviewer: He's a guy (unless he's undergone surgery I haven't heard about), and martini madness will never die.

You know how different countries have somewhat distinct sounds: Japan has the retro-futuristic sound typical of Fantastic Plastic Machine, Pizzicato Five, and even Holland's Arling & Cameron are signed in Japan because their sound is more Japanese than Dutch, France and Quebec excel at Tech House, UK does Garage House, and the US does whatever it does...the point is Italy has an accoustic retro-futuristic lounge sound kind of like P5 and the like, but less electronic sounding. Instead of blatantly electronically sampling the sounds of the 60's in Italy, it actually sounds like the 60's in Italy. Nicola Conte is a big DJ there, so his music reflects the regions musical preference.

Perfect for a patio & pool party, glamorous balcony in Manhattan, or on a rooftop deck in Venice. Hope this helps. It's great.

I was at the end of my rope playing my old Piero Piccioni Easy Tempo CDs to bits (ha) when the great internet radio station Luxuria.Com started playing this KICK BUTT song called 'Futura 2000' by this Italian dude named Nicola Conte. I didn't ask questions: I called the local record store in Durham, drove down that same day and shelled out the sixteen bucks and my life hasn't been the same since! Talk about 'Spring is Here' Music!

What is it like? Hmmmm. It's lounge, but it's not that tiresome camp variety. This guy ROCKS, and his outfit is solid; it's not just a bunch of turntables and sequencers. He clearly has a deep love for the spirit of La Dolce Vita, and respects it, and moreover, has absorbed it.

Everything here is uptempo and breezy, samba-based, with some nods to later sixties psychedelia and pre-Shaft horn clusters. "Il Cerchio Rosso" is my favorite song of the year thus far. Little snippets of everything from Claudine Longet to Brasil '66 to Piero Piccioni to Nino Rota to Morricone to Francis Lai to Traviolji seep in here and there, but somehow it's all fresh and new. Someone suggested it was 'tres Esquivel', but I beg to differ. It's much hipper, and a great dance album.

I can't wait for more Nicola! Buy this super disc now! You'll be dancing.

Picked this one up almost two years ago - and needless to say it still holds it's own in the collection. This feature release was in fact heard in... the Acura commercial... which can be annoying. But more recently fans have probably heard Conte's music in the "Joe Boxer" ad (talk about one-upping Acura in obnoxious advertising!) lol.

I really enjoyed this CD. You can pop it in and listen to it, and be taken away on a journey - it's a terrific soundtrack through the 60's and 70's, bossa Italia and, of course, bossa nova. Instantly, an image is brought into your head from track one. The feel of the music is from that era - and very much so martini/lounge style. But otherwise - it's easy beach music too.

Nicola Conte plays a big role with the Schema label - which features Soulstance and also the Break & Bossa series to name a few. The style is pretty consistent and if you like Conte's style, I'd recommend checking out Schema label artists and the series listed before.

Since this release, Conte has gone on to do a number of remixes and works: Montefiori Cocktail, Maxwell Implosion, Mo Horizons, and even the late Suba have all had some of their best tracks redone by Conte. And what will make fans more enthusiastic - a remix album was released and appears headed for US shores shortly. Also, a collaboration project which features Rosalia De Sousa (of Les Hommes/Break N Bossa/etc) will be released in early November.

A few other recommendations for fans of this: Sister Bossa 3 (almost a shameless rip-off of Bossa Per Deu can be found later in the cd), Easy Tempo, and maybe Brazilectro.

I hesitantly bought this because of the one track in the Acura commercial, but I have been playing it a lot lately (along with everyone else). Bossa Per Due is still the best song on the CD, but the remaining tracks are kitschy and fun and make you want to pull on your white boots and dance.

This is the future of DownTempo. Eighteenth ST. Lounge has already vibed in on this cat. He is working on another CD already. If you Dig Theivery Corporation, St. Germain, or any of the Compost Records Glucklich Comps. Check this guy out! Grab a few pals, some good wine, and get your "Brazialian tinged" groove on. A Must have for any Diner party.

Like another reviewer states this is NOT anything close to the Conte we know and love. I dont know why his name is listed on the credits because he is nowhere on this record which sounds like an Italian Bobby McFeren? of "Dont Worry be Happy" fame ,He sings with his own brand of "Mouth Music".Not my cup of tea. One highlight of this record is one song with the lovely treated trumpet of Mr. Jon Hassell !!! who played with Brian Eno way back when, how on earth he wound up on this record I dont know. Hassell did one Italian soundtrack record called "Sulla Strada" which took me years to find before the Internet.Maybe they met in Italy somehow. Anyhoo those of you expecting the Brillian Ital style of Bossa that Conte has given us for over a decade will be disappointed here. WAH !!!

All that I hoped it would be. Got the remix, got the cd and the vinyl is great. ( Pity that the cover was folded too small and hence ripped when the 2 discs were slipped in at the record factory, not at Amazon)

In the 90s, what was old was new again, and there was a big revival in cocktail/lounge music. Some of this was great--Stereolab mixed it with art rock and synthasized their work into all kinds of interesting directions. Some was not so good--a bunch of electronic stylings with no subtance whatsoever.

Nocola Conte does not fall into either of these camps. His music does not really create new, but he sure is able to capture the essence of this 1960s, jazz lounge style. His music is not just an IDEA of what this music sounds like, washed out by a bunch of modern beats and eletronics. Arrangements here have real chord structures, interesting polyrythms, and even dissonences that remind me of Eric Dolphy's Out To Lunch.

At times the modern production can be too light and airy, but others, the music is truely exciting.

This album has some great tracks, and is perfect atmosphere setting music for a lounge, pool, or poker party. Very fun album, and I highly recommend it. A few tracks I skip over, but a vast majority of tracks have enjoyable hooks, with a retro lounge sound yet updated feel to it.

Favorite tracks include Bossa Per Due, Il Cerchio Rosso, Forma 2000, and Jet Sounds.

I enjoy the work of Nicola Conte very much, and purchased this CD because Amazon listed it as being by Nicola Conte. However after listening to the disk, it does not sound like any of the other Nicola Conte recordings that I own, such as Jet Sounds, Bossa Per Due, or Other Directions. In fact Nicola Conte's name does not appear in the list of musicians, the composer, arranger, producer, or anywhere in the credits. So unless the name Marc Beacco is an alias for Nicola Conte, then it would seem to me that this is not a Nicola Conte recording, and that the listing in Amazon is incorrect. There is nothing on this recording that is in the cool, jazzy, lounge, bossa nova style that I associate with Nicola Conte. In summary, I am very disappointed with this purchase.