Central Unit: Central Unit + Loving Machinery (M.P. Records, 2003)

The unquiet waverings of Tuxedomoon spawned a whole school in the Italian underground. This record (a sum of two actually, see below) heralds the tendency: skeletal electronic beats and evanescent synth atmospheres, combined with mechanical basslines and relentless violin meanderings, with slothy saxophone murmurs peeping out here and there.
The music is ghostly, decadent, and subtly soggy; it never sounds epic or apocalyptic though, nor excessively amateurish (it's not minimal wave, to make a long story short). On the contrary, it sounds quite elaborate: its orbits are knotty and obliquous, and its mood is the mood of fallen aristocracy.

Central Unit were a band from Bologna. They were among the first in Italy to manipulate synths, drum machines and other electronic devices to create atmospheric soundscapes. This is a reprint of their first LP (produced by Tuxedomoon's Peter Principle), together with a preceding EP.

Tracklist:
 Central Unit LP (1983)

1. Detective Fredd
2. Orient-Express
3. Mas rapido
4. Primavera di Kaspar
5. Grotesque
6. Bailamme
7. Mordor
8. Où Papè d'Où Marcocù
9. Aiumassah!
10. Die Flucht Ohne Ende

Loving Machinery EP (1982)

1. Saturday Night
2. Rock Onze
3. What Use? (Version)
4. Beset City

Download (192 kbps) (re-up)


Similar albums on the blog:
Giovanotti Mondani Meccanici: GMM (Materiali Sonori, 1985)

Minox: Lazare (Industrie Discografiche Lacerba, 1986)