UMBERTO - "Freeze!" 7-inch (Not Not Fun)

 
  Part-time Expo 70 contributor, Matt Hill, returns to his beloved Italo-horror alter-ego, to give us a new seven inch that's heavily laced with nostalgia.Freeze! offers up four new moonlight romps, hot off the crime ridden streets of 1980's Los Angeles.This time around, he's got us dancing to a different genre of film score, as told through the visions of a twenty something beat cop.A wild mannered loose cannon, who plays by his own rules, and gets his man no matter what the risk.Late night jaunts through sleazed out back alleys turn to an all night stakeout, deep within L.A.'s seedy underbelly.The sound of a drug deal gone bad are all over this thing, only to be drowned out by the repeated blasts and squealing tires, from the high speed chase headed this way.Rhythms set to the crude tones of street hustles, prostitution and car theft.These tunes are spot-on, cut from a scene where crime syndicates and dream sequences collide, boombox ready and totally infectious.It's all where it should be.Soaring synth runs topple over mechanized, straight-shooter casio beats.Pounding bass samples and not-piano scales are running shit, making for some serious action flick vibes.Theme song heroes Jan Hammer and Stan Bush will surely come to mind, as well as a healthy amount of worship for Moroder's "The Chase".
   "Put An APB On Those Bastards" kicks things off with a swaggering hi-hat sprint.Before long a funk-less synth bass joins in, and they layers of sharp keys and Midi brass begins to invade your personal space.A perfect tune for questionable post-sundown activities.It's a slow cruise down the strip with the T-tops off, as two undercover cops hang their leather-patched elbows out the window of a rusted old Buick.In the reflection of their smudged aviator shades, two suspicious characters move stolen goods from the back of a truck and into an abandoned Firehouse.It belonged to a group of guys who used to bust ghosts for a living.(see "Illegal Entry With Intent To Zuul").A bit of a turn from the ethereal doom and gloom of his past two releases, but all the more addictive and totally legit.Maybe it will find it's way to cassette sooner or later, as this was made for street corner blasting and midnight crusing.Highly Recommended.

UMBERTO - "Prophecy of the Black Widow" (NNF)

 
The folks over at Not Not Fun never cease to amaze me.Every month or so, a fresh batch of mind-altering sounds mysteriously shows up from this long running L.A. label, and this one caught me off guard indeed.Wow.After what seems like at least a million spins of last year's "From the Grave.." full length, I wasn't too sure if this was just a one-time thing or what, but I am happy to announce his return.Umberto is the alter-ego of which one talented young man - Matt Hill, delivers his fresh and inventive take on the sadly overlooked Italo-Horror soundtracks of the mid-seventies.Total Goblin worship at it's finest, with his own magic-dust sprinkled over it.Matt is no stranger to epic musical landscapes either,he is also the main man behind drone/psych juggernaut Expo 70,who also dish out some fantastic purely instrumental ear candy.
  With his fairly recent Umberto project, he conjures up the ghosts of early horror film and soundtrack pioneers like Goblin, John Carpenter, Claudio Simonetti, and even the more recent Zombi works.I can't help but imagine a giant backdrop flashing images of classic Argento films, in a live performance.Hill almost effortlessly creates hypnotic layers of haunting synthesizers, topped with some rather stunning synth arpeggios, as a damp low-end growl slithers around them.His tasteful use of soft synth patches, mixed with the buzzing sine-waves melts together almost too perfectly, creating a dense black cloud of deep chords and brooding swells.He's got quite a knack for melody too, which has been proven time and again with his incredible and expansive work in Expo 70, and he applies the same tuneful wizardry to these blackened electro numbers.Leaning more towards the subtle-yet-danceable downbeat, opposed to the symphonic-progressive rock styles of most of his predecessors.
  Now,this isn't s total throwback to the Italian horror genre.Sure, the song titles are spooky nods, and the artwork is just screaming "Obscure Horror Soundtrack", and yes,the music is very similar to the aforementioned acts, but with "Prophecy.." there is a much more modern and revitalizing take on this outsider sub-genre.Hill is clearly paying tribute to something that has been greatly overlooked for decades, and he is doing it so,so right.Songs for chasing someone through the woods, peeking through a stranger's window, creaking doors and some late night dancing in the dark.
Fan..tas..tic.
Artwork by Seth Johnson.Edition of 485 black vinyl lp's.