Various

In the early 1990s, Italy hosted one of the most prolific scenes in the burgeoning world of House music. Whilst the majority of Europe was only just beginning to digest the arrival of this new musical genre born in the US, Italian clubs, DJs and labels were hot on the heels of their counterparts in the already established scenes of New York and London. The clubs of the Adriatic coast – also known as the Italian Riviera – were principally concentrated around Rimini, Riccione and the neighbouring cities of Bologna and Florence. Venues like the Ethos Mama Club, Diabolik’a (the first original after-hours club in Italy), Vae Victis, Matis, Cocorico, Peter Pan, Kinki, Pascia’, Club Dei 99, Byblos and New York Bar were full every weekend with crowds gathering to dance long into the early hours of the morning. They regularly hosted live acts and guest DJs from the US and the UK as well as seasoned residents such as Leo Mas, Ricky Montanari, Flavio Vecchi, Ivan Iacobucci, Marco Trani, Luca Colombo, Alex Neri, MBG, Claudio Coccoluto, Massimo Lippoli, Pastaboys, Dj Ralf, Massimino, Cirillo and Andrea Gemolotto.

House Of Riviera Vol. 2 unites a selection of tracks that encapsulates the atmosphere, the energy and creativity that reigned during that era. Starting where the first compilation left us, with, once again, Alex Neri and Marco Baroni opening the opus, this time as Green Baize and the wonderfully deep and harmonious « Switch Back » released in 1992 on Oversky Records. Night Communication take things closer to peak time with « Let’s Face The Music » released in 1994 on Hearbeat. Ivan Iacobucci brings two tracks to the project with the disco tinged « Get Up », released as Mental Detector on his very own label Hole in 1993, and the previously unreleased « Melt The Sun » extracted from a DAT tape from 30 years ago. The very deep and sensual « Load In Total Darkness » by More Heavy Soul, released on Irma sublabel Calypso in 1992, with vocal samples and beats lifted from Disco classics, is clearly a nod to the New York underground house scene. The second record opens with the Ricky Montanari Ethos Mama remix of Sima « Give You Myself » on D :Vision released in 1992. Ricky contributes a second track to the compilation, the original version of London made in 1993. Originally commissioned by Freetown Records as a track to feature the vocals of Arnold Javis, the project was unretained and almost scrapped, until Ricky decided to preserve a rough version on DAT tape before leaving the studio in the early hours of the morning. Workin’ Happily bring some late night dub energy with the percussive vocal snippets and grooving synth stabs of « Make My Move » released on UDP in 1993. The compilation closes as it opened with Alex Neri, this time with Maurizio Tognarelli and Stefano Tonelli, as Sound Set for « So In Love With You » a classic deep piano house track that samples the vocals of Colonel Abrams out on Oversky Records in 1992.

The compilation comes in a double gatefold sleeve, containing photos and anecdotes from the original Riviera days. This is a DJ friendly vinyl only release (due du licensing restrictions), all tracks have been remastered with the sound staying true to the dynamics of early 90s production.