Italo-Disco

Italo-disco is the electronic dance-pop made in Italy in the first half of the 1980s, built almost entirely from synthesizers, drum machines and sequencers. Arpeggiated synth lines, octave-jumping bass, vocoders and simple, romantic English lyrics — often sung by uncredited session vocalists or, in cases such as *Den Harrow*, mimed by models — define a sound that is simultaneously futuristic and naive. Projects were producer-led: *Kano*, *Alexander Robotnick*, *Gazebo* and *Valerie Dore* were studio constructions released through independent Italian labels, and the music's sleek, space-age melancholy distinguishes it from the funk-rooted American disco it succeeded.