Premiere: Francisco D’Argento – Problemi (Vanity Project’s “Robotalo Remix”)

5 Minute Read

Music

An obscure Italo cut from Francisco D’Argento gets its first vinyl outing on Claptrap, with Vanity Project turning the original’s sunshine into something darker…

There once was a man, D’Argento by name, Who chased the Italo sun, none too famed, Not first of the pack, nor loudest by half, Just sun-soaked and quietly missed by the chart.

With Eleanora beside him in voice, He cut “Problemi” — high-NRG, his choice — The journals took note, then the tape went to ground, ‘Til the Estate dug it up and had it re-found.

Now Donald Dust gives the A2 a squish, Stretched, dubbed and thumping — a late-night dish. Then Dr Valentine drifts Nello Spazio-bound, Slower and stranger, half-lost, cosmic-sound.

Last, Vanity Project strips it down to the bone, Robotalo and shadowed, a colder tone — So spin what you like of Francisco’s old flame, On CLPTRP007, Problemi’s the name.

We’re premiering Vanity Project‘s “Robotalo Remix” of Francisco D’Argento‘s Problemi, out via Claptrap Where the original stayed sun-lit and high-NRG, Vanity Project strips it back and pushes it into darker, dark-disco territory – less the daytime Italo cut D’Argento made his name on, more a shadowed, machine-cold read of the same song.

D’Argento’s original never had much reach outside Italy – some coverage in the local press and music journals at the time, then a fairly quiet slide into obscurity as his output tailed off in later years. With support from the D’Argento estate, the source ½-inch tape has now been restored for Problemi‘s first vinyl pressing, on which D’Argento’s own vocals sit alongside those of his second wife, actress and model Eleanora D’Argento.

The rest of the EP takes it elsewhere: Donald Dust’s “Squish Mix” is a stretched-out, dubbed-out A2 built for late-night dancefloors, and Dr Valentine’s “Nello Spazio Mix” slows the tempo down into something more hypnotic and spaced-out. Robotalo’s the one closing things out, and the one we’re sharing first.

Buon ascolto.