To celebrate 10 years of Archeo Recordings, label founder Daniele-Manuel “Manu” Dallerba is releasing a series of remix E.P. s. Each 12” containing new versions of tracks from the Italian reissue imprint’s back and – possibly – future catalogue. On the first, Radio Band’s Radio Rap, for example, was AR001. A jaunty piece of `80s pop boogie, this was recorded primarily to promote the Florence’s Radio Fantasy. Showcasing virtuoso displays from the assembled session men, it incredibly cropped up on legendary Chicago house DJ Ron Hardy’s Musicbox mixtapes, and here Popcorn Groove’s Radiomarc brings things full circle by injecting some energetic, urgent proggy pounding. 

Experimental Milanese trio, Futuro Antico, have yet to feature on Archeo, but since their Pan Tuning gets picked for treatment, it’s tempting to jump to the conclusion that a full vinyl pressing of their 2005 CD, Intonazioni Archetipe, must be on the way. Mushrooms Project turn said track into a 15 minute-plus epic. A shuffling tribal beat transforming its Finis Africae-esque mix of panpipes, percussion, and berimbau plucking into a nocturnal psychedelic ritual. Rising and falling to a breakdown of witchy whispered incantation. 

Archeo, at the very beginning, was inspired by two outstanding feats of record digging and curating. The first of these was Claremont 56’s Originals compilations. The second was Chee Shimizu’s book / leftfield music bible, Obscure Sound. By eventually focusing on the Italian treasures collected in these ventures /volumes, Manu located artists and forged friendships. Then, commissioning a new / next generation of homegrown musicians / producers to rework selected vintage tracks, he singlehandedly raised an extended family. A fine demonstration of this is Feel Fly’s reconfiguration of flautist Roberto Aglieri’s Danza N. 1. The Perugian creating a gurgling, grumbling, chunky, mid-tempo chugger that retains the OG’s distinctive bagpipe like reed riff, but adds a rolling, rattling breakbeat. 

Manu himself performs the makeover of Pepe Maina’s The Infinite. Another epic, it opens with an ambient intro, and actor Vittorio Gassman reading Giacomo Leopardi‘s poem “L’Infinito”. When the rhythm comes in, it’s slow, and ceremonial. A woodwind and the bowed, blue ache of traditional sounding strings serenading the lyric’s centuries old rumination on the nature of time, space and eternity. 

You can learn far more about Archeo’s 10 Year Anniversary E.P. over on their website.