After Dark pumps along over an hour's worth of new school Italo jams, each one sure to have even the snootiest disco connoisseur bobbing their head along in no time. The disc is an oft-stunning mix of airy, synth-soaked dance glee and low-slung grooves that samples key 12" singles and demo tracks from a whole host of different Giorgio Moroder-loving bands, including Glass Candy, Chromatics, and more.

Italians Do It Better is a new offshoot of Jersey label Troubleman Unlimited, specializing in more modern permutations of, as the name would suggest, the various strands of Italo and Euro disco that popped up in the late 1970s and early 1980s. This here After Dark compilation was originally compiled and pressed in an edition of 200 copies as a label sampler/promo for a Glass Candy tour, but an unexpectedly massive response to the sounds contained herein has brought it out of limited edition limbo and into wider availability for the general public. And thank the lord for that, as this disc is an oft-stunning mix of airy, synth-soaked dance glee and low-slung grooves that samples key 12" singles and demo tracks from a whole host of different Giorgio Moroder-loving bands.

I haven't paid a whole lot of attention to Glass Candy over the past few years, so imagine my surprise at hearing the opening strains of "Rolling Down the Hills," a sweet blast of dizzying keys and sampled horns that perfectly matches Ida No's breathy croon -- a far cry from the post-punk they cut their teeth on, and all the better for it. From there we get Chromatics' deep take on DNA-member Robin Crutchfield's "Hands in the Dark," a slyly grim track that trades atmospheric keys off with sublime vocals and an insistent thump. Elsewhere, Professor Genius checks in with the pronounced electro throb of "La Grotta," while Farah lopes along with the ascendant chords and echoing drums of "Dancing Girls." And those tracks are just the tip of the figurative iceberg here, as After Dark pumps along over an hour's worth of new school Italo jams, each one sure to have even the snootiest disco connoisseur bobbing their head along in no time. [MC] (August 28, 2007)