VISION TALK DIRTY ITALO DISCO ALBUM SPACESOUND RELEASE: APRIL 7, 2009 REVIEW: APRIL 23, 2009

Swedish Vision Talk are trying to accomplish a genre sound I have been missing since I started listening to electronic music. Melodic, beat driven synthpop with the melodies of eighties Italo disco. Mastermind Krister Petersson have recruited not only his Chinese Theatre companion Martina Ramstedt, but also spacesynth enthusiast Stefan "Fellin" Olsson and Strangel vocalist Richard Flow to create this potent cocktail.

"Dirty Italo Disco", and its 14 tracks, may be a bit hard to digest in its full running time, but it's full of great Italo-esque electropop. A current favourite, "Dina tankar", reminds me of Swedish genre greats like Saft and Lustans Lakejer in its clever structure. Not only is it the only track sung in Swedish, it also displays Flow's best vocal performance on the album. He does sound a bit stale on occasion, but his more emotional, softer side is superb. Each and every song has focus firmly on the melodies, as any record claiming to be influenced by Italo should, and while some songs seem to be equipped with very similar sounds, "Dirty Italo Disco" still sounds fresh and exciting.

I do believe that Vision Talk will speak primarily to synthpop fans, as the Italo heads are even more conservative when it comes to a certain sound. For me, personally, this is a welcome and indeed very successful charge at combining these two favourite genres of mine.

NIKLAS FORSBERG