Mauro Picotto - The Lizard Man

...and feelings on the artist Mauro Picotto – one of the most promising DJs and producers to come from Italy so far. It may well be true that he hasn’t quite made as huge an impact in the UK, but already we’ve heard the masterpieces like Lizard, Komodo and the quite incredible Proximus! I’ve been downloading many songs from Napster, by Picotto, but this has only helped me to make decisions in actually buying the CDs from him, ...
...very hard to locate any Mauro Picotto music in the likes of HMV, Virgin Mega-store and other offline retailers. I won’t bore you with details of the albums I have, but I’ll tell you about the best songs that he’s done! Mauro has worked with other DJs, including Mario Piu, and he’s remixed some Blank & Jones’, and many other artists.

Ok, so some people think that dance or house music is boring, repetitive, ... more

Now that I can use my computer I thought I’d share my views and feelings on the artist Mauro Picotto – one of the most promising DJs and producers to come from Italy so far. It may well be true that he hasn’t quite made as huge an impact in the UK, but already we’ve heard the masterpieces like Lizard, Komodo and the quite incredible Proximus! I’ve been downloading many songs from Napster, by Picotto, but this has only helped me to make decisions in actually buying the CDs from him, and various other artists that work with him. I don’t really now that much about Picotto himself, but all I can say is that the music he makes is some of the greatest I have ever listened to!

I’ve got around 3 different CDs (either mixed, produced or associated with MP), which are available to buy from online stores – I found it very hard to locate any Mauro Picotto music in the likes of HMV, Virgin Mega-store and other offline retailers. I won’t bore you with details of the albums I have, but I’ll tell you about the best songs that he’s done! Mauro has worked with other DJs, including Mario Piu, and he’s remixed some Blank & Jones’, and many other artists.

Ok, so some people think that dance or house music is boring, repetitive, and sometimes tuneless, but I can assure you that there have been some classics that Picotto has made.

Lizard. One of the first tracks I heard by Picotto, and definitely one of the best – it’s on a lot of dance compilation CDs, but I’m sure you can find it on one of his own albums. Lizard us an excellent tune, a really atmospheric delight using some very impressive electrical sounding equipment – there’s some vocal inclusion; ‘it’s comin’ to get ya!’ and the build up to what must be the Lizard sounding effects – brilliant stuff. Kind of like an air choir sound. I love the way the music starts off, quite ordinary then builds up to the main section. Brilliant sequencing on Lizard, as well as every other track! There’s lots of pitch bend, and a real heavy bass sound too. Not my personal favourite, but one of the most successful Mauro Picotto house/dance tunes, which adds certain uniqueness to the industry. Next!

Ultimahora Ibiza. Another great track, with lots of great sounds, very rhythmic and excellent bass sounds. This music is really energetic, and very, very well produced! The song title is interesting, and has totally confused my spell check! Again, it’s about waiting for the best parts in the song, and you’ll find it going round in your head for a long time! This is a great Ibiza type song, I recommend you either download, or find it somewhere! It’s a bit on the repetitive side, but the beat is superb.

Proximus. WOW! This has to be one of the best ‘songs’ I’ve heard this year, it certainly ranks in as one of the best dance tracks in my collection (although my collection isn’t that vast!). I reckon this has to be one of the best Picotto tunes around, and is equally as good as the likes of Komodo and Iguana! The music is so euphoric, and really makes you feel alive! The tune is amazing, and although it doesn’t last all that long, the vocals are superb. The start to Proximus is particularly impressive, and gives an indication that the rest of the song will be tuneful, not just your everyday standard dance track. My favourite song this year! I don’t know when it was out, but maybe it’ll be more popular soon! I urge you to track this one down.

Komodo. Another ‘animal’ orientated tune, with more of that excellent air choir/popcorn sounding Komodo dragon effects! You’ll know what I mean if you hear it! Very fresh music, very lively and extremely good to listen to, Komodo is an absolute classic mix of atmospheric movement sounds – the sound effects really do help you visualize a Komodo walking, in time to the beat, across a kind of luscious tropical/desert type of place. Are there any Music DVD I can get? There are many versions of Komodo, and it’s proved extremely popular within the clubs, but you don’t here much of his music here yet do you? Lots of different versions - get the Picotto mix – it’s the best one.

Iguana. A very long tune, with that familiar rhythm, - picture yourself as the Iguana running really fast in a very rhythmic way, occasionally stopping to catch it’s breath – the air choir sounding, breath noise popcorn type effects kind of show this perhaps? Anyway, there are many mixes of Iguana, some from Blank & Jones, and some from various artists. Again, the original is the best, lots of vocal inclusion, but I can’t really say what the words are! It sounds like someone is saying ‘Cactus rice’, but that doesn’t make much sense! Hey anyway, another classic tune that is an exemplary piece of dance music. Superb! Iguana is in stages as with all the others, but it’s more integrated in a way perhaps!

Arabian Pleasure. Slightly different to the rest of his productions, but it’s very good nonetheless. I think it’s a joint effort with Mario Piu, and lasts a full 6 minutes (although it depends on which version you have), and sounds stunning on vinyl. It takes a while to get into it, but I like the overall feeling and energy from the song, lots of beat, but a little more subtle, it reminds me of the Desert, with loads of animals – like the Iguana, like the Lizard and Komodo – kind of like the introduction to all the songs. There’s a really good mix with vocals on it, but I’m currently listening to the non-vocal, more jumpy version! You may notice a didgeridoo sounding instrument as well as some very oriental, African kind of sounds – great kind of compilation!

There have been a lot more songs and tunes, and Mauro Picotto has and does work with a lot of other artists it seems, but there’s a definite something that makes his music stand out from the rest – there are many more great tracks including Underground, Pulsar, Save a Soul (Kind of the same as Komodo), Pegasus and Planet, as well as many joint efforts like Imperiale (Mario Piu combination also), and many others. Overall, I’d recommend the music to anyone whether you like house or dance music or not, because the songs are really quite impressive! I look forward to such classics like ‘Elephant or ‘Giraffe’, but really, it’d be good to here some more tunes! I think perhaps a ‘Gorilla’ could be interesting!

Excellent DJ and producer of music, and should be even more popular and well known in a couple of years, so keep an eye or ear out for some of the songs mentioned! I have to award 5 stars here!
Here’s more than just a Lizard Man, but that’s a great name to have!

Cheers

D1A1  

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