Paolo Apollo Negri - Cobol (Deluxe Edition) (2017)

Echoes of Tangerine Dream, Lalo Schifrin, Deep Purple, John Barry, Jean-Michel Jarre, Italian Cinema, Gene Krupa, 70’s Library Music, Herbie Hancock are but a few of the memories “COBOL” will evoke…but it’s much more than that.

20 years ago I cut brilliant code in a tiny office cubical to the sounds of ZTT Records, Yello, and The James Taylor Quartet, so when Apollo suggested fusing his funk-soul-jazz-rock style with early 80s electronic new wave and the inspired elegance and beauty of the preeminent computer language how could I say anything but “Yes!”? This was my history reinvented by a man that clearly transcends time: a genius that tempts genius out of everyone that enters his orbit and can find the soul from the least obvious places. This is not a clever trick but rather an inherent gift exposed by his insatiable appetite for the heart of the groove (i.e. the meaning of life; spiritual transcendence, The Force™, etc.).

“COBOL” is the final part of an epic trilogy that begins with the youth’s ambition of “A Bigger Tomorrow” (2007), expands with the master’s control of “The Great Anything” (2010), and evolves into the artist’s unfiltered vision: a perfectly synthesized elixir of Lost Continent meets Dirty Harry meets Futureworld.

This new Deluxe Edition (digital download only) features an exclusive bonus track taken from the B-side of the limited edition 45 “Lightswitch”, recorded as a conclusion of “Cobol” concept back in 2012.