Stylophonic

Born Stefano Fontana in Milan, Italy, the musician launched his professional path spinning electro and hip-hop records across Italian venues throughout the eighties. Exposure to film scores from his father’s vinyl holdings, together with the work of jazz pioneer Herbie Hancock and electronic godfathers Kraftwerk, prompted him to begin creating original productions. By 1987 he held the resident slot at Milan’s Plastic club, where he became linked to the movement then known locally as the ‘New Sound’. His marathon sets there routinely stretched six or seven hours, shifting seamlessly between hip-hop, house and classic disco. Fontana’s long-delayed debut album, Man Music Technology, finally appeared in February 2003 on the EMI / Chrysalis Records dance label Prolifica. Industry insiders and press outlets greeted the record with extravagant acclaim, some labeling its maker Italy’s answer to Fatboy Slim on account of its wide-ranging stylistic reach. Built on extensive sampling and covering funk, disco, hip-hop and house, the collection drew particular notice for the track ‘All Nite Long’, which one reviewer judged perilously close to Abba’s ‘Gimme, Gimme, Gimme (A Man After Midnight)’. Despite featuring high-profile remixes, the singles ‘If Everybody In The World (Loved Everybody In The World)’, ‘Soul Reply’ and ‘Way Of Life’ registered minimal presence on the UK singles charts, though they found favor in club settings.