GIULIANO SORGINI ESSENTIALS

One of the great masters of Italian library music, Giuliano Sorgini, quietly left us earlier this month, July 2025. He slipped away without making headlines, as reserved and out-of-the-limelight as he had lived most of his career as a musical artisan – nestled within impenetrable archives brimming with dusty tapes and incredible sounds that seemed to emerge from other, enigmatic worlds. Anyone who’s truly listened to his work knows that Sorgini was far more than just a composer. He was a sonic alchemist, capable of blending analogue synthesizers, ethnic instruments, and funk grooves into mysterious, visionary sensory experiences.

In his secret laboratory, hidden from view and from mainstream history, he created timeless music. Music that now echoes with surprising relevance. It’s no wonder that the seeds he sowed have blossomed far and wide, taking root in the fertile soil of contemporary music — from Jamie XX to Guts, from Busta Rhymes to Knxwledge, and from Dengue Dengue Dengue to Jolly Mare. For each of these artists, digging into Sorgini’s catalogue has revealed a wealth of inspiration.

The playlist we’re sharing with you today is intended as a tribute not only to his genius but also to his artistic consistency: his courage in staying faithful to a personal, unique vision that encompassed African influences, voodoo esoterica, and electronic drone music, and whose vibes could span from very abstract sci-fi to super dark and diabolical horror. Not to mention his melodies, always chiselled with mystical precision, whether through sumptuous string orchestrations or the geometric minimalism of synths and drum machines.

This playlist is an invitation: get lost in his sonic landscapes and let the hypnotic beats, shadowy textures, and visceral vibrations that only he could create carry you away. It’s a journey into the music of an artist who didn’t look back and was always a few steps ahead. Sorgini was never a nostalgist. He was a harbinger of the future.