Cortona delivers a vintage mix that nods to the legacy of his legendary Plastic Fantastic label…
Cortona, the alias of UK/Italy-based producer Enzo, channels decades of eclectic listening into atmospheric, groove-heavy club tracks. A formative night seeing Primal Scream with Andrew Weatherall lit the fuse for his dive into electronic music, eventually leading him to become a founding proponent of Plastic Fantastic—one of the scene’s most influential progressive house labels. That legacy pulses through Cortona’s work, with his recent releases finding homes on imprints ranging from Bedrock to Music To Die For.
On this Balance Selections, Cortona balances analog nostalgia with modern fluidity. Featuring tracks from Mike Rish, Jamie Stevens, and Hermanez, this nearly three-hour mix leans into nocturnal energy to deliver a vintage progressive punch, weaving deep builds and emotive peaks into a seamless late-night journey.
Tracklist
1. Dr Atomic – Schudelfloss (Balearic Jukebox Reprise Mix)
2. MOB (LB) – Vibrance (Rokazer Remix) {Mango Alley}
3. Mike Rish – Tornn {Meanwhile}
4. Hermanez – Conn {Bedrock}
5. David Calo – Deep Answer (Original Mix)
6. Madloch & Subnode – Club Del Ocio (Andrés Moris Remix)
7. Diego Acosta – Blind & Happy (Original Mix)
8. Mati Vaira – The Last Hope (Original Mix)
9. Cendryma – Typical Use
10. Eagles Prey – Tontos Drum (Jamie Stevens Remix)
[Plastic Fantastic Records]
11. Lostep – Burma (Sasha’s Invol2ver Dub Mix – Mike Rish Edit)
12. ID – ID
13. Facundo Leiarz – When Everything Stops
14. Cortona – ID
15. Luca Abayan – Prisma (Original Mix)
16. Cortona – ID
17. Cortona – ID
18. Mike Rish – Sunset On Mars {Meanwhile}
19. Ric Niels & Tiefstone – Mannheim (Original Mix) {Proportion}
20. Zuccasam – ID {Plastic Fantastic Records}
21. Reinier Zonneveld – Megacity Servant
22. Dave Walker & Fordal – ID
23. Gowzer – Disco Biscuit {Plastic Fantastic Records}
24. Maceo – Solar Detroit
25. Nila – ID {Plastic Fantastic Records}
26. Moloko – Forever More (Francois K Luke Fair Edit)
27. Sentre – U&ME
Name: Enzo
Location: UK / Italy
Alias/Producer name: Cortona
Labels affiliated with: Plastic Fantastic Records / Bedrock / District Recs / Music To Die For
My parents were Sicilian immigrants. My earliest musical memories are of car journeys to Sicily each year when my dad would play compilations he’d recorded on cassette from Sunday’s Top 100 on the radio. Thinking about it, these were early mix tapes.
He’d have everything from Jean-Michel Jarre to Boney M – proper Balearic. The first bit of music which was pivotal for me was Jeff Wayne’s War of The Worlds which I heard in the back of my friend’s car aged 7 or 8 and blew my mind – again, it was all car journeys.
I became obsessive about music in the 80s with bands like Depeche Mode, Simple Minds and The Cure. There were clear tribes at that time and I was heavily into Indie. My dance music awakening was going to see Primal Scream at The Empire Ballroom Leicester Square with Andrew Weatherall and Alex Paterson (The Orb) playing which to this day is one of the best concerts I’ve ever been to.
Weatherall’s early productions and Creation Records bridged the gap between Indie and Dance and next minute we were raving and going to Ibiza.
I think the first dance music night I went to was Gordon Kaye’s night called ‘The Sunshine Playroom’ at the Escape Club in Brighton. It was a huge influential crossover night where he played Indie and Indie Dance. I remember dancing to The Stone Roses, Depeche Mode etc
Sasha and Digweed have always been major influences, as well as Hernan Cattaneo. At the moment I’m loving Jamie Stevens, Mike Rish, Ruben Karapetyan, Dowden.
The last album I bought on vinyl and downloaded was Sean Johnston’s excellent ALFOS album. I love everything about ALFOS and listen regularly. The album is stand-out good.
The first album I purchased was Michael Jackson – Off The Wall. A totally brilliant album. It was also my first vinyl purchase.
I have a very basic set up: my Macbook Pro / Ableton a Korg Midi control keyboard and 2 x Fostex Studio monitors. Everything else is plugins. I have a Splice account and various cloud synths like a Roland cloud account so I get use of all their synths, Serum 1 & 2, 36DB environments.
I learnt to DJ on vinyl and that was my media of choice but now I use both vinyl and CDJs with Rekordbox.
I have my second release on Bedrock coming soon which is four tracks I did a while ago and will be released as part of the Systematica EP. I have also got another couple of tracks that will come out later in the year. I’ve just done a remix for Mango Alley and have just been asked to remix one of Dave Seaman’s tracks which I’m honoured to be doing. I am working on new material now – I’ve got a brilliant idea for a follow up to XTACI – with a couple of other remixes thrown in.
It’s early days, this time round – I’m getting interest from various sources. I’ve played all over the world but not been to Argentina before which would be a dream.
I made it live on my CDJs as I find I can get into it more and find a groove, it may not be as technical as using Ableton but for me it’s more fun and real – this obviously comes from my roots playing out on vinyl. I have made a mix that would mimic a night in a club from warm up deeper tracks to peak time and then a few classics thrown in at the end.
I have used a lot of new unreleased track – my own, ones on my Plastic Fantastic label and a few others people have given me. I have also used tracks that have recently come out and older tracks that have inspired me over the past few years.
Throughout my DJing career, I enjoyed warming up, building up deeper tracks and also peak time sets so it was nice to incorporate all that into one mix. I also like mixes to take you on a journey with plenty of peaks and troughs which is far more interesting for me.
Apart from the Space Dust EP linked above which I feel shows both sides of my style (deeper and peak time), I’m very happy with the Hutu remix I did for Patch Park on District Recs which has lots of energy:
Jamie Stevens – Mad Bells on the excellent Meanwhile Recordings just blew me away and was a huge inspiration in making my first track, Foresta, around 18 months ago.
Y Tu Mama Tabien
The Sopranos
The Mondrian Ibiza
