Another week, another italo disco jam from me. This one is off of Rayko‘s recent Rare Wiri Heroes release on his own label, and is a reworking of Mike Oldfield‘s “Foreign Affair.” You may know Mike Oldfield from his most famous work, “Tubular Bells,” (a.k.a. the theme from the Exorcist) which has been covered at least a couple times during the italo era. “Foreign Affair” has had its share of covers too (this Balearic one is ridiculous, for example) but this sounds to be a straight reworking of the original vocal track.

If you’re not familiar with Rayko, this most excellent Spaniard has one of the most active Soundcloud pages I have ever seen, covering everything from boogie to blue-eyed soul, and you can find a lot of his recent reworks on vinyl from folks like Kojak Giant Sounds.

The original “Foreign Affair” makes you feel you’re running along a moonlit beach, glancing back with every step to check for approaching zombies. For this version, Rayko swaps out the original’s sinister arpeggiated synth work with a more amiable and danceable chug. When paired with the some sing-song vocals about finding that special international tropical beach that you’re looking for, it banishes the zombies and evokes images of sun-dappled tides flowing in across your feet. If you’re anything like me, you’re counting down the days until you hit the beach, so this is probably only going to make it harder to wait. No free DL unfortunately, but you can pick the digital download up easily on Junodownload.

/// Brian Blackout