Diskjokke interview in Stool Pigeon

June 30, 2011Comments Off

You can read the interview in Stool Pigeon here.
Norwegians think of music festivals as more than an opportunity to get drunk enough to make indie bands tolerable, and so it was that Diskjokke (Joachim Dyrdahl) found himself the recipient of a generous grant from Oslo’s Øyafestivalen to go and do, well… something.

“They just wanted me to create something new and I had no limitations,” he explains, sounding tired from two gigs the night before, one at a food festival, the other in a club. And, from the off, Joachim knew he wanted his festival-financed project to move outside of Western music, or the electronica that he’s become known for making. “I thought of other music from around the world — African music from Mali and so on — but I really wanted to get away from percussion and from what I am used to doing,” he says.

Gamelan, an ancient form of music from Indonesia, seemed like just the sonic departure Joachim was looking for. He flew to Bandung, Indonesia, “saw all sorts of different ensembles playing and being taught”, and realised that there were, in fact, threads between the gamelan and the kind of Norwegian electronic music played by himself and the likes of Lindstrøm. “We went to a wedding in Indonesia and it lasted for three days,” he explains. “There was a gamelan ensemble of about 20 people there and they slept on the stage, and then played, and slept. It had that momentum of techno.”

As well as the music, the culture shock had a massive impact: “What struck me most was how busy everything is; how many people there are in the cities and how fast everything moves. And then you go into the jungle and there’s just nobody there. It’s such a massive contrast. It seemed so different to how it is in Norway, where everyone is so worried about safety and things like that. In Indonesia there is less feeling that life is important in that way.”

All this shaped Sagara, the album that is the fruit of the Øya project. Aside from gathering field recordings, no music was actually recorded in Indonesia, and it would be a mistake to regard Sagara as a Norwegian gamelan techno album from Diskjokke: “Some people have said that they can’t hear the gamelan in the music, but that was the intention. I wasn’t trying to make a gamelan record — Indonesia just melted into the music.”

Lindstrøm XLR8R podcast

June 28, 2011Comments Off

Get Lindstrøm’s podcast here.

After running a podcast from fellow Norwegian space-disco maverick Diskjokke just two weeks ago, it might seem like it’s a little soon to post an exclusive mix from Lindstrøm. However, while Diskjokke put together a solid, dancefloor-oriented DJ session, Lindstrøm has gone in a completely different direction. Rather than simply showing off all of the latest dubs or showcasing his limited-edition vintage gems, the veteran artist has assembled a diverse collection of tunes, and although it has not been officially tabbed as an “influences” mix, the varied styles on display—primarily late-’70s and early-’80s prog rock, psych, jangle pop, and disco—all reflect a small piece of the sound that has come to define Lindstrøm’s artistic output. It’s certainly not what we—or probably anyone, for that matter—would have expected from a Lindstrøm podcast, but it’s certainly an interesting listen.

01 Teen Inc “Fountains” (Teen Inc)
02 Kirsty MacColl “A New England” (Stiff)
03 Turns “Time” (VME)
04 John Klemmer “Ecstasy” (ABC)
05 Brian Briggs “I Want It” (Bearsville)
06 Intergalactic Touring Band “Heartbreaker” (Harvest)
07 Wally Badarou “One Day, Won’t Give It Away” (Barclay)
08 Bernhard Jobski “Pu 94″ (Polydor)
09 Edward Larry Gordon “All Pervading” (Universal Sound)
10 Big Louis “French Kiss” (Living Beat)
11 Clair “Ya Papa” (Sun Trek)
12 Gino Vannelli “Appaloosa” (A&M)
13 Kowalski “Ultradeterminanten” (Virgin)
14 Phil Lynott “Yellow Pearl” (Phonogram)
15 Earth and Fire “Singer In the Rain” (Qcumber)
16 David Matthews “Space Oddity” (CTI)

Todd Terje two-hour mix

June 26, 2011Comments Off

Check out this Todd Terje live recording from The Nest. Get it here.

The Nest: Last month, hundreds of deep house and disco devotees had the pleasure of witnessing Adam Freeland and the edit-don, Todd Terje, take over The Nest for a night of dark, focused sets and a b2b finale that sent the crowd wild. Setting a benchmark for Freeland’s Kaleidoscope residency, that promises to explore a depth of psychedelic sounds and textures, Todd Terje came with a record bag full of unfamiliar, dissident smashers that kept us all on our toes. Hard-edged loops combined with uplifting disco gems were on tap during Terje’s two hour run and against all odds, he was happy for us to record the live mix to give to all our dedicated blog readers! It truly is a masterpiece of a club set that’s sure to bring you a spot of joy to brighten up this dull day and help you roll on through to the weekend. We challenge you to put together a comprehensive track list, as we fully hold our hands up to say we’re unversed in many of Todd Terje’s selections on this one. Enjoy!

Idjut Boys Japan tour

June 24, 2011Comments Off

The Fader about Razika

June 24, 2011Comments Off

Razika are from Norway, a country that is famous for black metal. Razika are not Black metal. In fact, they’re light and bubbly, a sunnier, poppier take on post-punk like Kleenex/LiLiPUT or Swell Maps. Not that they sound redundant—we need great pop rock like this. It’s infinitely listenable.

Read and hear the music here.

Pitchfork premieres Razika “Eg Vetsje”

June 23, 2011Comments Off

You can hear Razika’s “Eg Vetsje” on Pitchfork here. And here is what they say: “Eg Vetsje” is a jouncy, ska-inflected post-punk cut taken from Program 91, debut album from Bergen, Norway-based four-piece Razika, due August 22 courtesy of Smalltown Supersound.

XLR8R review of Diskjokke’s Sagara

June 23, 2011Comments Off

Check out XLR8R’s review of Diskjokke “Sagara” here.

It’s no secret that the disco-tinged sound of Norway has had its flirtations with ambient music. Going through the scene-encompassing Full Pupp back catalog can at times reveal a surprising diversity of dubbed-out space noises that wouldn’t feel out of place on an Orb album. While in the past this side of the scene was traditionally paired with a four-on-the-floor beat and chugging Italo bass, it seems as though now things are changing. Take Sagara, the new album from Diskjokke, which represents a radical and surprising departure for the artist away from the dancefloor and towards a floating and more-or-less beatless soundscape. This sound comes as a surprise for a number of reasons, but perhaps the most obvious is that Diskjokke has built a reputation for himself as a producer of relatively straightforward tunes. Standing among similar artists like Prins Thomas, Lindstrom, Todd Terje, and Blackbelt Andersen, Diskjokke helped shape the Norwegian “space disco” sound of the ’00s. On Sagara, he takes the melodic exploration of that sound and strips it of most of its beat, creating an extended exercise in harmonic composition best heard on tracks like “Sengon” and “Namida,” which construct massive drone cathedrals populated by Music For Airports pianos, Gamelan chimes, and other seemingly randomly patterned noises. Yet while these sounds represent starkly different directions for Diskjokke, these sonic spaces are well traveled, and although a retread is kind of charming, going through them again isn’t a particularly fresh experience. Sagara also breaks with Diskjokke’s previous material in that it seems to follow a programmatic narrative logic. The songs melt into one another to construct a larger sonic structure that functions better as a whole-in-flux than as isolated songs. This is unfortunately where the album runs again into a few problems with consistency and originality. On “Panutup” (but honestly through its entirety), Sagara mines territory dangerously close to the no man’s land of yoga studio music and the Pure Moods series. Ultimately, while it does have its moments, Sagara feels more like a road sign than a destination. It points the way towards a possible new sound but lacks the polish, originality, and final touches that would make it stand out as a serious work of its own.

Razika on Time Out London’s playlist

June 23, 2011Comments Off

Razika’s Vond I Hjertet is on Time Out London’s playlist. You can hear the track here.
And this is what they say: “Norway’s latest young (they’re all 19) outfit Razika is my latest audio crush, especially the ultra poppy ‘Vondt I Hjertet’, which is laced with sweetly sung ’60s harmonies and taken from their debut LP ‘Program 91′, out on August 22.” Danielle Goldstein

Bleep & Smalltown Supersound Sonar party

June 18, 2011Comments Off

Diskjokke XLR8R podcast

June 16, 2011Comments Off

Podcast 202: Diskjokke
Words: Shawn Reynaldo Photo: Stian Andersen

For several years, Diskjokke (a.k.a. Joachim Dyrdahl) was the sort of producer whose music could fairly easily be put into a neat little box. Granted, it was a really nice box; Diskjokke’s lush, spaced-out productions expertly wove together Balearic strains of disco and house and were rightly lauded alongside those of Oslo contemporaries Lindstrom and Prins Thomas. However, things have changed with the release of his third album, Sagara, an ambient effort which takes its primary inspiration from Indonesian gamelan. Given that the album is such a drastic left turn from Diskjokke’s previous work, we figured that now would be a good time to invite him to particpate in the XLR8R podcast series. Steering clear of his own productions entirely, Diskjokke has instead assembled a lengthy DJ session full of sunny melodies, bouncing basslines, and feel-good grooves. If this mix is any indication, we can say with confidence that he hasn’t lost his nose for the dancefloor.

01 Alexkid “Yemsa (Fabrizio Maurizi Remix)” (WetYourSelf)
02 Nicone feat. Narra “Caje” (Stil Vor Talent)
03 Tuccillo “Invisible” (Rebirth)
04 Pleasurekraft “Breastfed (Loulou Players Remix)” (This Is)
05 Cascao & Lady Maru “Tropical Tasting (Rodion RMX)” (I Am Single)
06 Kid Who “Galactic Juju (Kid Who Edit)” (Mister Mistery)
07 TDL “Africa” (Unreleased)
08 Blood Orange “Toshito (In Flagranti Remix)” (Domino)
09 Friendly Fires “Live Those Days Tonight (Tim Green Remix)” (XL)
10 Azari & III “Manic” (Loose Lips)
11 Whim-ee “Singing Yep” (Young Society Neon Edition)
12 Gavin Herlihy “Krypton Factor (Delano’s Deep Space Mix)” (Apparel)
13 Compuphonic “Sequoia (Lee Jones Remix)” (Union Match)

You can get the podcast from XLR8R here.

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