Posted by Budgie at January 19, 2006 11:30 AM

Touched by the hand of Todd...

For the past few months my musical radar has been pointing firmly towards Norway. Any blips that appear by people like Prins Thomas, Lindstrom and my current fave and featured below, Todd Terje, get intercepted right away.

Some say they are spearheading a new Balearic movement, and it may be true, but I say all they are doing is not pandering to current trends and just taking things back to that good eclectic, fun ethos. Be it edits of well known tracks or just long, drawn out, slow and funky jams, these guys always seem to hit the spot.

Track : BEE GEES - "YOU SHOULD BE DANCIN' (DUBBED MIX)"

Ever since I featured Todd Terje's epic edit of Michael Jackson's "I Can't Help It" back in November (here) I have become addicted to hunting down his other edit works. It's quite an impressive back catalogue of tracks including edits of people as diverse as Santana, Isaac Hayes, The Turtles, Kraftwerk and it even takes in reworks of "Aquarius" (from "Hair") and the Knight Rider theme...

The one most played in the past month or so in my house has been his rejig of this Bee Gees classic.

"You Should Be Dancin'" gets chopped, looped, dubbed and then filtered for maximum dancefloor effect. Don't fear that this is going to be a cheese fest... It's not really... Just embrace the nous that Todd Terge has shown in revitalising this well known track.

Track : TODD TERJE - "EURODANS"

Now for something original by him. Like his edit catalogue, his own work is varied across many different styles. "Eurodans" gives the game away by doing exactly what it says on the tin. Apparently the story goes that a friend of Todd's challenged him to come up with the cheesiest Eurodance style record he could imagine...

The thing is, even though it brings in all the elements you would associate with that style of music, catchy 80's synths, chunky basslines, simple melodies and big breakdowns, it actually avoids being cheesy and becomes this great grin inducing, knowing throw back to when tunes rarely went over 120bpm.

A true slice of brilliance and by far one of the best records I have heard in months.

Enjoy.

Go Buy : Todd Terje / Tangoterje 12"s @ Juno Records
Go Buy : Todd Terje / Tangoterje 12"s @ Piccadilly Records

Feel free to leave a comment about these tracks in The Pipe section of the forum.

Ta,
Budgie.