Praise be to Slartibartfast for creating Norway...

I mentioned in my last post about my current appetite for some of the dance records that have been creeping out of Norway in the past year or so. Well, it's about time I got my finger out and posted tracks by probably the most well known producers from up there, Lindstrom & Prins Thomas.

I had plenty to pick from, aside from their recent debut album and their own solo works, their remix catalogue takes in people like LCD Soundsystem, Tosca, The Juan Maclean, Freeform Five and many more. So many good pieces to choose from. Picking three was hard, so I hope you enjoy the selections below.

Track : BERMUDA TRIANGLE - "SECRET PILLOW (PRINS THOMAS REMIX PARTS 1 & 2)"

Bermuda Triangle are also from Norway, and here Prins Thomas gives their "Secret Pillow" track a stereotypical working over. I don't mean this in a bad way. With Prins Thomas & Lindstrom once you hear a few remixes, or their own tracks, you can pretty much guess what you're going to get. A warm live feel to the instruments, funky, head nodding basslines, great melodies and a sort of retro feel to the whole affair. "Secret Pillow" evolves nicely and starts to build with the advent of more and more percussion, but the best bit comes at the halfway mark when the track starts to echo off into some sort of Joe Claussell style workout with the bass and drums making slight appearances at just the right times to keep your head nodding.

Track : LINDSTROM - "I FEEL SPACE (M.A.N.D.Y. MIX)"

This is slightly different, as although it is a Lindstrom track, it's been given a darker workout by German remix and DJ duo M.A.N.D.Y. It's still got that same 120bpm style tempo that these guys seem to love, and another live sounding bassline, but this time the track stops and starts, throws in strange sound effects, disembodied vocals and the highlight, a fine melody that gives a passing nod to Jamie Principle's seminal Chicago House track "Baby Wants To Ride".

Track : LINDSTROM & PRINS THOMAS - "SYKKELSESONG"

It was Lindstrom & Prins Thomas' debut album that sparked off all this fixation with them, and other like minded Norwegian producers, when I picked it up in November of last year. Glowing reviews hinting at this new Balearic movement thing were enough to get my attention. The praise is justified. Long drawn out jams with a real warmth and a live feel about them. Big grooves that you can loose yourself in with snatches of guitar coming in to bring your focus back and the added achievement of them making a record that sounds like it could have been made anytime between now and the early 80's.

"Sykkelsesong" is one of the highlights on the album for me. As I mentioned above regarding the Bermuda Triangle track, you know what you're getting. But this time the hook seems to be a tweaked guitar sample from Spandau Ballet's "Chant No. 1"...

Enjoy.

Go Visit : Lindstrom & Prins Thomas @ Eskimo Recordings

Go Buy : Lindstrom & Prins Thomas - Lindstrom & Prins Thomas

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

Ta,
Budgie.

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.

...Fake ID.

Not that he's been away or anything...

Those of you who've read The Pipe since the start, when it was mostly about bootlegs, will remember a time when there barely went a post without me mentioning or linking to a track by Lionel Vinyl / Fake ID.

He's still been as busy as ever, what with his monthly downloadable Hotmixes, his half.arsed.beats guise and the odd remix, but when I stumbled across the track below over on Get Your Bootleg On a few days ago, I knew I had to give him a mention again...

Track : ARCTIC MONKEYS - "WHEN THE SUN GOES DOWN (FAKE ID's SCUMMY MIX)"

Current indie flavours of the month, Arctic Monkeys, get their forthcoming single a blistering going over by his Fake ID persona. Not that you'd notice for the first minute and a half, mind. It's been left untouched. After that though, he unleashes some drum and bass into the proceedings and then scuffs the whole thing up with some fine and jaggy trademark Fake ID electronics...

It works a treat.

Ah, it's good to have him back on The Pipe...

Go Visit : Fake ID's Hotmix
Go Visit : half.arsed.beats
Go Visit : Lionel Vinyl
Go Visit : Arctic Monkeys

Go Buy : Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not

Feel free to leave a comment about this track in The Pipe section of the forum.

Ta,
Budgie.

Man, It's cold. I wish I was back on holiday.

That's the trouble with going away over Xmas and New Year to a warmer climate, you feel the cold even more when you come back.

I'm sitting here typing this with the sound of the wind and the rain hitting my window and I'm trying to keep my own spirits up by listening to some of the tracks that I've spent the past few weeks on holiday listening too. Nice warm tracks. Nice summer tracks.

Think warm thoughts, listen to warm music and I shall be warm again. That's the theory anyway...

Find below a few tracks from my annual Balearic Beat inspired holiday CD's. Alas I never made it to my usual haunt of Ibiza this year, but I can't complain seeing as it was forfeited in favour of Australia...

Track : WARP 69 - "NATURAL HIGH (GLOBAL COMMUNICATION MIX)"

One of the finest ambient records ever made. Back in the day the Global Communication boys (Tom Middleton & Mark Pritchard) were pretty much untouchable and here this mellow, jazz tinged number shows why. It's taken from their "Remotion" album which compiled the best of their reworks from the early 90's (expect to pay quite a bit of money to get your hands on this now rare gem). This track has "Cafe Del Mar" stamped all over it. A fine and blissful summer evening of a tune.

And while on the subject of Global Communication. the lads have teamed up again under this guise for the next in the series of Fabric Live mix albums. "Fabric26 - Global Communication" is out on the 16th of January.

Track : ARTHUR RUSSELL - "THAT'S US / WILD COMBINATION"

It's an unwritten blog rule that at some point you must feature a track by The Fall and a track by leftfield NY dance legend Arthur Russell. I've covered The Fall, so now it's Arthur's turn. I'm not going to cover any ground about his legacy and influence, you can read all about him in the link below, instead I'm just going to mention that this is as far away from anything he did under any of his experimental disco guises. It's my favourite Arthur Russell track as it's a simple, very 80's pop song featuring his soft vocal beautifully complimented with Jennifer "Up Where We Belong" Warnes on backing vocals.

Track : GRACE JONES - "UNLIMITED CAPACITY FOR LOVE"

Still in the 80's... Grace Jones always freaked me out as a kid. Her image was just too striking and bold for me. As I got older, and thanks to an old girlfriend who was a fan, I was able to see beyond the look and get into her music. I couldn't believe the amount of great songs and killer cover versions hiding in her back catalogue. "Unlimited Capacity For Love" is one such song that needs an airing every once in a while. Taken from her '82 "Living My Life" album, this is Grace Jones in her full Island stride with Chris Blackwell producing and legendary reggae rhythm section Sly & Robbie backing her up. I'm a sucker for the synths on this one and the great middle section where the guitar sounds like a vocoder...

Track : SUNDAY BRUNCH - "MIDSUMMER NIGHT"

A bit more up to date now. Swedes Jesper Dahlbäck & Sebastian Ahrenberg (aka Seba) team up as Sunday Brunch to deliver an incredibly polished, summery, deep house track. The production is great. The first half is all great keys backed with a mid tempo beat and some great effects and then for the latter half Seba's sister comes in and delivers a vocal while the track just shifts up a gear ever so slightly. A perfect holiday record.

Go Visit : Global Communication
Go Visit : Bio of Arthur Russell @ Jahsonic
Go Visit : Grace Jones
Go Visit : Info on Jesper Dahlbäck and Seba @ Discogs

Go Buy : Global Communication - Remotion
Go Buy : Arthur Russell - Calling Out Of Context
Go Buy : Grace Jones - Private Life (The Compass Point Years)
Go Buy : Various Artists - Sunday Best 3

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

Ta,
Budgie.