DISKJOKKE: En Fin Tid (Smalltown Supersound)

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Posted on Jun 17th 2010 01:39 am

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DiskJokke: En Fin Tid

DISKJOKKE
En Fin Tid
STS184CD
Smalltown Supersound 2010
08 Tracks. 60mins11secs

Amazon UK: CD | DLD US: CD | DLD Norman Records: CD

Time for another round of Norwegian space disco! This year has already seen major releases from Lindstrøm & Christabelle (Real Life Is No Cool, Smalltown Supersound) and Prins Thomas (Prins Thomas, Full Pupp), and it is now the turn of Joachim ‘DiskJokke’ Dyrdahl to deliver another fine slice of stellar electronic prog disco grooves. Follow up to his superb 2007 debut Staying In, also published on Smalltown Supersound, En Fin Tid feeds on the same cosmic electro bleepy sounds, but while the tracks on Staying In followed very definite paths and often adopted a traditional verse/bridge/chorus structure, the templates are here much looser and fluid, and the melodies much more subtle.

Unlike its predecessor, which collected tracks recorded during a long period of time, En Fin Tid was written and recorded as a complete piece, and this is undeniably very much reflected in the overall consistency of the record. With eight tracks, spanning just over an hour, this album represents an epic journey through hypnotic soundscapes, beautiful round bass lines and progressive disco grooves, fuelled by anything from seventies and eighties disco to ambient, acid house and contemporary electronica. This colourful cocktail flows impeccably, from the watery opening track, Reset And Begin to the massive dreamy Nattestid, which closes, both highly reminiscent of mid-eighties Tangerine Dream, through the euphoric title track, torrid groove of Big Splash, disarmingly simple and evocative Rosenrød or lush and ice-cold The Bund.

The impressive thing is how varied and rich Dyrdahl’s sound has grown to be in the space of three years. He already displayed a mighty fine taste for arranging kaleidoscopic soundscapes and shimmering melodies into extremely coherent vignettes, a savoir-faire which has made him a very sought after remixer in recent years, as his work for the likes of Metronomy, Block Party, Lykke Li, Charlotte Gainsbourg, The XX or Social Disco Club attest. With En Fin Tid, he takes this to a totally different level by creating extremely rich layers of sound and letting them evolve organically around constantly shifting focal points. This is the case on the title track for instance, with its main theme continuously changing hue, yet remaining fundamentally the same throughout. Later on, he applies a similar technique on Rosenrød to produce a somewhat different result. Here, the melody remains pretty untouched the whole time, but it is its surroundings which are subjected to much alterations. The most convincing example of this though is to be found on the ten-and-a-half-minute closing track Nattestid, which, after nodding in the direction of Lindstrøm for a moment, takes on a radically different path, pushing into beautiful hypnotic soundscapes to creating one of the dreamiest pieces of electronic music heard in years.

The cover of this latest opus, fruit of the creative mind of Kim Hiorthøy as is de rigueur on Smalltown Supersound, depicts the DiskJokke name dripping in what could either be paint or some unidentified sickly substance, but this is certainly not a representation of what the record contains. Far from being sticky or syrupy, En Fin Tid is an incredibly fluid, elegant and, ultimately, thoroughly exhilarating affair. DiskJokke has produced here a record so bright and colourful that he’s left the rest of the Norwegian disco scene looking a tad bland in comparison.

4.9/5

DiskJokke | DiskJokke (MySpace) | Smalltown Supersound
Amazon UK: CD | DLD US: CD | DLD Norman Records: CD

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