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

DISKJOKKE
Staying In
STS145CD
Smalltown Supersound 2008
10 Tracks. 56mins05secs

If staying in is the new going out, DiskJokke is the shiny banner that advertises it. Hailing from Oslo where, alongside like-minded characters like Prins Thomas and Lindstrom, he is at the forefront of the new Swedish dance scene, Joachim Dyrdahl has spent the last few years honing his dance floor potential at Sunkissed, one of Norway’s most notorious clubs, where he is a regular behind the decks. First spotted by Prins Thomas, who released three of his tracks, Dyrdahl has since, under the DiskJokke banner, had tracks featured on a handful of compilations, released a couple of EPs and is fast becoming a sought-after remixer. He is now signed to Norwegian imprint Smalltown Supersound.

Staying In, Dyrdahl’s debut album, incorporates elements of classic disco and house, sprinkled with hints of electro and Detroit techno to give his sound a slightly more angular form. Dyrdahl also pays much attention to his melodies and to the mood of each of his creations, which ranges from atmospheric to playful moments.

The opening sequence of Folk I Farta sounds tailor-made to soundtrack the arty TV ad of a German car manufacturer, but once it’s slipped into its party gear, it is all systems go for the DiskJokke disco machine. The track slowly builds momentum as a cascading piano rains on a gentle melody until the main synth theme finally takes over and firmly sets it into orbit. The title track, which follows, has a video game feel to it, at least in its opening part, but, while the cartoon-like mood lingers on, the sound fills up and the melodic structure becomes more complex as Dyrdahl adds layer after layer. Større Enn Først Antatt draws on more openly techno tones and shows some deep connections with Detroit, especially in the way the melodic aspect of the piece is intrinsically linked to the sounds applied.

Later, it is impossible not to think of Daft Punk’s Da Funk on Glatt, but, in Dyrdahl’s hands, the robotic template favoured by the French duo becomes much more human and emotionally charged. Elsewhere, I Was Go To Marrocco And I Don’t See You is like a processed re-reading of Soft Cell’s Tainted Love with steady house beat and warm electronics to back up its stripped down instrumental form. Cold Out shows off some interesting African flavours in its rhythmic structure but, as elements pile in, end up somewhat lacking coherence, especially set against stronger compositions, such as Interpolation, which precedes it, or the rather beautiful Flott Flyt, which follows it. The album concludes with the elegant The Dinner That Never Happened and Some Signs Are Good which, despite being somewhat different, see Dyrdahl deploying sumptuous warm electronic waves over haunting themes.

Staying In is a juicy guilty pleasure, filled with melodies devised to keep the heart warm and beats to keep the head nodding and the feet tapping all the way through. This is not an album in the pure disco tradition, far from it, but Joachim Dyrdahl openly plays with the party tone inherent to the genre, giving his debut album a thoroughly enjoyable feel, yet his approach goes further by playing on a wide palette of emotions, making Staying In a very accomplished dance record.

4.2/5

DiskJokke (MySpace) | Smalltown Supersound
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