LINDSTRØM & CHRISTABELLE: Real Life Is No Cool (Smalltown Supersound) / PRINS THOMAS: Prins Thomas (Full Pupp)

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Posted on Mar 25th 2010 01:25 am

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Lindstrøm & Christabelle: Real Life Is No Cool Prins Thomas: Prins Thomas

LINDSTRØM & CHRISTABELLE
Real Life Is No Cool
STS159
Smalltown Supersound 2010
10 Tracks. 47mins24secs

PRINS THOMAS
Prins Thomas
FULLPUPP018
Full Pupp 2010
07 Tracks. 60mins04secs

LINDSTRØM & CHRISTABELLE: Real Life Is No Cool
Amazon UK: CD | 2CD | LP | DLD US: CD | LP | DLD Boomkat: CD | 2CD | LP |DLD iTunes: DLD
PRINS THOMAS: Prins Thomas
Amazon UK: CD | LP US: CD | LP Boomkat: CD | LP |DLD

Norway is officially the coolest place on Earth. Sweeping statement? Perhaps, but, beside counting one of the most active metal scenes around, the country continues to produce some of the best and most forward thinking musicians in fields as diverse as jazz, noise or electronic music, with experimentation as a common theme to most. In the last few years, Norway has also been at the forefront of a revitalised disco scene, spearheaded by Hans-Peter Lindstrøm on one side and Prins Thomas on the other. Not that there is any kind of rivalry in their respective endeavours, the pair having collaborated since 2003 and produced a number of EPs and two albums. But, while Lindstrøm has already a couple of albums under his belt, including his seminal debut solo album, Where You Go I Go Too, released a couple of years ago, Prins Thomas has so far shied away from making the transition between EPs and album. This is now done with the arrival of his self-titled debut LP via his Full Pupp imprint.

Recorded shortly after Thomas Moen Hermansen and Lindstrøm put the finishing touches to their second album, with a helping hand from Lindstrom, who plays keyboards on Wendy Not Walter and Sauerkraut, and ‘Todd’ Terje Olsen, on trumpet, also on Sauerkraut, this album undeniably stems from a similar vision to the duo’s collaborative work. Counting seven lengthy tracks and clocking at an hour almost on the dot, this is an epic journey through beautiful soundscapes, whether it is the almost Balearic tones of Uggebugg, Slangermusikk, hugely reminiscent of Rubicon-era Tangerine Dream, the hypnotic cosmic disco of Wendy Not Walter and Attiatte or the almost poppy strands of Nattonsket. Hermansen lines up the goods with metronomic precision and creates self-contained miniature vignettes which, while all very different, are linked into one superb narrative.

While he had already become a familiar name for some, his stunning debut solo album, Where You Go I Go Too released in 2008 on Smalltown Supersound brought Lindstrøm to the attention of a much wider audience. As he expanded on the cosmic disco template of previous records with three sprawling electronic fests, the album appeared to pay tribute to the Kosmische scene of the seventies, most particularly to Manuel Göttsching’s Ash Ra Temple releases of the middle of that decade. His collaboration with vocalist Isabelle ‘Christabelle’ Haarseth Sandoo, and the recording of Real Life Is No Cool, started much earlier than that of Where You Go, but due to conflicting commitments, the pair didn’t manage to complete the album until recently. While there are some clear links between the two, Real Life is a much more eclectic and pop-orientated record. Drawing influences from everything and everyone from Giorgio Moroder (Let It Happen, Let’s Practice, So Much Fun) to Michael Zilkha’s Ze Records (Keep It Up, High & Low), and even managing to pack a major punch with Baby Can’t Stop, strongly reminiscent of Michael Jackson’s Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough, Hans-Peter Lindstrøm provides Christabelle with a hugely varied patchwork of sounds, grooves and moods, and she obliges, favouring restrained but effective performance to give this record a touch of class.

While hugely different, these two records have much in common, not least thanks to the capacity of their respective authors to bring genres thought to belong forever in the past back to life and give them a touch of modernity. Of the two, the Lindstrøm/Christabelle collaboration has, perhaps, the edge, but only just, and both records are equally satisfying.

Real Life Is No Cool: 4.4/5 Prins Thomas: 4.1/5

Lindstrøm | Lindstrøm (MySpace) | Christabelle (MySpace) | Smalltown Supersound
Prins Thomas (MySpace) | Full Pupp (MySpace)
LINDSTRØM & CHRISTABELLE: Real Life Is No Cool
Amazon UK: CD | 2CD | LP | DLD US: CD | LP | DLD Boomkat: CD | 2CD | LP |DLD iTunes: DLD
PRINS THOMAS: Prins Thomas
Amazon UK: CD | LP US: CD | LP Boomkat: CD | LP |DLD


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One Response to “LINDSTRØM & CHRISTABELLE: Real Life Is No Cool (Smalltown Supersound) / PRINS THOMAS: Prins Thomas (Full Pupp)”

  1. […] 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 […]