Once there was Disco and on the other side of the ocean there was Prins Thomas – this is his debut album and it’s fantastic, what else do you need to know?
It seems odd that after Prins Thomas (aka Thomas Moen Hermansen) has been so active for the best part of the last five years that he’s only ready now to release his debut solo album on his own Full Pupp label. But then again, when you are as prolific as he is recording with Hans-Peter Lindstr??m (as Lindstr??m & Prins Thomas), running Full Pupp, remixing (the always crucial Prins Thomas edit!) or DJing, it’s going to be a bit of an effort to produce seven tracks of his own quality high standard productions.
So I’m very pleased to say that he has. Prins Thomas (the album) is full of his ‘Cosmic Disco’ with lashings of the usual experimental deep house, disco, house, prog, krautrock, dub that sends the dancefloor into dreams as creative as Odin.
The opener ‘?òrkenvandring’ is typical with NEU! beats and nu-Balearic cosmic synths. ‘Saurekraut’ is another track inspired by prog Germans with contributions from “Todd” Terje Olsen on trumpet and a funky bit of clavinet by Lindstr??m (the holy trio of nu-Norse disco all on one track!)
But don’t think this guy predictably stuck on his kraut drum machine, far from it. He reckons that for each of his own 12″ releases, he does 50 remixes! You can’t have not noticed how many of his remixes turn up on compilation albums like James Yuill’s ‘This Sweet Love’ on The Extended Future Disco Mix or Compost’s Future Sounds Of Jazz Vol. 11 with a ‘dikomika’ of Blackjoy’s ‘Moustache’ or getting the call for the R&S re-launch compilation In Order To Dance.
So there’s always lots of cross-genre pollination that’s found its way back on this CD. Apparently, an wide appreciation of music runs in the family as his stepfather used to play all kinds of music at home like the Cramps, the Clash but also Ry Cooder, John Martyn, jazz, classical music. ‘Uggebugg’ takes the jazz-vibe with downtempo percussive groove plus some surfer guitar riff dub out.
Lindstr??m plays keys on ‘Wendy Not Walter’ which is at the more house end of the album even with a heavy rock drum beat and more dub echo as it trips out. ‘Natt??nsket’ is a bit off a Balearic wander that ends on a bit of Hawaiian guitar on the beach; these are Cosmic Balearic Beats.
At the moment, the funk-groove of ‘Slangemusikk’ (which apparently means “snake music”) is my favourite – think Paulinho Da Costa meets Hank Marvin on the beach for a smoke with Conny Plank at the controls – but it’s all that good.
If you got the last album that was released on Full Pupp, Ytre Rymden Dansskola’s Ytre Rymden Dansskola you’re going to love this one even more and if you’re in Oz at the moment, it’ll be worth catching him live before he returns to Europe for a couple of album launch dates.
Hopefully, he’ll be back at the Big Chill dance tent this year (or similar) as this music craves the dramatic back drop for these long tracks; not that length is important, but in Prins Thomas’ case, the longer the mix the better.
Forthcoming gigs:
20 Feb 2010 Prins Thomas @ Playground Weekender Festival, Wiseman’s Ferry, Webb Creek, Sydney
21 Feb 2010 Prins Thomas @ The Mercat Cross Hotel, Melbourne
21 Feb 2010 Prins Thomas @ Red Bennies, Melbourne
5 Mar 2010 Prins Thomas @ Xilib Club, Kiev
6 Mar 2010 Prins Thomas @ Zoo, Geneva
12 March Full Pupp presents Ekstravaganza! @ Corsica Studios, London, UK
13 March Prins Thomas album launch party @ Bla, Oslo, Norway
Reviewed: Prins Thomas – Prins Thomas (Full Pupp) Cat. No. FPCD004 Release date: 29th March 2010
Tracklisting:
Tracklisting:
1. ?òrkenvandring (8:30)
2. Uggebugg (8:41)
3. Slangemusikk (9:49)
4. Sauerkraut (10:15)
5. Wendy Not Walter (9:28)
6. Natt??nsket (7:06)
7. Attiatte (6:15)
Links:
www.myspace.com/prinsthomas
www.myspace.com/fullpupp
www.mixcloud.com/track/lake-heartbeat/mystery-ytre-rymden-dansskola-remix
Radio 1′s Essential Mix Sunday 6th May 2006 “it was created by Hans-Peter Lindstr??m (Feedelity Recordings) and Prins Thomas (Thomas Moen Hermansen), 2 guys from Norway with a lot of talent.”
