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New release: FXTX-0006 “Artig for ungan” finally available

So today is the date. I’m going to do a round down of each of the tracks as far as what inspired them. The whole concept of the album was that each song title should be based upon a local Trondheim expression. Now the dialect we speak in the middle of Norway has unfortunately become a source of a lot of mockery from the so called “National media”. Norway is a small country but the differences in dialects between the various regions and even within them can be quite staggering. However the most common written language is actually an adaptation of Danish with a few Norwegian words in it. So my dialect and accent is not thought of as being that prestigious, being identified with rural drunkards with mustaches (you know that facial hair decoration hipsters often have) leather vests and moccasin shoes.

So I wanted to subvert these stereotypes. The tracks themselves may not necessarily have any more local connection or point of reference beyond the fact that they are created by a person based in Trondheim, but I’d like to think that the titles are reflecting the feeling of each track at least to a certain extent.

“Sånn går no dagan” (Such is life)

Originally started out as some kind of glitch-hop inspired beat, some of which remains in the final outro. Then I upped the tempo to 105 and changed the beat towards the end as a moombahton reference. The bassline is a piano, and the solo instrument is the cardboard presser at work..

“Rævva rævva kjøttkak” (Not even going to attempt at translating this)

This is built on the scraps of a co-writing session I once participated in. Ok so it didn’t go that well, maybe not helped by my distaste of the current radio friendly eurotranceinfusedsocalledrnb. So I kept those acid riffs to myself and made this spaced out nu-disco tune with 90’s lately bass

“Ja men læll da!” (Yes but still!)

I don’t exactly hide my appreciation for the current amount of great house music coming from Africa at the moment (South Africa and Angola especially) The drumbeats are heavily influenced by Coupe Décale, the string arrangements probably have some Fly Lo or Moodyman about them, then there are the rave chords and ubiquous acid basslines, and I forgot the dub intro.

“Skjøtte itj pæng” (Money no problem!)

I guess every once in a while we can afford ourselves some extravagance. This track harks back to early 90’s house with almost walking basslines (Lately bass off course) and skippy beats. If you listen closely towards the end you might notice a couple of more references here.

“Dæsken dausi” (Cor blimey!)

This is actually an old track, I made it in the late 90’s on my Yamaha SY55’s in built sequencer which had way too little memory to finish the whole track. That was recorded on cassette tape and largely forgotten. Then i digitalised the contents of that tape and thought I’d rather finish it as it’s somewhat groovy.

I think I was quite influenced by Alcatraz “Give me luv” when I made this, so the first sketches must have been made in 96-97.

“Dællern døtte” (Bloody ‘ell!)

Is it a remix?

“Høkkert” (I guess that’s what in Scotland is refered to as a NED)

This is a collaborative effort. Recorded during a sound engineering class when trying to get our heads around ProTools. A disco beat with a punky octave bassline played on the piano by “Swamps up Nostrils” and some sleazy guitar licks by one of the guitarists of “Tuna Laguna” with me on the organ and drum kit. Another case of a half finished idea that had to be completed.

“Artig for ungan” (Fun for the kids)

Lowering the tempo to this electro influenced moombahton track. I guess some of this track reminds me of early 90’s ambient dance music, which may include former frontmen of “Off” and dolphins.

“Rævva rævva kjøttkak (Moombahdisco versjon)”

Yes indeed. It’s nearly identical to the first version but the groove is different. Moombahton doesn’t have to be just Dirty Dutch leads, heavy bassdrums and wub wub basses. We need some more Italo-Disco-ton. Another Comanchero edit maybe?

I’ve been a bit quiet lately but on the 26th I’ve sceduled my next release. It’s about time someone makes electronic club music with titles in “Trøndersk” if not only to kill some tired old stereotypes and insert some local pride.

As usual the style will be eclectic with old school house vibes, moombahton, disco and raved up afro-house.

New single “Piernas” [FXTX-0004]

This track was made a rainy summer weekend in 2011. I felt pretty helpless as I got to know a very dear friend of mine had been hurt during a traffic accident somewhere on another side of the world and had hurt her legs. I think you can hear both the rain, the feeling of despair and the wishes of a hasty recovery within this track, at least those were my intentions. The day after I made it, I did another version, slowing it down to 108 and doing some minor changes to it.

The track is driven by a drum break sampled from the Northern-Norwegian Afrobeat/Funk/Reggae band “Northern Star Groove Alliance” that I remixed in 2008. As I come from Trondheim, which is a city that for a long time has been very tuned to music styles coming from London (punk and “the hardcore continuum”) I guess I’ve incorporated many rave/jungle aesthetics even within tracks that weren’t set out to be in these styles. So I was making a deep house tune, with certain retro elements, but also inspired by the current strain of deep house/UK Funky/Afro House, yet with a heavy bassline. So when I let DJ Big Bank Hank hear it he thought it sounded like drum and bass. Obviously I had to translate it into that style too. For the D&B remix I also utilized a break from the track “Lady Mongolia” by the band Tuna Laguna who happens to share drummer with N.S.G.A (and a lot of other bands as well)

The single is available for as much as you think it’s worth..

Flux Trax Vol.1

Finally, here’s the release of the tracks I’ve been performing during my live shows. I chose to release them today as I will be playing records at this event promoted by Platform Trondheim tonight

I’ve included some new versions of the allready released tracks “Anhelo” and “Heisatur i Eventyrskogen”

Some words on each track after the jump:

Read more

Valentines day special: [FXTX-0002]

“Sonrisa”

We’re celebrating the valentines day with a single release, offered at whatever price you think it’s worth..

It was originally composed during the late summer of 2009 and can best be described as glitchy p-funk with some hints of salsa and off course some hints of acid bass which have been turn into a rubber funk bass instead.

It was performed live in june 2011 and here’s the live version too, with a funky lately bass (TX81Z FTW!) through some spaced out effects.

If you buy the whole release there’s a surprise for you.


Manky Salad [FXTX-0001]

Finally it’s here (again), the first release on/by Flux Trax

It was originally a CD-R pressed in maybe 5 copies or so to be sold at the Støy På Landet festival in 2008 where I was performing. Now these tracks have been re-mastered and are released with two additional bonus tracks if you buy the whole EP.

You can listen to (and buy) the tracks here:

It begins right in your face with “Devil in the details”, a hard Techno banger that was a bit too much for a hungover Arthur Baker at Amsterdam Dance Event a couple of years before that.

The next track “Heisatur i Eventyrskogen” is a somewhat psychedelic acid house track conveying the feeling of being lost out in the woods while being lost in your mind.

This is followed by a latin-influenced deep house track called “Que descanses!” featuring Patri on vocals.

In a similar vein comed “Breadboard Skating along the Maqam”, a track built on sampled chords, clicks and pops, recordings via the phone at “Klubb Mhannen” at the old BrukBar in Trondheim (before the building was torn down and the club re-located across the street.) as well as an improvised recording of 3 x 555 chips modulating each other and being tuned by a pressure sensor.

Then we cool it down a bit. “Anhelo” is a soul-influenced down-tempo house groove about longing. Remixed versions of this will also be featured on later Flux Trax releases so keep your ears out for that!

The next track with an attempted title in Wayuunaiki: “Piimata Teemuin” tries to fuse Nu-disco/Italo elements with Colombian Vallenatos and Cumbia rhythms.

If you buy the whole EP instead of just downloading the single tracks you’ll also get:

“Random Jazz Generator”, a costantly evolving techno groove made up with just a few elements: an arpeggiated bassline and jacking beats reminiscing of 90’s chicago techno. The title explains the rest.

To round it off there is a track that was featured in the first release on the Krakilsk label (which mostly outputs noise and experimental music in various forms) and is an attempt at creating a batucada beat with classic Jungle breakbeats with a result reminiscing of Angolan Kuduro.