Buzzin Electronic Music

Lindstrøm and Prins Thomas – Lindstrøm and Prins Thomas II – album review

Lindstrom & Prins Thomas II

This is the second time that Lindstrøm and Prins Thomas have collaborated, the first being three years ago for Eskimo Records’ debut release. The two Norwegians, both of whom are at the forefront of the leftfield dance scene, come at their music from different angles – Lindstrøm is a multi-instrumentalist whilst Prins Thomas is more of a DJ, and the music they create together occupies that space between the two – electronica blends with live instruments; live instruments take on the qualities of digital music.

The album opener ‘Cisco’ builds slowly, a relaxed tribal feel reflecting the shuffling rhythms and calm growth of the synths, which never quite tip this slow-burning and sturdy piece of electronica into a bursting piece of glam-influenced electro. This has two effects, both keeping the subtlety that their music is known for whilst giving the impression of something somehow anti-climactic.

This is the difficulty for much of Lindstrøm and Prins Thomas II, which has glimpses of brilliance in its use of loose patterns, hypnotic repetitions, gentle electronics and flashes of melody, but which can all too easily fall by the wayside when the album is played in the background. When this is the case, it becomes nothing more than lift music, and you can almost feel yourself rocking on your feet and looking around at anything but the person next to you.

Turn it up a little though, and it is almost impossible not to be sucked into the musical journey of each of the tracks, which extend at times to thirteen minutes. Here, the evolution of sounds absorbs the listener and it is possible to distinguish several layers going onother than the overall impression, all familiar and at once always new to the ear.

Equally, the whole album is a journey. The meandering (almost directionless), piano-led ‘For Ett Slikk Og Ingenting’ emerges seamlessly from the much more urgent ‘Rothaus’. The glitchy ‘Rett På’ (think Junior Boys or Four Tet on Everything Ecstatic) fades out and into the ethereal beginning of ‘Skal Vi Prøve Nå?’, in which, as on various points of the album, subdued aspects of disco and glam seep into the production.

It is this track, along with ‘Rett På’, when this collaboration is at its best. Glitchy like subdued disco, there is no risk of these ever being played in a lift to aggravate your awkwardness, or down the phone as you get more and more annoyed. Unlike, perhaps, the duller areas of this second album from Lindstrøm and Prins Thomas.

Visit Eskimo Recordings here and listen to Lindstrøm and Prins Thomas’s music on their MySpace here.