(New Disco, Deep House) [WEB] Bjørn Torske (Bjorn Torske), Prins Thomas - Square One - 2017, FLAC (tracks), lossless

Norwegian electronic musicians Prins Thomas and Bjørn Torske have known each other since the mid-’90s, but other than an obscure session recorded onto a low-quality cassette tape near the beginning of their friendship, 2017’s Square One is their first proper collaboration. The album seems a bit low-key and casual, especially arriving a year after Thomas’ cosmic ambient house epic Principe del Norte. The seven tracks are generally slow and sparse, and often consist of simmering Krautrock-inspired rhythms, slapped hand drums, and dubby echo. The first track is titled “On U,” but it isn’t quite the Adrian Sherwood homage one might expect. Over a steady pulse, the duo builds up simple layers of organs, guitars, and percussion, along with some screwy delay effects. “Arthur” starts out slower and softer, but gradually the disco bassline and heavily reverbed bongos creep in, along with shimmering synths and slightly eerie noises. “12 Volt” has a bit more of a levitating phaser effect along with its space rock guitars. The drums start out steady and minimal, but they get more involved and busy as the piece swells up. Following the Brazilian-flavored “K16 del 1,” the duo detours into trip-hop with “Steintongt,” which has a sludgy, molasses-slow beat along with a sneaky bassline that makes the song seem to move faster than its drums suggest. “Kappe Tre” is easily the album’s most propulsive track, with a slightly faster tempo and whistling, theremin-like synths fluttering about.

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After a collaborative studio session in Bergen, Norway 20 years ago, which sadly only resulted in a distorted tape, Bjørn Torske and Prins Thomas reunite to make music. Bjørn Torske is a figurehead and grand old man of the electronic music scene in Norway, inspiring and laying the foundation for producers like Prins Thomas, Lindstrøm and Todd Terje. Torske and Thomas's relationship goes back to the mid 90's when they first bonded over a shared passion for oddball disco, dub and Detroit techno. 'Square One,' the first collaborative album between Torske and Thomas, completes their cycle of cosmic inspiration and education. 'Square One' is a collection of loose, abstract and free-form avant-disco jams (parallel world disco, maybe?). Whatever you call it, the album is a labour of love that shares a sound both Torske and Thomas have continuously adventured towards. Here they finally are, at square one. The album was recorded live at Taakeheimen Studio in Oslo during the spring of 2015 with both Torske and Thomas playing an instrument in each overdub, piling the layers of sounds on top of each other. A year later, they took the now edited tracks and mixed them down in live takes with all hands on the desk in Malabar, another Oslo studio. After a couple of rounds with some very blunt scissors, the tracks became what are now included on the album. 'Square One' is a meeting of two minds, and probably as close to their musical soul as you can get.