Todd Terje’s latest track, ‘Maskindans’, is a cover of a Norwegian electro post-punk track from the ‘80s. While the original has the icy air you might expect from Scandi post-punk, Terje’s version raises the thermostat to something a bit balmier. Although saying this, it’s still a fair bit darker than Terje’s usual output (although this is a man who named a track ‘Strandbar’ which is Norwegian for ‘beach’).
To invoke the spirit of the original, Terje re-recorded vocals from its singer, Ola Ødegård of Det Gylne Triangel. The truly wonderful part of the song, however, is its characteristically spacey instrumental section, which sounds like the exact meeting point between Giorgio Moroder and Acid-House.
With this tip of the hat to his forebears, we see that Todd Terje isn’t afraid to be as Norwegian as possible – although it’s likely that part of his appeal has always come from the admiration that beardy lefties have for Scandinavia.
Not to be missed on the b-side is the remix from the original indie-dance party-starter Erol Alkan, and with its slightly more ominous stomp, Alkan’s is a version likely to get the goths dancing worldwide.
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author: Ed Ledsham