Music / Festivals
Norwegian good
Some of Norway’s finest DJs are heading west, including the “Godfather of Norwegian disco”, Bjorn Torske and Telephones. This really is a big deal for Bristol.
It would be fair to say that Oslo, Norway’s leafy and largely sleepy capital city, is an unlikely place to find a world-leading dance music scene. Yet over the last decade, the city has become renowned as the undisputed global capital of “space disco” – a heavily electronic take on the sound of 70s New York variously influenced by 80s Italian disco, chugging techno, German krautrock and, most bizarrely of all, progressive rock.
The origins of this surprising scene can be traced back to the mid 1990s, and the work of a pioneering DJ and producer called Bjorn Torske. His distinctive sound – a stargazing blend of vintage synthesizer melodies, house rhythms, synth-pop vocals and disco rhythms – inspired a generation of Norwegian producers to make dance music, and specifically electronic disco.
First it was the likes of Todd Terje, Prins Thomas and Hans-Peter Lindstrom following in his footsteps. Now it’s DJ Sotofett, Skatebard and Telephones.
It’s perhaps fitting, then, that Torske will make his Bristol DJ debut as part of a night celebrating DJ Sotofett’s Sex Tags Mania label. On Saturday, November 8, Torske and Sotofett will play back-to-back for eight hours at a secret BS5 location.
Given Torske’s legendary status and Sotofett’s famously eclectic approach to DJ sets – think Dire Straits followed by dirty techno, or classic jungle into Todd Rundgren – it promises to be a special party. Sotofett’s last appearance in Bristol, at the now defunct Motorcycle Showrooms on Stokes Croft, has become the stuff of legend.
Another Torske disciple, Telephones, also makes his Bristol debut this month. Since moving to Berlin from Norway last year, Henning “Telephones” Severud has become one of the most talked-about men in dance music. Having recently released killer singles on Sex Tags UFO, Running Back and Love On The Rocks, he heads to the West Country as the anointed successor to Torske, Terje and company.
His style – a wide-eyed, pleasingly positive fusion of deep house and nu-disco – is every bit as essential as that of his more decorated contemporaries. His appearance at the Love Inn on November 22 is not to be missed.
November 8
Dirtytalk: DJ Sotofett v Bjorn Torske
Secret BS5 location
www.facebook.com/dirtytalkdisco
November 22
Teak presents Telephones
The Love Inn
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