Todd Terje
It’s Album Time
Reviewed by: Ari Roth
Todd Terje has long stood as a near-celebrity in the dance music world, and in the past four years his star has risen exponentially with each new single. “Ragysh/Snooze 4 Love” put him on the map in 2011 for many listeners, although he had steadily built a reputation with a series of disco edits in the preceding years. That single’s combination of classicist post-disco elements and a rare melodic gift set him apart from the “balearic” genre into which he had been grouped, but the real breakthrough came with 2012’s “Inspector Norse,” the opening track from the It’s The Arps EP. The song became an omnipresent anthem, triggering euphoria on dance floors worldwide, and snagging the #2 spot on Resident Advisor’s top tracks list for that year. Now, Terje has released his first full-length album, with “Inspector Norse” in tow, along with last year’s “Strandbar,” “Delorean Dynamite” and “Johnny And Mary,” the latter two released in the run-up to the album.
Although It’s Album Time is not exactly a curveball in Terje’s oeuvre, it does see the producer treading new ground. In this album, he often abandons dance music’s imperative for functionalism entirely and instead dives headfirst into cinematic early 80s chase sequence prog-synth workouts and gloriously cheesy retro sonics aimed directly at the brain’s pleasure centers. Particularly over-the-top excursions such as “Alfonso Muskedunder”, with its tricky time signatures, live drums and loungey central melody may, at times, exceed the listener’s patience for excess, but even these slight missteps ultimately work in the album’s favor. They are crucial in constructing a playful, ecstatic world without boundaries dictated by genre, era or taste.
And ecstasy is the name of the game. “Delorean Dynamite” is particularly effective, synthesizing a Giorgio Moroder euro-disco bassline, “Thriller” chords, and an addictive pulse that sends the song rocketing off into the stratosphere. The two part “Swing Star” treads similar territory, with rapid, melodic arpeggios effortlessly propelling the song forward as a thin drum machine dutifully supplies the rhythmic framework underneath. “Johnny And Mary”, a Robert Palmer cover featuring Bryan Ferry of Roxy Music on vocals is another highlight. It’s a stark, haunting, nocturnal ballad that provides an emotional counterweight to the unreserved pleasure found on the rest of the album. “Inspector Norse” is still the towering gravitational center of the album, a massive, undeniable blast of transcendent, guilt-free joy. Constructed largely on a single ARP2600 synthesizer, the song’s deceptively simple fundamental elements work to create something immeasurably greater, one of those rare songs that improves with each listen, and continues to do so for years after its initial release. The central hook ratchets up the intensity over and over, leaping into a higher octave and finally exploding into a starry-eyed swirl of glittering arpeggios. It’s one of those moments that most producers spend their whole lives trying to nail, and Todd Terje makes it look easy. It’s Album Time ends with applause, and it is well deserved. Bravo, Mr. Terje.
Rating: Bad-Ass
