norwegian wood

If you take a look to the list of new releases on any respected dance record shop you will easily come to the result that re edit releases tend to be more than half of the record output that goes out out on sale these days.Almost every week an new label comes along with a bunch of re edits on much loved classics or obscure disco cuts.The truth is that only few of these releases really make a difference.Back in the day where the re edit business was a job for the few if you wanted to go for quality edits then you would go for the obvious choices like NYC legend Danny Krivit or the Moxie label edits.At the time noone could believe that a kid from Norway would be the newcomer that set the standards for the whole re edit frenzy that hit the music world the last few years.This is the real case though.In 2005 i stumbled upon two edits by a guy named Todd Terje.Michael Jackson's ''I can help it''(one of Terje's best edits in my opinion) and Chilly's exotique cover of the Yardbirds classic ''For Your Love'' were given a magic touch by Mr Terje and became two of the most loved tracks during the summer of 2005.Every once in a while a new edit would come up like Demis Rousos' ''I dig you'' or the Wilow Band's Wilowman creating a cult following for the young Norwgian and created much anticipation for his future mp3 gem.Todd Terje was the knob that opened the door to Norways magical music world for me and many others i guess.With remixes for acts like Lindstrom and Prins Thomas and original material like ''Italian Stallion'', which i consider to be one of his best releases, he showcases his strength as a producer.Nowadays Todd is consider to be one of the best remixers out there.His remixes for Jose Gonzalez,Simon Baker and Dolle Jolle were some of the top releases of the year. His re edits under the name Wade Nichols(Dennis Parker real name) continue to cause a stir upon release but for me the stakes are high for Terje's own production work.Only clocking at 29 years Terje has already played together with a legend like Francois Kevorkian at Deep Space and has a build a reputation of one of the hottest producers out there.Well i guess not many people can claim to have gone that high in such a short time.This Saturday Todd Terje is visiting Greece for the second time(after his small gig at Xalandri some years ago) and is our guest for this weeks special Christmas Plaidmusic party along with the Outro team at Yoga Bala.Todd was kind enough to give great interview for an Athenian newspaper which sadly never saw the light of publication(newspapers in Athens are weird) so im posting the interview here and apologize for the inconvenience caused.Hope to see you all at Yoga Bala on Saturday wearing your best faces.

Todd Terje's Interview

1. You are preparing your first solo album. Can you explain us what to expect?
Actually no, I don't know myself yet. I haven't worked that much on the album as much as separate singles so far. I'm setting up a label for my own stuff very soon, so there will be a few singles before I start working on the album.

2. What is it like growing up in Norway? How stimulating is the local music scene for your creativity?
Living in one of the most underpopulated countries of the world, it's of course much less hectic than everywhere else. I just came back from living in Berlin for the past 4 months, I felt much more relaxed immediately.
I've never relied that much on a music scene, it's been a bit "every man for himself". But I think that's the best way anyway. However, I'm gonna share a studio soon for the first time in my life, and some musical exchange would be great.

3. Which was the first song you thought that needed an edit?
Hmm...it's so long ago, hehe. One of the first tracks I tried to rearrange was Boney M's "Silly Confusion".

4. What's your inspiration?
My own imagination. I like to imagine a landscape, a setting, an atmosphere etc and try to think how that could sound.
Another way to make music is of course to listen to old heroes and try to recreate their sound, but to make different melodies, beats and arranging. Borrow some here, steal some there, it will always sound like you anyway.

5. Your bio mentions that in the beginning you thought that disco was a bit silly. What does disco represent for you right now?
Yes, as a teenager I thought it both looked and sounded a bit 'off'. I preferred higher tempo, more action, you know like kids do today.
For me, disco right now is the same as it has always been; a big influence. Disco is easier to sell these days, and that puts me off a bit. I used to like these sounds a bit because I felt they were different. They're not anymore, I hear disco everywhere now. In the same way, Fleet Foxes made loose my beard!

7. What do you think about music blogs?
They're here, they can give me good songs once in a while and kids listen to them. Kids who becomes djs these days play "blog music" which I don't like in general (it's all nu rave), but I guess you have to start somewhere. As soon as you get 25, you grow a beard and start playing Fleetwood Mac instead, hah.

8. What’s the ideal space for you to play and why?
The smaller the better has always been my thing. But after playing only small clubs in Norway, it's been a good change to play some "bigrooms". It's usually easier to adjust sound in a small room, but if the sound engineer did a good job in the big room, I think that's just as fun!

9. What are you going to present to your gig in Yoga Bala?
No idea. What do you want? Probably at least ONE Demis Roussos track and perhaps a bit of Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou?
I like the idea that you could play all kinds of music in a set, as long as you present it well (=that you look cool and beatmix everything, hehe).

10. Which phases of electronic music have you been through? Have ever been into more techno or drum’n’bas stuff?
I loved The Prodigy as a kid, all kinds of fast breakbeat tracks, jungle and a litte bit of drum'n'bass even. I've never been into techno that much, I think that's why I'm exploring it right now. I always thought it was too cold and monotonous, but now it's merging into all kinds of genres which makes it much more interesting for me.

11. Can you pinpoint the most sexy tracks you have checked out recently?
Hmm, sexy tracks... Salsoul Orchestra's "Nice 'N' Naasty", Orlando Johnson's "Fantasize", Grace Jones' "Feel Up" and Tony Silvester's "Pazuzu", that's definitely sexy!

13. How easy it for someone from Norway to embrace the Balearic sound?
Underground Norwegian music has always had a balearic touch to it. I don't know the reason why or when it started, it seems to always have been there. Mainstream Norwegian music is horrible, the swedes are much much better.

14. You are a trained pianist. Do you still listen to classic music and if so what exactly?
Haven't listened to classic music in a long time, but recently when I lived in Berlin I went to the Berliner Philharmonie and I was blown away! I went there 3 more times the following month, hehe.
I still love all the music I listened to many years ago, like Debussy's piano pieces, Grieg's (hey!) lyric pieces, Brahms' and Beethoven's piano sonatas. We heard Andras Schiff play Beethoven's "Appasionata" sonata 3 weeks ago, which was really really good for me, since I've become bored of Beatport music the last months.

15. What is your most valuable belonging?
My Martin guitar, my harddisk, my cd wallet and my incredibly big ego.

And since someone asked for an edit of Mr Terje's work here is one quite out of the ordinary.

Krikokos - life is a jungle Todd Terje re edit