An unlikely collaboration between psyche-rock, cosmic disco and Todd Rundgren, a Swedish spin on Congolese dance music and the latest from the Arthur Russell archive
At the other end of the “2015 collaborations we expected” spectrum from Britney and Iggy is this new record, out this week on Norwegian label Smalltown Supersound. First up there’s Emil Nikolaisen, bandleader of under-appreciated psych-rock troupe Serena Maneesh. Then there’s Hans-Peter Lindstrøm, king of cosmic disco. And finally there’s Todd Rundgren, producer of everything from Meat Loaf’s operatic nonsense to XTC’s pastoral pop, not to mention 25 albums of his own material. Together they have the potential for unprecedented levels of prog, and so it proves: guitar solos pirouette around unspooling synth lines, as the repeated refrain of “put your arms around me” seems to invite chemically assisted tantric lovemaking. Track titles include Liquid Joy from the Womb of Infinity and T.H.E. Golden Triangle (Dry-Mouthed Gargoyles in a Fountain of Fluorescent Shepard Tones), and there’s even a metatextual moment on Ravende Gal (Full Circle) as the trio explain their intentions for the LP over some tribal congas. Lindstrøm gently tethers this lunging quest for the stars with a disco beat, and Rundgren and Nikolaisen’s pop smarts are still on show; at times it ends up reminiscent of Stereolab or Jaga Jazzist’s cosmopolitanism. A deliriously camp treat.
Continue reading...by Ben Beaumont-Thomas via Electronic music | The Guardian
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