SKATEBARD レコード& CD

Review: As one of the leading lights in Norwegian techno with guts, heart and soul, Skatebard has long skirted scene recognition to simply focus on slipping out his own strain of wayward machine matter. Given his track record with Sex Tags Mania, it's no surprise he'd trust DJ Sotofett with access to his archives, and so Spektral has come together as an exploration of long-buried recordings from the early 00s, edited by Sotofett and wrestled into a digestible form for this record. Capturing the best aspects of freeform jamming while cutting everything into shape, there's an inherent dirtiness to these recordings which instantly tells you it comes from an honest place.

Review: Skatebard and Lauer are Trollkraft, a sure-to-be iconic Norwegian-German partnership that has a famous love of synths and have already put out vast reserves of quality sounds across various styles. Here their collaboration gives rise to a pair of electrifying cuts. The title track features rich drum layers, lush strings and a throbbing bass undercurrent which has elements of disco, house, indie and Italo all adding to its charm. 'One Night In Geilo' channels 90s house rhythms with a brilliant two-stepping melody that smartly reimagines rave with playful, effervescent energy. These two wizards bring great character to this music with strobe lights, bongos, and trance all making for a full on heart-of-the-party experience doused in euphoria.