Signals On The Double vinyl

There's been much debate over the years about the effect of environment on artists, and particularly musicians. Perhaps we're reading too much into Signals on the Double, the first 12" from Norwegian producer Retape, but we can definitely hear the reflected beauty of his home city of Trondheim, a relatively sleeping place built around a wide fjord. There's certainly a picturesque feel to the glistening ambience of "Rotation", the woozy Scandolearic disco of "Moving Down", and the Behaviour-era Pet Shop Boys style melancholy of "Coir". The EP's crowning moments, though, are less obviously influenced by Retape's surroundings. "EMN" is a spiraling chunk of Reflex-style "braindance", while "Signals on the Double" surges from the speakers like the best Detroit techno.

Mark Forshaw, Tripeo, Juno Recommends Electro, Ali Renault, THE EXALTICS