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Sunday 13 August 2023

Forty Five Minutes Of Prins Thomas

Forty five minutes of Scandi space disco/ psychedelic house from Norwegian DJ and producer Prins Thomas to ease you into Sunday. His remixes/ diskomiks are a rich vein of music and his own releases are well worth exploring too (along with his records with Lindstrom). The mix below is little more than a sampler but it turned out really well (if I do say so myself), a dizzying mix of electronic sounds, cosmic disco, Balearic/ ambient styles and some quite intense dance music.  

Forty Five Minutes Of Prins Thomas

  • Prins Thomas: Gran Paradiso
  • Rusty: Everything's Gonna Change (Prins Thomas Diskomiks)
  • Dungen: Achmed Flyger (Version 2)
  • Daniele Baldelli and DJ Rocca: Space Scribble (Prins Thomas Remix)
  • The Orb: Alpine (Prins Thomas Short Yoga Break Version)
  • Deo' Jorge: Sparking Plugs (Prins Thomas Diskomiks)
  • Quixote: Before I Started To Dance (Prins Thomas Diskomiks)

Gran Paradiso is from Prins Thomas' Italia Uno EP, twisting, giddy psychedelic acid- ambient, released in 2013. 

Rusty's Everything's Gonna Change came out in 1989 and then again in 1992, Italo house that was big, nay massive, in Sasha's DJ sets. Prins Thomas' remix from 2013 is a smooth, sultry, lush ride. 

Dungen are a Swedish band who make pastoral psychedelia, long guitar epics. In 2017 Prins Thomas remixed songs from their Haxan album, ending up with an entire new album, ten songs sent into new directions. His version of Achmed Flyger is bubbling bass- led psyche.

Italian legends Daniele Baldelli and DJ Rocca's Space Scribble came out in 2011 with Prins Thomas' remix on the B- side of the 12". Daniele is one of Italian music's innovators, one of the originators of the cosmic disco scene and sound. Space Scribble is a huge piece of electronic music, seriously good stuff. 

The Orb's Alpine dates from 2016 and the Moonbuilding 2703 album. Prins Thomas provided three remixes of the track, including the one here which is said to be ideal for a short yoga break. I've never done yoga so can't really comment. 

Deo' Jorge's Sparking Plugs came out in 2021, part of an EP called Robotic Souls which also contained a cosmic Hardway Bros remix which was big round these parts. Prins Thomas' remix is very good indeed, finding a Balearic/ cosmic disco sweet spot and spinning it around for nine and a half minutes. 

Quixote are a French group about whom I know very little. Discogs says they make leftfield, krautrock, nu- disco and that's good enough for me. Before I Started To Dance came out in 2008. For his remix Prins Thomas added bass, guitar, omnichord, melodica, synth, drums and percussion- a little bit more than just sticking a new drumbeat underneath the song. Hummed backing vocals, acoustic guitar, a driving bass, some jangle, thumping rhythm and then some harmonised vox, extended on and on. Lovely stuff. 


2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Your Prins Thomas mix could be the 'lost' Steve Hillage/Simple Minds record. Just needs Jim Kerr's wide eyed leftfield lyricism of circa 1982 (not the later corny stadium bluster). I know 'Theme from Great Cities' has always been played on the balearic scene, but quite amazing what musical conclusions SM came to some 40 years ago, and with mostly live instrumentation. Clearly very influential as your mix demonstrates.
-SRC

Swiss Adam said...

That's a really interesting comparison SRC, one that hadn't occurred to me.

Jim Kerr's early 80s lyrics are very Cold War oriented too, alongside the wide eyed leftfield lyricism you mention. It's a really interesting mix of stuff.