(Downtempo, Deep House, Nu-Disco) [WEB] Prins Thomas - Principe Del Norte - 2016, FLAC (tracks), lossless

Nordic disco / house hero and Piccadilly Records favourite Prins Thomas is back, gracing Smalltown Supersound with his fourth solo LP. Here is a little message from Thomas about the album:
"There's a certain risk some of you are already overfed, with the 'Paradise Goulash' still piping hot on the stove…but anyway, here it goes… I've known Joakim (Mr. Smalltown) professionally for quite a few years now and I've worked on many projects for him, mainly doing remixes like Nissenenmondai, Lindstrom, Alf-Emil Eik, Idjut Boys and so on. A couple of years ago he asked me to consider doing an album for him. At the time I was busy concentrating on gathering material for what would become my 2nd album (Prins Thomas II) on my own label Full Pupp and I was not entirely friendly to the idea of giving away my solo material to somebody else's label. However, the possibility of doing something different seemed an option but at the time I had no “different" in mind and I generally try not to force ideas. Then, roughly a year ago an Instagram-post and a recommendation of a posthumous release by Swedish producer Joel Brindefalk, sparked an idea. I likened his "Doobedoo Dub’e'dope" release under the moniker Ü’s to KLF's "Chill Out” and The Orb's "Peel Session EP". That had Joakim and me enthusing about those early 90s electronica releases. So I set off on the task at hand, making an ambient album, leaving conventional drums and drum machines out of the equation. So that's basically it, a few tracks loosely inspired by the braindance of the 90s and its themes and components reworked into slightly more danceable counterparts. The song "titles" refers to the sides of the vinyl version. Matching tracks up with their melodic partners is up to the listener. How you listen to this album is entirely up to you but I'd recommend finding center position in front of your speakers, a comfortable couch or chair and dedicate yourself to the music for a long hour" - Prins Thomas.

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Best known for his swirling space-disco tracks, produced both as a solo artist and with frequent collaborator Lindstrøm, Prins Thomas explored more of his ambient, Krautrock, and downtempo influences with his 3rd solo album, issued in 2014. Following the 2015 release of an ambitious 3CD mix titled Paradise Goulash, which incorporated everything from avant jazz and industrial to minimal techno and indie rock, Thomas went further out of orbit with his next proper full-length, the 96-minute opus Principe del Norte. The album’s extended, side-long tracks are a direct homage to the heyday of gatefold vinyl and prog rock, particularly of the hypnotic, synthesizer-driven variety. Much of the album de-emphasizes beats, instead concentrating on percolating arpeggios and slowly developing minimalist textures. Crystalline guitar tones help shape the cloudlike sonic constructions, but the electronic treatments and softly clicking beats owe equally to ’90s ambient techno artists like Pete Namlook as well as to the ’70s and ’80s cosmic explorations of Manuel Göttsching and Steve Hillage. The album’s second CD (or final two LPs) brings the beats back to the forefront, retaining the bubbling, circular atmospheres but adding propulsive (yet not intrusive) disco rhythms. Tracks like “G” perfectly strike a balance between ethereal elements and grooves, with a meaty bass guitar line and handclaps, along with shimmering synths and lightly distorted guitars smoldering beneath everything. The effect is relaxing and meditative as well as energizing, with neither the dance or space-out sides of the equation feeling out of place. Even with the album’s epic length, it never feels meandering or indulgent, as Prins Thomas remains supremely focused throughout the entire journey, finding the duality between the different types of “cosmic” music.

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Published By – Prins Thomas Publishing
Published By – Sony/ATV Music Publishing Scandinavia
Copyright (c) – Smalltown Supersound
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Smalltown Supersound
Produced At – Studio M57 Asker
Recorded At – Studio M57 Asker
Mixed At – Studio M57 Asker
Remixed At – Studio M57 Asker
Recorded At – K16 Studios
Cover – Jacob Grønbech Jensen
Written-By, Producer, Performer, Recorded By, Mixed By, Remix – Prins Thomas
Written, produced, performed, recorded, mixed and remixed with love by Prins Thomas at Studio M57, Asker summer 2015
Additional recordings done at K16 Studios, Oslo