Here's a short review of 'Inspector Norse' by Todd Terje (pronounced like Todd Stair-Yay... with a silent 'S'). You can have a listen to the track and the rest of Terje's EP - 'It's the Arps' - below...
TODD TERJE - It's The Arps EP by toddterje
Todd Terje's 'Inspector Norse', from his new EP 'It's The Arps', has been getting a lot of airplay recently on BBC Radio 1, and has mustered up a lot of excitement on social networking sites like YouTube and SoundCloud. Why? Because with this track, Terje has successfully blended genres, created whole new sounds and produced a piece of music that's both energetic and placid simultaneously! On the other hand though, Terje is yet to enjoy success on a mass, chart-storming mainstream way, and this may be due to his use of musical repetition, which sometimes verges on excessive.
The song is hard to fit into a particular genre, because it doesn't conform to stereotypes. It's obviously electronic, but without the heavily synthesised David Guetta-esque elements common to electronic music. It's funky, but without the springing basslines and sliding chords of the funk genre. It's as if Terje has taken the beats of hip hop, the repetition of house music and the energy of pop, added a few spacey computer-generated sounds to the mix and created something completely new.
However, the only thing that perhaps hampers the impact of such an inherently great song is its length - the track is over 6 minutes long - as well as the lack of change in mood and speed, and the fact that after the first minute or so, no new musical ideas or melodies are introduced. The bassline loops throughout, as do the drums, and although the main melodic theme is catchy (Dum duh-dum duuuuur, dum duh-dum duuuuur!), it starts to seem a little overused towards the end of the track, which lessens its initial freshness and energy.
So, to sum up, 'Inspector Norse' is, in itself, a great song. Its overall sound is new, exciting and different, and it sits in its own niche genre. However, it is definitely one for fans of house and electronic, who generally don't mind repetition and will be able to enjoy the track fully, time and time again. Todd Terje is already a great artist, but he has it in him to be an amazing one. I'm sure that as he releases more and more music and continues to experiment with genres and sounds, and keeps generating excitement in the internet world and on the radio, he will find success on a massive scale.
PsyD
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Coming up next week on 'Alive in the Superunknown'...
'Shiver' by Coldplay
...because Coldplay are just awesome, and their early material gets nowhere near enough credit!
Blog news: My college breaks up for summer next week, and the latest college magazine is finally complete and in for printing! That means I'll have a lot more time over the next couple of months to post reviews and articles on the exciting, ever-changing world of music. Already in my to-do list is...
- An article on the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal: What happened, and what impact it has had on the music megastars of today
- A review of Labrinth's top-selling album 'Electronic Earth'
- Loads more 'Alive in the Superunknown' track reviews
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