Per Martinsen has been making music since before some reading this have been alive, and influenced seemingly every twisted spoke from the dizzying array of Norwegian genres and micro-scenes. Featured in Northern Disco Lights, the documentary strongly recommended by DELLA in her 5 Mag Mix, Martinsen’s oldest album dates back 22 years and the earliest single might go back to 12000 AD (that was the title of it, released on R & S, the Belgian label, in 1990).
Epilogue is the somewhat alarmingly-titled album new from Prins Thomas’ Rett i Fletta, and actually marks Martinsen’s second album of 2017. Harddrive (released in March on Ploink) took on a familiar form, marked by far more uptempo, jacking techno tracks (“Descent” especially) that felt designed for the club. While there’s nothing here to suggest it, Epilogue feels more at home, well, at home. From the opening notes of “Repeat: Then: Repeat,” Epilogue doesn’t so much invade your space as wash around it, a music box winding on an infinite loop while single notes pluck out a simple melody. This continues with the muted, subdued but irresistible “Bits” and “First Run,” which sounds like some kind of synth-driven Chicago House classic was melted down and pressurized into a new, unrecognizable shape. The tracks here work well together with a few exceptions – it’s music that seems to travel with you, and like Per Martinsen, leaves its mark as it passes over.
Mental Overdrive: Epilogue (Rett i Fletta)
1. Mental Overdrive: Repeat: Then: Repeat (02:50)
2. Mental Overdrive: Bits (05:52)
3. Mental Overdrive: 1st Run (06:17)
4. Mental Overdrive: Wormholes (06:26)
5. Mental Overdrive: Shakes (07:18)
6. Mental Overdrive: Carnivale (04:50)
7. Mental Overdrive: Hellbent (07:07
8. Mental Overdrive: Shimr (07:41)
First published in 5 Magazine #154 featuring Anja Schneider, Preslav, Crackazat & more. Become a member of 5 Magazine for First & Full Access to Real House Music for only $1 per issue!
