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Todd Terje

  • Heineken Backyard / SAT 15.8. / 21:30

Following a string of celebrated releases leaning on everything from kitschy euro sounds to deep funk and latin jazz, Todd Terje has made his mark within dance music circuits. Gems such as Eurodans and the latin disco-fuelled edit of Michael Jackson’s I Can’t Help it under his Tangoterje alias instantly thrilled industry types and clubbers alike. Whatever he puts his fingers on always comes out with a crucial blend of musicality and playfulness.

Growing up in the rural village of Mjøndalen, dance music influences were scarce, but during the nineties, dance culture — house and jungle among them — found its way to Terje. After drifting away from a formal music education, he moved to Oslo, a small place where like-minded folks tend to join forces, where his thorough musical understanding and nerdy-like interest in old and new records soon made him one of the key players on the local electronic disco scene.

Is it house, funk, techno or disco? Terje speaks of catchy rhythms, dubby sounds, dreamy synth layers, cinematic moods, a playful approach and searching for that one nerve when asked to describe his music, and the resistance to being pigeonholed is obvious.