- Even though Prins Thomas was king of the cosmic disco sound through the '00s, it's a crown he accepted grudgingly. Thomas Moen Hermansen has a few tricks beyond the exaggerated sense of melody, glittering arpeggios and gleeful goofiness that characterised much of his early work. His recent Prins Thomas III album, released this past spring on Full Pupp, ambled its way through an array of drifting krautrock slow jams, with most of the cuts suitable for only the most liberal-minded or zonked-out dance floors. The record generally placed less emphasis on the needs of the club, and a lot more on the blissful pleasures of headphone revelry.
But he still knows how to put together a wicked dance mix. Inspired by a recent gig at Tokyo's beloved Rainbow Disco Club festival, Rainbow Disco Club Vol. 1 twists and turns through a wide swathe of modern electronic club music—as a DJ, Prins Thomas has always seemed unconcerned about a track's provenance or style, caring more about how it moves the mix forward. Kicking off with the pulsing bass of Donato Dozzy's "Untitled (D2)" and Floating Points's "Danger," the mix quickly sets a weirdly wondrous tone. The swampy rhythms of DiskJokke & Strangefruit's "Ghost In The Machine" morph into the tough electrofunk of Krystal Klear's "Squad," followed by a bit of dub-house deepness in the form of Mike Huckaby's "Step 1" version of Deepchord’s "Electromagnetic Dowsing." Most of these segues are long and layered. If you're not familiar with these tracks, it's sometimes hard to know when one ends and another begins, lending the mix a slightly disorienting edge.
Thomas hasn't abandoned his love of carefree sonic filigree, and despite the set's slightly beard-strokey start, there's plenty of pure fun on tap. Straight after the Deepchord cut, he cues up a snippet of Bjørn Torske's synth-horn-and-harp workout "Furu" and a chunk of DJ Fett Burger & DJ Speckgürtel's slap-bass and marimba-led "Speckbass," before settling things down again via the linear groove of Marcellus Pittman's "Chicago Nights." That groove quickly gives way, though—next up is Anstam's ambitiously orchestral and sublimely lurching "Whiskey."
And so it goes, with Thomas whipping through styles with anything-goes abandon, yet somehow giving the set a strong sense of purpose. The fluttering keys of Margot's "Liuff Settanta" makes way for the pulsating synth groove of Edmundy’s "Nadir"; Dimitri & Jaimy's strutting remix of Private Production's "Sad Sad Song" sits next to the dub-house of General Ludd. The mix ends with a pair of seemingly divergent beauties: Shed’s lush "Follow The Leader" and Gerd's "No-Kicks Re-Interpretation" of "Do You Feel Me" by NY's Finest, which—despite that lack of bass drum—is a heck of a serotonin-rush closer. Thomas, as cosmic as ever, has put together a set that flows over, under and right through you. Both intimate and full of grand gestures, few besides him could pull it off.
トラックリスト01. Donato Dozzy - Untitled (D2)
02. Floating Points - Danger
03. The Shookt - Ghost In The Machine
04. Krystal Klear - Squad
05. Deepchord - Electromagnetic Dowsing (Mike Huckaby Step 1)
06. Bjørn Torske - Furu
07. DJ Fett Burger & Speckgürtel - Speckbass
08. Marcellus Pittman - Chicago Nights
09. Anstam - Whiskey
10. Helium Robots - Jarza (Theo Parrish Translation 2)
11. Golden Teacher - Silver Chalice
12. Crash Course In Science - Flying Turns (Villalobos E=Mac2 Rmx)
13. Atom TM - Ich Bin Meine Maschine (Album Version)
14. Bee Mask - The Story Of Keys & Locks (Surgeon Remix)
15. Silent Servant - Lust Abandon
16. Kuniyuki - Shout (12 Inch Version)
17. Margot - Liuff Settanta
18. Edmundy - Nadir
19. Skatebård - Confirmation Bias
20. Kevin Starke - Need A Bigger Boat
21. Mark Du Mosch - The System (Nukubus Edit)
22. Private Prod - Sad Sad Song (Dimitri & Jaimy Mix)
23. General Ludd - Woo Ha
24. Moon Duo - Free Action (Tom Furse Mix)
25. Shed - Follow The Leader
26. NY's Finest - Do You Feel Me (Gerd's No-Kicks-Re-Interpretation)