Full Pupp Norway Schallplatten & CDs

Review: Even "CHMMR" Brenden's debut album has been a long time coming. The Norwegian put out his first 12" on Lunar Flicks way back in 2010 and made the transfer to Prins Thomas's Full Pupp imprint three years later. The influence of Brenden's label boss is evident throughout the ten tracks, with the producer blending his own inspirations - South African disco (check the brilliant "Alles City Beat"), dusty deep house (the warm and luscious "New Slam") and weirdo mid '80s oddities ("Pretty Space") - with the sort of sonic traits regularly found in Norwegian electronic music (heavy dub disco basslines, new age synthesizer motifs, Scandolearic melodies, nods to krautrock and Italo-disco etc.). It's a blend that guarantees a string of fine moments, not to mention a hugely entertaining album.

Review: For the first of (we think) two sets of remixes of tracks from CHMMR's superb debut album, Auto, Full Pupp boss Prins Thomas has enlisted the talents of two of the most inspired Norwegian producers of recent times: Telephones and DJ Fett Burger (here appearing under one of his other aliases, DJ Dog). Each delivers a "main" version in their distinctive style (Telephones "Energized Mix" of "Pretty Space" boasts his usual tropical textures, dream house influences and tactile grooves, while Fett Burger and Double Dancer's "Spit Daddy Jazz Lounge Mix" of "Wall-Y" is similarly warm, but a little more percussive and eccentric), plus their own take on a drum dub. We'd say Telephones wins that particular battle, as his Bjorn Torske-inspired "Gren Fatarik Oo-mox Dub" is ridiculously heavy.

Review: Two years on from his last appearance on Full Pupp, Even 'CHMMR' Brenden returns to Prins Thomas' label with three more distinctive chunks of Scandolearic disco/house fusion. The undoubted centrepiece is title track "Media Vision", a thrillingly sparse and analogue-sounding epic built around slo-mo drum machine rhythms, thick acid bass, lilting melodies, stretched-out percussion sections, and occasional ghostly synths. Those looking for more upbeat, peaktime fare are well catered for on the A-side, both by the grunting, warehouse-friendly synth-house pump of druggy opener "Understand", and the cheery, piano-sporting bounce of midtempo anthem "User".