Saturday 21 April 2012

Kohib - Solar Day EP

"Prime examples of Norwegian electronic music, ranging from nu-disco to slinky house music to downtempo electronica," is how the hype sheet bills this one. So let's see…

Well, opener So Good certainly has the house part covered: a throbbing, pulsing organ cut from the get-go, any dancefloor that doesn't shake to this is a dancefloor I have no interest in being on. Something of a Plastic Dreams-y feel to the mid-section, too. Next up, Don't Tease The Bumblebee ticks the nu-disco box with its glacial analogue synths and pulsating, arse-shaking b-line. Escape Velocity then covers the downtempo part of the equation… cinematic electronica like this isn't really my area but it's pleasant enough, mellow without being nice-y nice-y, and trippy around the edges without being all "ooh look at me, I'm so weird and different, aren't I?". And then finally we come to Solar Day itself, which sits stylistically somewhere between the last two tracks, the Italo synths returning over a less frenzied backbeat.

So the hype sheet's description is accurate enough, but is the EP actually any good? Well, it's a good showcase for Øivind Sjøvoll AKA Kohib's obviously wide-ranging production skills, certainly. Escape Velocity isn't really my kinda thing but I can see the quality; Solar Day and Don't Tease The Bumblebee I could see myself playing in the right circumstances, but if I was buying this, it'd be for So Good alone, really.

Thankfully, So Good is worth the price of admission on its own anyway. So that's okay.

Out: This week

About: This comes on Norwegian label Beatservice, who can be found on Facebook.

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