Tune #76: Prins Thomas - H

Thomas Moen Hermansen is definitely not a newcomer as a producer. His earliest releases date back to the early 00's, according to the Discogs vault. Recently, he drew the attention of the electronic music community with his latest studio album under his Prins Thomas disguise.

The story of the Norwegian producer begins in mid-80's, when he was aspiring to become a hip hop and electro disc jockey. In 1992 he took a new turn by joining different bands, only to return back to DJing in 1994, when he accepted the offer of some friends to become the resident DJ of a club in Norway.

Thomas has a wide taste in music: growing up in family where his stepfather taught him the music of many important musicians (like the Beatles, the Cramps, the Clash, Miles Davis, Mozart and others) stimulated his inspiration for music, which has always been a daily part of his life. In his youth, he learned to play the cello and the clarinet (not the most common music organs to join a band!). He started to collect records from an early age (a hobby that he still maintains), providing him with the ability to compose eclectic music and DJ sets. Therefore, Thomas is fairly considered one of the most interesting electronic music producers in Norway, along with his friends Hans-Peter Lindstrøm (a frequent partner in crime) and Todd Terje.

Today's track is extracted from the latest album Principe Del Notre, released in February 2016 by Smalltown Supersound:

PRINS THOMAS - H

Principe Del Notre is a fine example of what is called "cosmic disco" (although it's a term that Prins Thomas does not accept for his productions). While the first CD is beatless and ambient, the second one is an uptempo rework. However, both parts retain the spacey feeling, which is evident in most tracks. The album can be considered as a homage to the German krautrock bands of the 70's and the ambient artists of the 90's, who served as a strong influence for Thomas throughout the years. I believe that the two CDs should have been mixed, in order to create a seamless music experience to the listeners.

The success of Principe Del Notre spawned the release of a remix album (Principe Del Norte Remixed) in October 2016, including some popular names, like the Orb and Ricardo Villalobos, and some lesser known (Young Marco, Hieroglyphic Being, Sun Araw, I:Cube, Gerd Janson, Dungen).

The Norwegian electronic scene is pretty small compared with other countries, but it has delivered very interesting projects the last years. The turning point had been made by Röyksopp, who pushed the Norwegian sound beyond the country's boundaries. Thomas Moen Hermansen continues the tradition with his works!

A pinch of Greek electronic music

As already stated in a previous blog post, progressive house & trance were blooming all around the world at the end of the previous century until the mid 00's. Sasha & John Digweed hammered the dance floor of Twilo in New York circa 1998-2001. The success of Global Underground mix CDs, which were circulating in music stores and P2P programs, championed the prog music to the masses (including myself). 

Meanwhile in Greece, there was only a handful of radio stations, which broadcast exclusively electronic music tracks. A personal favorite from my youth years was Liquid FM, although I should mention that I was never a fanatic radio listener. My first encounters with EDM were through Paul Oakenfold Essential mixes that existed in Napster.

Following the trend of prog music, mid 00's was also a fruitful period for Greek artists in the area of EDM. One of the first examples is George Pallikaris, a.k.a. G-Pal. Although he started with more tech and deep house sounds, he released his fifth EP in Bedrock Records (2001), showcasing his first takes on progressive house. Very soon, he developed from an rising artist into a popular DJ and producer, with successful releases, such as Ocean Of Blue (2002) and Ophra (2003).

At the same time, many young talents emerged in the scene, including Stelios Vassiloudis, Kosmas Efstratiou, Christian Cambas, Giannis Douskos and Nikos Galatsopoulos. All of them appeared in an essential Greek compilation CD, Local Underground, paving the way for progressive house music. The prog craze was everywhere. The most popular Greek radio station for electronic music, Best Radio 92.6, was musically oriented on this genre, while having the support of the affiliated label Klik Records. The dancefloors of the Greek night clubs were full of clubbers dancing to the tunes of this era.

EDM has surely changed a lot since then. Progressive house is not considered "hot" now, surrendering its place to other music genres, like deep/tech house and techno. Obviously, the same pattern applies in Greece. There is nothing wrong with that, cause it's all about good music, not music styles. However, I am very curious to listen to the upcoming album of Way Out West and how Nick Warren and Jody Wisternoff (masters of progressive house) evolved through these years!