Todd Terje works the ARP with own label, nerds out

Norwegian producer Todd Terje just got himself a new job description: besides being a great musician, he can now go by the title entrepreneur as well. With help from Smalltown (Supersound / Superjazzz / Supernoize) owner, DJ and promoter Joakim Haugland, Terje recently started his own label Olsen.

The first release on Olsen comes, naturally, from Terje himself: news of his next EP It’s the Arps just saw daylight, the four-track digital and 12″ vinyl release with artwork (see below) by Norwegian illustrator and designer Bendik Kaltenborn will be available on January 16th 2012. Completely composed and played on an ARP2600 analog synthesizer, the EP’s title obviously refers to this instrument.

But there’s also a hint to Terje’s personal taste in humour: one of his favourite Monty Python sketches (I guess he refers to ‘It’s the Arts‘!), as he recently stated in an interview. Not to forget ‘Let’s Nerd‘, a fun website on which Terje’s asking smart people (such as James Murphy and Morgan Geist) stupid questions (such as ‘All time favourite synth?‘ and ‘Who should I interview next?‘).

In the same RA-conversation, Terje also said that he had thought about expanding the concept of hardware limitation to other instruments in the future. ‘I’ve been buying so much equipment lately that I feel each instrument deserves its own release‘, Terje said. ‘You can make almost whatever sound you feel like on the ARP, but even this has its limitations, especially when it comes to fast high-pitched sounds. So if I plan to do it with my other synths, it might not sound as good. Maybe it will just be limitations when it comes to the instrumentation, like just a drum set and a 303.‘

The first tracks off the It’s the Arp EP came alongside the release, listen to the cosmic / balearic / galactic funk gems ‘Inspector Norse‘ and ‘Swing Star pt 1‘ below.

Todd Terje – It’s the Arps EP:
1. Inspector Norse
?2. Myggsommer
3. Swing Star pt 1
4. Swing Star pt 2

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Published January 05, 2012.