Kevin Cole

Elbow's Guy Garvey has been busy. As well as hosting his "Guy Garvey's Finest Hour" programme on BBC Radio 6, he can now add "university lecturer" to his resume.

After being made an Honorary Doctor of Arts by the University back in 2012, the Elbow frontman has taken on the role as a visiting professor in songwriting, where he will offer a master class in writing for music. It seems it’s not entirely one-sided though, as Garvey has claimed that collaborating with students will help him to work on his own new material. Speaking to the Manchester Evening News, Garvey said: “I’m really looking forward to working with young songwriters at Manchester Metropolitan University. I’ve never had a conversation with another writer that hasn’t in some way informed my own work. I have been lucky enough to learn from some of the best ever. From Frank Black to Wayne Coyne. From Jolie Holland to Jimi Goodwin. From Jesca Hoop to John Bramwell. Robert Plant to Trevor Horn to Laura Marling to Josh Pearson. Steven Fretwell to Elton John. Ron Sexsmith to Matt Berninger to Lianne La Havas. Hamilton Leithouser to Kate Stables to Peter Gabriel. Those are some names people will know. I’m looking forward to working with names that everyone will come to know in a city that has nurtured some of the very best.” bit.ly

Death Valley Girls is a Los Angeles-based garage rock/psych-pop/proto-metal troupe whose self-described "California doom boogie," Manson Family/B-Movie theatrics, and occult-themed lyrics invoke names like the Cramps, Black Sabbath, and Bikini Kill. Emerging in 2013 and founded by drummer Patty Schemel (Hole), her six-string-wielding brother Larry Schemel, vocalist Bonnie Bloomgarden, and bass player Rachel Orosco, the band released their debut album, Street Venom, on cassette via Burger Records in 2014. Patty left the group shortly thereafter and was replaced by Laura Kelsey (the Flytraps). In 2016, the band released their sophomore studio long player, Glow in the Dark, again via Burger. The group moved to Suicide Squeeze Records for their third full-length effort, 2018's Darkness Rains. bit.ly

This track was the only one recorded by producer Jon Brion, and almost did not make it onto the record, one reason "because it felt different for us. It was the only one that was recorded digitally and not on tape, and it was the only one we didn’t record with Mike McCarthy. And I thought it was pretty good, but I didn’t think it was … Definitely when the Merge radio lady said it was going to be the single, I was surprised." bit.ly

Playing The Crocodile on October 9th! Led by their nineteen-year-old frontwoman Arrow de Wilde, Starcrawler are all LA natives and met in high school. Their self-titled LP was released one year ago in January by Rough Trade Records to rave reviews. Ticket and bio info here: bit.ly

Goldfrapp began work on "Ooh La La" in late 2004 in a small rented house in the countryside of Bath, England. The song was composed as a collaborative effort between Alison Goldfrapp and Will Gregory while jamming in the recording studio, bouncing song ideas off each other. Goldfrapp contributed the song's lyrics, and has described the song as being "sulky, sexual and a bit ambiguous." In "Ooh La La", she confesses to wanting only a sexual relationship without romance.

"Ooh La La" was Goldfrapp's first song to feature the electric guitar, an instrument that they had avoided due to its overly recognisable rhythm. When they recorded the song, Gregory played the keyboard bass as Goldfrapp sang. Her microphone picked up the "clattering" of Gregory's pressing the keys, which they added to the chorus. The song is written in the common verse-chorus form and features additional instrumentation from synthesizers and a bass guitar. bit.ly

This album drops today! Responding to an interview question comparing his voice to another famous singer, Ed Mcfarlane responds with a laugh, “It’s weird, I’ve noticed that more and more. I love George Michael but I’m not trying to sound like him at all. I guess I’ve only recently started to view myself as a singer, where before I wasn’t that comfortable with it.” bit.ly

A tweet from Hackman yesterday implores, "Plz buy my record so I can afford trousers." Follow the link to see what adorableness ensues: bit.ly

Courtney Barnett started Milk! Records in 2012 to release her first EP I've Got A Friend Called Emily Ferris. Soon after came the second EP How To Carve A Carrot Into A Rose. She took her band overseas with a condensed back catalogue called The Double EP: A Sea Of Split Peas. In 2015 Barnett released album Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit to worldwide critical acclaim.

Head over to her Bandcamp and check out some really incredible red socks: bit.ly | Then, do yourself a favour and just watch one of her sensational in-studio sessions recorded LIVE hear at KEXP: bit.ly

Inspired by C-86-style indie pop, classic singer/songwriters like Todd Rundgren, and light, folky psychedelia, the North London indie pop trio Girl Ray formed while still in school. After releasing a few promising singles, they signed a recording contract, graduated high school, and soon after, released their debut album, 2018's Earl Grey. Getting together over a school holiday, guitarist/vocalist Poppy Hankin and drummer Iris McConnell started writing songs together, but the band only took shape when bassist Sophie Moss joined up. The trio recorded their first single, "Ghosty," while doing their A Levels. (An "A Level" is the common name for the General Certificate of Education Advanced Level certificate (GCE A level). It is a high school qualification studied in England, Wales and Northern Ireland by pre-university students.") bit.ly

"Gold Lion" was named after the two Gold Lion awards won by the Adidas commercial Hello Tomorrow at the 2005 Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival. Karen O had contributed vocals to ad's song composed by Sam "Squeak E. Clean" Spiegel, brother of Karen's then-boyfriend Spike Jonze who had directed the ad. bit.ly

If you just can't get enough of these smooth grooves for your smooth moves, here you go: smarturl.it

As part of our educational series on navigating the music industry called, "Mastering the Hustle," Rachel Flotard (Visqueen & Red Light Management) will be speaking on the panel "Self Management v Representation: Exploring the Pros and Cons of Hiring Professional Management or Going it Alone" on October 5th. More info on our full series here: www.kexp.org/events/mastering-the-hustle/

Strummer wrote the song during the recording sessions for London Calling. He developed the idea for the song while travelling home from Wessex studios in London and listening to a radio news report of ETA terror bombings of tourist hotels on the Costa Brava. It reminded him of the ongoing Provisional Irish Republican Army campaign in the United Kingdom. "Spanish Bombs" compares the modern day tourist experience of Spain with the circumstances of the Spanish Civil War, and contrasts the "trenches full of poets" to the planeloads of British tourists visiting the country's beaches in the post-Franco era. Praising the heroism of the civil war republicans, the song alludes to the death of anti-fascist poet Federico García Lorca. Adrien Begrand of PopMatters remarked that Strummer's references to bomb attacks by Basque separatists in the late 1970s "echoes" Lorca and the Spanish Civil War, citing the line "Spanish bombs rock the province / I'm hearing music from another time." bit.ly

In an exclusive International Clash Day interview, Mike Scott reveals his reverence for Jones: "Well, he's a favorite character of mine. I loved Strummer, but I was really a big Mick Jones fan and I've met Mick many times in my life. We know each other. We don't e-mail or talk to each other on the phone and I haven't seen him for a couple of years. But whenever we meet we have a very nice, sweet friendship, and a few years ago I decided to write a song about him. And I had this title 'London Mick' and I thought of all the great words that rhyme with Mick, and I did the song in the style of The Clash and recorded it as a Clash-type tribute, and I even did a one-note guitar solo in Mick's own style. And I'm really looking forward to when it comes out and he hears it! And it's about our various encounters over the years. You know, I'm proud to say I went to see Spinal Tap with Mick Jones when it first came out and neither of us laughed. Isn't that funny." Read the whole interview here: bit.ly

Armand Jakobsson is the artist known as DJ Seinfeld, Rimbaudian and Birds of Sweden. Armand began making music in Edinburgh at the suggestion of a respected friend. Time spent experimenting with music and exploring the possibilities contained within his laptop was cathartic relief from the grind of finishing his studies. Later returning to his hometown of Malmo, his interest in making music would intensify thanks to encouragement from his old school friends and the looming spectre of a 9-5 lifestyle. A move to Barcelona and the end of a relationship resulted in extended sessions watching the classic American sitcom and the music made to reflect that appeared under the name DJ Seinfeld. bit.ly

Underworld will follow 2016’s Barbara Barbara, We Face a Shining Future with new album Drift Songs on October 25. The album comes at the end of the electronic duo’s current, ambitious 52-week “Drift” series: “music, film and text pieces are created and published every Thursday as part of the band’s on-going, very public recording process; a unique and visionary space Rick and Karl have created for themselves to exist within.” Drift Songs “expands and enhances a selection of the recordings” and will be released as a double album, CD, and an “all-encompassing box-set.” bit.ly

Of this track, Karl Hyde reveals, “Loved the music the minute Rick [Smith] played it to me, and couldn’t wait to get it home to start singing on it. To my first pass at a vocal Rick said, 'Try another one,' weirdly identical to his response to the vocal we didn’t use for Two Months Off.”

Start your week off right by seeing these guys at Neumos on Monday, September 16th! Chicago-based post-metal trio Russian Circles seem to release nothing but pure, body-moving gold, and their latest track "Arluck" proves once again they dominate the instrumental scene with their unmatched musicianship and songwriting capabilities. Kicking off with a mighty walloping foundation from drummer Dave Turncrantz, the song quickly opens up into a hypnotizing dance of brain-tickling licks and chugging, staccato riffs. Punctuated snare slams and an unshakeable bass line from the masterful Brian Cook hold down a steady groove while guitarist Mike Sullivan's spaced-out plucking is allowed to explore, leading to an exalted segment where the bottom falls out, drawing focus before bringing back the leaden assault of the trio's combined powers. bit.ly

From the band's bio: These two vicious bastards (Black Mekon and his brother Black Mekon) were named after the legendary Black Mekong, illegitimate children of prostitutes visited by missionary preachers, abandoned to fend for themselves on the banks of The Mekong River. Now joined by their cousin Black Mekon they deliver blistering in-the-red punk blues as a three piece. Their mobile church of jet-engine noise and pelvis-shattering drums has graced shores all over Europe, Japan, South America and the USA both headlining and at the personal request of Jon Spencer, Guitar Wolf, The Scientists, King Brothers and more. None of what you read may be true, all of what you hear is. Serve it up! www.pnkslm.com

Ikebe Shakedown decided to leave vocals out of its songs because the members felt they would distract from the songs’ subjectivity. Even titling the songs can be a challenge. The band takes on that task but attempting to put words to something that Nadav Nirenberg said “doesn’t have much to do with language... Anyone can put their own meaning on top of it, and feel like it puts them in a certain place. There’s no lyrics to define that for you. We find that it works well in that cinematic way, where it’s almost like trying to put you in a specific mood. But that mood is very subjective and up to the listener.”

The band records all of its music straight to tape at its studio rather than relying on digital equipment to fix the songs in post-production. Nirenberg and co. appreciate the sound and aesthetic of the medium, as well as the happy accidents that sometimes emerge while recording in analog. Tape also helps the band put a song to rest faster, while limiting some of the tinkering that slows other artists. bit.ly

Juan Maclean is a DJ and producer who has been a mainstay of the New York club scene, as well as maintaining a rigorous international touring schedule, since the release of his first records on DFA in 2002. Vocalist Nancy Whang is his longtime collaborator, best known as a founding member of LCD Soundsystem and a busy touring DJ. Together, the two artists have released an extensive catalogue of 12” singles and full-length albums for DFA, including 2014’s seminal In A Dream LP. The proper follow-up studio album will follow in 2020. bit.ly

Celebrating Madonna, who turns 61 today. She’s been known as the "Queen of Pop" since the 1980s, and is famous for pushing the boundaries of lyrical content in mainstream popular music. She has also frequently reinvented both her music and image while managing her own career. Born and raised in Michigan, Madonna moved to New York City in 1978 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing as a drummer, guitarist and vocalist in the rock bands Breakfast Club and Emmy, Madonna signed with Sire Records in 1982 and released her eponymous debut album the next year.

Madonna's inspiration behind the song was the dance floor, and she wrote it while watching a handsome Puerto Rican man, across her balcony. Initially written for her friend Mark Kamins, Madonna later decided to use it as the soundtrack of the film Desperately Seeking Susan. "Into the Groove" consists of instrumentation from synthesizers and drum machines. Madonna's voice is double tracked in the chorus; the song also consists of musical contrasts, overdubs, and Madonna's voice in lower register during the bridge. The lyrics of the song are simple, written as an invitation to dance with the singer. However, it carries sexual innuendos and undertones in the meaning.

The Center Won’t Hold” starts with distorted synthesizer bass tones and clanking sampled percussion that continue through the verses, as Brownstein sings, with desperate drama in her voice, about opposites and paradoxes — “I need a new reflection/Don’t want to see my face” — and voices answer, quietly chanting, “The center won’t hold.” Suddenly, less than a minute from the end, the old, punky Sleater-Kinney reappears, with grunge guitar chords, pummeling drums and Tucker unleashing her full melodic scream. It’s as if the band is showing what might have been. nyti.ms

Sam Owens, known professionally as Sam Evian is a singer-songwriter based in Brooklyn, New York. In 2016, he signed with Saddle Creek Records, and his music has been described as indie rock, "crunchy country," and "70s-tinged psychedelic soft rock. He released his sophomore album You, Forever in 2018, and Kazu Makino of Blonde Redhead contributed to the album's song "Next To You." bit.ly

With this track, Sam Evian has shared an infectiously fervent interpretation of Gerry Rafferty's beloved "Right Down the Line." Of his choice to cover the 1978 song of the summer, Sam says, "At the end of the 'You, Forever' recording session, we had a little room left at the end of the tape reel so we decided to do a cover. ‘Right Down the Line’ is one of my favorite songs and I covered it because I wanted to learn how to sing all those harmonies on the chorus.” bit.ly

Playing the Sunset Tavern on September 12th, the Four Tries Down 7″ is out September 6th on Fire Records. Coincidentally our second track today from Malmö, Sweden... the first belonging DJ Seinfeld!

Born on August 26th, 1997, Cordae Amari Dunston is an American rapper, singer raised in Suitland, Maryland. Dunston began rapping at a young age under the stage name Entendre. He released three mixtapes under this name; "Anxiety" (2014), "I'm So Anxious" (2016), and "I'm So Anonymous" (2017) before becoming a member of the YBN collective in 2018. Dunston subsequently gained popularity by releasing remixes of popular songs, such as "My Name Is" by Eminem, and "Old N*ggas" which was a response to the song "1985" by J. Cole. Videos to both remixes were uploaded to the WorldStarHipHop's YouTube channel, which led to an immense and immediate positive response from both mainstream media and the online rap community. His debut studio album, The Lost Boy was released on July 26, 2019. bit.ly

Featuring John Legend! “When I first started working on the album, the concept, the theme, like okay, we have school, we have acid, you have faith and family. And then the fourth one, really the first one is going to be, the concept was best album of all time. And that’s not really a good concept to make music. It gives me no direction. It’s a lot, some of the questions I had to ask myself is like what would make the greatest album. If I was to find the greatest album sitting on the ground outside, and it was actually in fact the greatest album, what would it be? It would be made out of diamonds. It would be a nostalgic but also futuristic."

"You can’t have a greatest album of all time without a shit ton of love songs. All the best albums have love songs. It’s not all about me and my journey and how fast I can rap and shit like that. It’s about love. And most of all, you have to be able to dance to it. The best album of all time for me is not something that I need to listen to with reading glasses.” bit.ly

"Someone asked a question. They asked me what's my favorite thing about myself? And I told them my personality. And they said, 'OK, but physically, what's your favorite thing about yourself?' And I did not have an answer. For the first time in my life I had to actually think about something that I liked about myself physically, and because it was so difficult, I was moved to tears. In that moment, I remembered that I'd just fallen off a cliff. ... I was rope swinging into the river, and I am just so heavy, and I fell off the rope and fell on the ground. It was really scary and traumatizing. I'll never do anything like that again, but I scraped up my skin and I remember my friend was like, 'Look what you did to your beautiful skin!' I still had the cane and I had the bandages on my legs during this interview. And I looked down and I was like, 'Oh, my God. My skin. That is my favorite thing about myself.' And it was in that moment where I realized I damaged my skin where I saw the value in it. That was the first time I'd ever discovered my body love, and I just started with my skin and moved on from there. I wrote this song to celebrate that moment because it literally changed my life." n.pr

Mavis Staples on why she chose the 1956 Gordon Parks photo ("Outside Looking In, Mobile, Alabama" captures six African-American children peering into a whites-only park through a chain-link fence): "That photograph hit me like a ton of bricks. They had sent me about nine pictures, you know, trying to find something for the album. That was the only one I saw — and it grabbed me. You know, these little babies, standing on the outside — they want to swing, they want to go on the slide.

And it kind of reminded me of my sisters and I, we had that problem when we were growing up. We couldn't go to the beach, we couldn't go to the park. We wanted some grass where we lived, we didn't really have any grass, you know, we'd have to play in a vacant lot with dirt and glass so that photograph grabbed me in the heart and almost brought me to tears. I said, 'This is the one.'" n.pr

On this duo’s second album “Devices” (Northern Light Records), Chris Jordan (bass) and Zoran Macesic (vocals/guitar) find themselves drawing comparisons to Love and Rockets and Interpol while maintaining their unique brand of reverb-drenched haze that animates the ghosts of green rooms. Songs that speak of the tumultuous oscillation of love, and the distress of being a social misfit. Since forming in 2015, Black Ferns has been consistently touring and sharing the stage with great bands such as INVSN, Wolf Alice, Bass Drum of Death. “Devices” will be released this fall. blackfernsmusic.com

Dreamy, laconic, and gorgeously Balearic in feel, this song is considered by many fans as one of their most criminally underrated songs. Gillian Gilbert does the majority of guitar lifting here, which is a change-up from her usual mastery behind the keyboards. Unsurprisingly, she does a stunning job of playing the purportedly difficult chord changes, as well as a beautifully nuanced guitar solo.

Here they perform an absolutely sublime version of it live at the Montreux Jazz Festival ‘93, where you can enjoy Gillian’s wonderfully-nuanced guitar work, as well as Hooky’s back-up vocals: www.youtube.com

Known professionally as Clairo, Claire Cottrill is an American singer-songwriter from Carlisle, Massachusetts. Her fame escalated after releasing "Pretty Girl" (2017), a lo-fi-produced song that attracted over 35 million views on YouTube. She credited her sudden popularity to the website's algorithm system.

The song's title is a reference to the otherwise unrelated song "Outside a Broken Phone Booth with Money in My Hand" by Bruce Cockburn, from his 1978 album Further Adventures Of. Its chorus consists of a sample from the 1964 B.B. King song "How Blue Can You Get": "I've been downhearted, baby, ever since the day we met." At the end of the song, the lead singer also sings King's sampled lyrics. The song became popular after being featured in the movie The Cable Guy (as well as its film soundtrack). Soon after, it peaked at number one on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks and Adult Alternative Songs charts. It became a radio hit over the following few months, reaching number two in Canada and number 10 on the US Billboard Hot 100 Airplay chart. bit.ly

Elvis Depressedly was formed in 2011 in Columbia, South Carolina, originally as a way for Cothran to explore his Bowie-esque alter ego of "Mickey," referenced in the early EPs as a way for him to confront and examine his fears and anxieties. bit.ly

This new track was produced by Rich Costey during the recording sessions for the band's critically acclaimed ninth studio album, Thank You for Today and held for this planned subsequent EP, set for release on September 6. bit.ly

“It describes a series of events, loosely connected, all yet to happen,” says frontman Isaac Wood. “The song was intended to be highly inspirational. The lyrics are sometimes concerned with symbols of wealth or affluence but they are not written from a critical or even external position.”

"Unsung" was Helmet's first single to be released, and was also the lead single to their second album Meantime. The song helped Helmet attain breakthrough success and is their most commercially successful song to date. "Unsung" reached # 29 on the US Alternative Songs chart and #32 on the US Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. bit.ly

Amyl and the Sniffers are a grimy pub rock band from Melbourne, Australia. Amy Taylor (vocals), Bryce Wilson (drums) and Declan Martens (guitar) are former housemates who formed the band, wrote a handful of tunes and released their debut EP, Giddy Up, all in a span of twelve hours. Completing their line up with Gus Romer on bass, Amyl and the Sniffers took their cues from a diverse mix of genres including pub rock, Aussie punk and country. They set out to have as much fun as possible and scared up a whole lot of fans along the way. bit.ly

Geowulf (yes, named after a love of Beowulf and things geo-related) on their musical influences: "Musically we both love Fleetwood Mac and I think that’s obvious through some of our songs. Being so ostracised in Australia I think you become more attached to your favourite old school artists and musicians. There’s so much mystery and appeal wrapped up in their tracks and it’s hard to not get inspired by all of that. As it’s probably obvious as well, we both have a a huge love for shoe gazing artists like Mazzy Star and even Cigarettes After Sex." bit.ly

Lost Girls is the upcoming fifth studio album by English singer-songwriter Natasha Khan, known professionally as Bat for Lashes. It is set to be released on September 6, 2019 through AWAL. It will be Khan's first album since 2016's The Bride. bit.ly

On September 6th, Sub Pop will release Frankie Cosmos’ fourth studio album, Close It Quietly. This album is a manifestation of the band’s collaborative spirit: Greta Kline and longtime bandmates Lauren Martin (synth), Luke Pyenson (drums), and Alex Bailey (bass) luxuriated in studio time with Gabe Wax, who engineered and co-produced the record with the band at Brooklyn’s Figure 8 Studios.

The bands latest video for “Wannago” features comedian Catherine Cohen and was directed by the fine folks at House of Nod. The video is centered around the band’s love for reality baking shows, specifically The Great British Bake Off. “I thought a baking competition theme would translate well to a music video. In some ways I think the lighthearted drama, tension, and release of that format mirrors the ebb and flow of emotions (lyrically and musically) in this song, and so it was kind of a natural fit” says drummer Luke Pyenson. You can watch the video for the song here: bit.ly

Paying homage to legendary actor Peter Fonda, who passed away today. "In 'n' Out of Grace" opens with a sample of the eulogy from Peter Fonda's character in the 1966 movie The Wild Angels, saying "We wanna be free to do what we wanna do…"; the same sample was later used on Primal Scream's song "Loaded." bit.ly

Primal Scream approached dance DJ Andrew Weatherall after a favourable review of the second Primal Scream album in the 'Boys Own' football fanzine. He was asked to remix "I'm Losing More Than I'll Ever Have," a song from the band's eponymous second album, Primal Scream and by the second or third attempt Loaded was born — his first visit to a recording studio. At the start of the song, Weatherall added an audio sample of Frank Maxwell and Peter Fonda from the film The Wild Angels. The rest of the song is constructed from parts of "I'm Losing More Than I'll Ever Have," with a vocal sample from The Emotions' "I Don't Want to Lose Your Love," and a drum loop from an Italian bootleg remix of Edie Brickell's song "What I Am," plus Bobby Gillespie singing a line from Robert Johnson's "Terraplane Blues." bit.ly

Paying homage to the late, great Peter Fonda, who passed away earlier today at the age of 79. www.youtube.com/watch?v=egMWlD3fLJ8

After Hit Parader editor Lisa Robinson saw the Ramones at a gig in New York City, she wrote about them in an article and contacted Danny Fields, insisting that he be their manager. Fields agreed and convinced Craig Leon to produce Ramones, and the band recorded a demo for prospective record labels. Leon persuaded Sire president Seymour Stein to listen to the band perform, and he later offered the band a recording contract. The Ramones began recording in January 1976, needing only seven days and $6,400 to record the album. They used similar sound-output techniques to those of the Beatles and used advanced production methods by Leon. bit.ly

On August 16, 1974 (45 years ago today!), The Ramones gave their first public performance at famed Manhattan dive bar CBGBs. The Ramones had previously played together at a practice space with Joey Ramone on drums, Johnny Ramone on guitar, and Dee Dee Ramone on bass and lead vocals. Neither Dee Dee nor Joey could sing while playing, so manager Tommy Erdelyi stepped in on drums and Joey took over vocals. With their newly-cemented lineup, the Ramones took the stage at CBGBs and Dee Dee began with his famous one/two/three/four countoff. They were opening for a band called Angel and the Snake, which was a band who would soon change their name to Blondie.

Music journalist Legs McNeil, the future co-founder of Punk magazine, was at the show and wrote this in his review: “They were all wearing these black leather jackets. And they counted off this song…and it was just this wall of noise,” McNeil later recalled. “These guys were not hippies. This was something completely new.” Following their historic debut performance 45 years ago today, the Ramones quickly became a force on the burgeoning underground rock scene centered in the downtown Manhattan clubs CBGB and Max’s Kansas City.

Terje Olsen (born 1981), better known as Todd Terje, is a Norwegian DJ, songwriter, and record producer. His stage name is a homage to house music producer Todd Terry. Called "King of the summer jams" by Mixmag, "one third of the Holy Trinity of Norwegian disco" by Spin magazine, and "one of [the Scandinavian dance scene's] prominent figures" by AllMusic, Todd Terje made his name with a string of remixes and re-edits in the mid 2000s. He is the younger brother of Olaf Olsen, who often performs drums for Terje's live shows. bit.ly