- When he's done with his day job as one-half of the mega-successful dance act Groove Armada, Tom Findlay sits down and indulges his underground jones as Sugardaddy for Tirk Records. Here, on the mysterious Morten Sorensen's debut EP for the label, you can also hear his smooth hand behind the boards.
I say mysterious not simply because this is Sorensen’s (very) accomplished first 12-inch. But more because his bio reads like a ridiculous Maurice Fulton-esque joke. Chalk it up to my heightened sense of suspicion when it comes things like this, but see if you agree: "Hailing from a small mackerel fishing village in southern Norway, 22-year old Morten Sorensen enjoyed a ten year spell spent in New York whilst his dad worked for the UN’s international maritime commission developing a love of dusty old NY disco that was to irrevocably shape his future."
Bottom line, though? The music's good. The EP's title track rescues a Chic sample from the shelf of almost any disco lover and throws a shriek, synth and bassline underneath. Deep and epic, the track is a seamless cut-and-paste. 'Cyclick' lulls you into a sense of security with deep pads before dropping its undeniable bassline. Halfway through, a sampled organ line comes in and every melody turns a bit scratchy, eeking out their notes as though under duress. It's still smooth, thanks to the return of the pads, but the contrast helps make the song far more interesting than it has any right to be.
'Visage' is just as simple and just as effective. Less of a song than its predecessor and more of a track, the tune is hotly-paced, making hay out of echoed synths, random keyboard detritus and a queasy sampled guitar. It's hard to tell if this one is meant for the floor or for home listening, because of its quick changes yet steadfast beat, but I'd be more interested in hearing it than the 300th re-edit of an old disco classic.
The same can't be said for 'Woo Hoo', which settles for a "jack your body" sample and a loping beat. What starts off as a promising underwater journey turns into a genre mish-mash that plods its way to the EP's finish.
Nonetheless, the rest of the work here is highly accomplished for a guy from a small mackerel fishing village. And while it's hard to say what Sorenson might sound like without Findlay, based on the results of this 12-inch I'm not sure I want to find out.
TracklistA1 Start Something
A2 Cyclick
B1 Visage
B2 Woo Hoo