Skatebård "The Faun Enters the New Age"

My dabbling re: electronic music has left me without much of a vocabulary to describe it without having a comfortable reference point at hand. Thankfully, with his new record Midnight Magic, Baard Lødemel as Skatebård has given me exactly that. There's a clear paucity of vocals on the record, which is usually a pretty big speedbump for me to overcome, but it doesn't stop me from appreciating their the well-internalized and re-presented early mid-70s/early 80s touchstones, like the theatrical post-punk synth scores below "Caravan" and "Boyvox," the shadowy, Kraftwerkian "Never Forget Who You Are," and the industrial pulse of "Flashes in the Night." All the while, Lødemel trods the same space-disco territory as Norwegian contemporary Lindstrom, but what sets Skatebård apart is the rhythmic focus on the drum, nowhere better than on "The Faun Enters the New Age" (mp3). Starting with a traditional bass/synth line, the song more than pleasantly surprised me when it brought in a crisp, shuffling drum pattern strongly remiscent of Doug E. Fresh and Slick Rick's "The Show," of all things, bringing an unexpected but perfectly realized funk element to the song, which gets even stranger when a spooky Scandanavian-sounding flute pastiche makes an appearance, floating just above the mix like a wisp of smoke. Lødemel has an affinity for hip-hop (he's also in rap group Side Brok), and it's obvious he gets it---by not just rehashing the most played-out elements, but using a just a small bit of it as to creating an understated, hushed gem on an album full of them---one of the best and most consistently rewarding records I've heard yet this year.

Buy Midnight Music from Kompakt. Skatebård's Myspace.