Meet Thorsteinssøn. The Iceland-born-Denmark-bred Gunnar Thor Viggosson better known as one half of 76-79 with Tommy Vicari Jnr and bossman at Comfortable Records and Vanity.
Right now, though, we’re calling him the man behind the first Pets artist album this year…
Deliciously cosmic and cheerily schizophrenic, ‘Academy Of Heroes’ is inspired by a brilliant creative project Thorsteinssøn practiced during his years living in Amsterdam: Solar Industry Radio. A project that would begin with a made up artist or band name, the artwork and then the music; in styles ranging from cosmic funk to Scandinavian disco and noise collages of the galaxies. A joyously backwards project that inspired a rich rainbow of styles, the content was then represented 24/7 online, collaged with strange jingles and sci-fi snippets. Genius.
Returning to those creations, Thorsteinssøn and Pets have weaved together a full album that cherry picks from his thunderous proliferation: from the strutting west coast deep house of ‘1976’ to the introverted electro boogie of ‘N M T F R’ by way of the poignant chords of ‘Untitled Disco Six’, the wry acid wriggles of ‘Channel DISQ’ and the Trans Am twinkles of ‘Beneath A Steel Sky’, the 14 track collection acts as an immersive, timeless collage.
A smorgasbord of synthetic exploration, rich in sci-fi, space and robotic sympathy, pieced together with the same spirit of his cult radio transmissions, it works just as well on the cans as it does in the dance… And it’s en route with an equally alluring package of remixes.
An album, a radio show for freaks or simply a journey into Thorsteinssøns world.. Whatever… He really is a creative maverick.
Release Date: November 4th, 2016
