- Most producers are capable behind the decks, and fantastic DJs often make good tracks, but few are truly excellent at both. Todd Terje is one of those few. His productions are packed with earworm melodies that can send raptures through any club. His DJ sets, on the other hand, are often cozy affairs, effortlessly transporting clubbers from conventional club music to weirdo disco. You might think the man has enough strings to his bow already, but he’s now adding another with an entirely new live show.
It's clear Terje's live set is going to be popular. For a start, people love him. At his his album launch in London last weekend, which was presented by Feel My Bicep, one fanboy had dressed in a poncho and fairy lights, a look nabbed from the video for "Inspector Norse" (and it's related mockumentary, "Whateverest"). Unlike many other dance music live shows, this actually felt like a concert, complete with sing-alongs and girls climbing on guys' shoulders. Unsurprisingly, the biggest reaction was saved for "Inspector Norse," but "Ragysh," "Strandbar" and even new material, such as the impressive "Delorean Dynamite," was remarkably well-received. My only minor gripe is that it was sometimes hard to tell what exactly was live about the performance. Granted, that's a common criticism for laptop performers, and to be fair Terje was playing keyboards, which is more than most. Still though, it will be interesting to see how he injects more spontaneity and drama into his show as it evolves.
Terje's performance came after a great set by Park Ranger and an even better one by Maurice Fulton. Fulton is another amazing producer who also happens to be a very good DJ. He kept things exciting throughout, veering from acid house to Aretha Franklin. There were lots of unexpected moments, whether he was cutting between two copies of a Bee Gees slow dance number or stopping the music entirely to chuck an over enthusiastic photographer out of the DJ booth. Fulton simply does what he wants when he wants and is all the better for it.
It was a night where you could find few things to dislike, the only moan being an unexplainable lack of toilet facilities—a queue for the men's bathroom snaked conspicuously, 30 lads deep. That certainly doesn't feel like too hard of a problem to solve for Oval Space, a venue that's rightfully earning a rep as one of the best clubs in London.