Prins Thomas is by now intrinsically linked to the eclectic and ‘space-disco’ sounds emanating from his homeland, Norway. Alongside Hans-Peter Lindstrøm their eponymous debut album and up and coming ‘Reinterpretations’ re-workings have opened up their so-called ‘Cosmic Disco’ sounds to a whole new audience of music lovers. Having already garnered international acclaim for his own DJing skills the world over we now get to sample a snapshot of Thomas M. Hermansen in action across two sumptuous discs of avant-garde dance grooves, twisted funk, spaced-out electronics, psychadelic fusion, classic techno, disco, prog rock and all manner of leftfield concoctions. Across 38 tracks we get Hawkwind jamming with Visnadi, Bob James going toe to toe with The Salsoul Invention, Joe Meek twisting by the pool with Holger Czukay, Boards of Canada segueing into Prins Thomas’s Norwegian cohort Lindstrøm and Closer Musik doing the Detroit tango with Recloose, Carl Craig and Parliament.
His own label Full Pupp has some of the best house-not-house, neo-disco or call-it-what-you-want dance music records to offer that you heard in a long time. All made by exclusive Norwegian talent, a new outfit called Internasjonal will join the global dots with producers from all corners of the known-world, where he currently turns up every weekend with a crate of vinyl, his record grips and an immaculate way to play with it. In other words, there is no stopping him now.
Prins Thomas has been making a name for himself with his own releases, remixes for Blackjoy, Justus Köhncke, Force Of Nature, Simian Mobile Disco to name a few (phew...) and breaking sound systems the world over as a DJ of eclectic dexterity. But it was not always like that. The Prins had to go through the school of hard knocks like so many before him. Back, way back in time, he started playing around as a DJ at a puerile age. Viewed as an extension of his break-dancing efforts, belt-driven turntables were enough to support his mix of hip hop, electro and an array of Arthur Baker’s and Shep Pettibone’s jewels. But as soon as he picked up the bass and played in more bands than Norway has trees, the joy of the turntable took a back seat. Until the early nineties arrived th