FBU: Recollections In Rare Altitude

I had sincerely forgotten this one. It was a no-cover used copy from the start, further abused by my 'gentle' touch back then - it skips by track#7 (I'm surprised it still plays , actually). I had a hand-written track list somewhere which I lost about two weeks after I bought it; so I knew nothing on either the label(s) or the artists involved anyway, except that it had a Stacey Pullen remix that draw me to it (track#7 once again).

I just liked the music in there a lot. I was deep into Detroit techno then, but still it touched me. House music from Norway... Repetitive, heavy, hedonistic music with organic feeling and psychedelic references - music for dancing and drinking and smoking shit and having fun (and how often do we encounter these qualities today?). And levels are set really high, production- and music-wise.

Thank the gods for discogs, I was happily surprised to found out who they were. That many of them are now widely recognized for their skills seems natural; we're talking about Rune Lindbæk (see Those Norwegians) and Bjørn Torske for example, while label owner Per Martinsen is Mental Overdrive of R&S fame. This album was a co-production of the HS recordshop and Per's (still active) Love OD Records. Who apparently had some connections with the Tellé guys and the Smalltown Supersound label and all the rest of Norway's underground stardom we possibly don't know about - a scene that eventually presented to us world famous artists like Royksopp and Lindstroem, or less famous ones like Skatebård. And which, due to its quality level, will continue to give us bunches of new faces we haven't discovered yet for a long long time, if I'm allowed a guess. So, I guess this is their old school presented here.

Similar stuff of the time that comes to mind? I'd name their neighbors Svek, for the weird disco tendencies and the crossover attitude. And Minifunk (*), for the repetitive funk fixations and the fun factor.

VA -1998 FBU: Recollections In Rare Altitude
Info here.

If anyone has more stuff like the above, let us know. It'll really be appreciated.