Prins Thomas Toransu EP
Prins Thomas's Full Pupp label hits its 50th release with a double EP of new material and reworkings from the man himself.
After dropping the 32-track compilation behemoth Paradise Goulash to help close out 2015, Prins Thomas wastes little time getting back on the wagon with his new double EP, Toransu. This marks the 50th release on his Full Pupp imprint, and plays like a sorbet palette cleanse after last year’s full-course meal. A mix of new material and reworkings of previously released tracks, Toransu offers up just enough to whet the appetite without weighing you down.
Opener “Meiro” uses subtly insistent drums and lush, sun-dappled chord progressions to reach the same cruising altitude as the Orb’s ambient-house classic “Little Fully Clouds.” Rather than rocketing you into the stratosphere, the melody continues to float higher—in no rush, like a scenic balloon ride. From there, Thomas slides into two new takes on tracks from his last proper LP, III. Where the original “Luftspeiling” materialized from a near drum-less haze, the 12” featured here drops in a deep-house thump better equipped to illicit a dancefloor two-step, but no less appropriate for night-bus headphones. (A second, druggier version of “Luftspeiling” also appears later on the EP.) “Trans” (12-inch Version), meanwhile, ratchets up the danceability by compressing the original’s Kraftwerk-inspired chug into an even tighter motorik 4/4 rhythm.
Things loosen up a bit on the title track, as a freewheeling assortment of tom-toms, cowbells and bongos flavor the bassline with a taste of Paradise Garage-style Latin heat. But the closest things come to hands-in-the-air excitement is the muscular Chmmr Change Trains remix of “Stockholm Express.’” This version blows out the low end of the original’s sophisticated, dinner-party disco, making a chunkier electro stomper in the process.
Overall, Toransu seems to be one for the fans. It’s a reward for the faithful who have put their trust in one of dance music’s most prolific producers as he quietly ushers in a milestone release, one that helps to cement Full Pupp as a shining star in the deep expanse of space disco.