Late Night Tales

undefined

Occasionally you encounter an artist for whom it's not simply about mere taste, but about atmosphere and Trentemøller is surely among their number. For his is a sound that evokes frosty Belgian cathedrals filled with Flemings praying for salvation; or a wintry plain somewhere in Denmark, with the car broken down, walking lessly in the hope that another human might take pity. This is Gothic pop with a side order of tremolo arms. Trentemøller is the Dane who did. He's been making electronic music of one kind of bent or another for over 15 years, first making his name as part of Trigbag, a live house act that toured extensively. But it's his solo material that has impacted on the dance community - and beyond. `La Champagne' was a game-changer and his remixes of artists like Depeche Mode and Royksopp secured his place as an artist with some serious weight. But that's not all he is. You can hear that yearning in his productions and it's evident here, a sort of Protestant northern European melancholy. He is aided on his journey towards the Baltic by some heavy hitters, of course: Velvet Underground, Mazzy Star, This Mortal Coil. But that's not the story, it's not where the plot comes from, it's not where we're going. It's just a little indicator to reassure you we know the way. No. For it's in the dark beauty of Low's tremulous `Amazing Grace' or even the way that the Shangri-Las' `(Remember) Walkin' In The Sand', that Trentemøller takes on a mournful step. As we navigate the flatlands of your mind, we're helped along by a generous sprinkling of Anders' fellow Danes, like Darkness Falls (the atmosphere of this mix perfectly encapsulated here), Ekko, Chimes & Bells and the Late Night Tales tradition, Trentemøller's cover of Chris Isaacs' `Blue Hotel', sung by Marie Fisker and Steen Jørgensen. This is music for music lovers. This is music for those like their black to be truly noir. Danish style. Music journalist Paul Morley adopts the bedtime storyteller mantle with a narration of part one of a new short story `Lost For Words'.