Special edition of the cut featuring new, current and reissued releases from Olefonken and Snorri’s Snorkel’s records
Let’s go for a swim, in the crystalline waters of one of Oslo’s most distinctive imprints, Snorkel Records. The label run by Olefonken and Snorri has become a landmark in Oslo’s electronic music and DJ scene. It’s the home of Hubbabubbaklubb, Olefonken and a host of other artists as the city’s answer to the space-disco scene that came before it.
Snorkel Records bubbled to the surface after the success of Hubbabubbaklubb’s Mopedbart when Hubbabubba member Olefonken together with Snorri established the label. Olefonken’s debut solo effort Quaaludes garnered its own crossover success at the time and set the tone for the label.
Since then Snorkel has expanded into every realm possible, from beat-heavy boogie to downtempo psych-House; catching a glimmer of a balearic dusk that has never quite set in Oslo. Acts including dibidim and Raaja Bones have joined Hubbabubbklubb and Olefonken in extending the catalogue alongside frequent remixer contributors from Axel Boman and Øyvind Morken
Last year Snorkel tipped a toe into the world of reissues with Olav Brekke Mathisen and Sideshow Jøkke when they interned N.A.O.M.B as a future classic, 20 years on from its original release.
A reserved, yet dedicated output from the label shows a level of sincerity there that goes beyond productive necessity and only focuses on enriching the catalogue of the label and the scene in Oslo. The perfectionism of Olefonken’s own productions and those of Hubbabubbaklubb transfers to the label, with quality over quantity informing the label’s considered output, with the artwork for each record playing a significant role to its appeal. There’s an attention to detail there from the artwork to the packaging that sets a Snorkel record apart at every level.
This week, as they add Sju’s Nye Sko to the catalogue we take a deep dive into Snorkel’s back catalogue with Filter Musikk.
Sju – Nye Sko
The latest release from the label from a newcomer to the label, Nye Sko steps up the label’s efforts for a new 12” series. London- based, Norwegian artist Sju joins the Snorkel crew with a dreamy vocal track that whisks us off into exotic realms on the wave of a disco beat.
Olefonken and Øyvind Morken take on remix duties with two very different versions coming from the pair. Both eye an early evening dance floor, staying pretty close to the original tempo, while stripping it down to essentials and in Øyvind’s case adding some of that schizophrenic charm of his.
While Øyvind drifts off into the uncanny valley, offering some dissonance and tension where there was none before, Olefonken stays pretty close to the original with his dub and sole service mixes, only emphasising the attraction of the original.
Hubbabubbaklubb – Axelsuperklubb
Taken from Hubbabubbaklubb’s debut record, Drømmen Drømmerne Drømmer, Et Annet Sted gets the remix treatment by another Scandinavian legend, Axel Boman. The ponderous original hastens some at the hand of the Studio Barnhus boss and Swedish DJ.
Jangly electronic drums replace the original beat, intersecting the laissez faire atmospheres of the original as electronic basslines bounce through the workout.
This particular edition of the release gets a bonus remix from another legend, Superpitcher. He takes Fjellet front the same LP to different heights, accentuating Morten Skjæveland’s vocal in a trippy re-arrangement of the original.
Acts like Superpitcher and Axel Boman fortify Hubbabubbaklubb’s appeal outside Norway, and leaving much of the original tracks in place in these remixes, it suggests a kind of perfection in the originals that is hard to improve on.
Olefonken – Ubuntu Tutu
Olefonken at his best! The producer and artist shares something of his DJ instincts in this release which has gone down as a modern day classic since its release. There’s something of the balearic in Sun City with its keys, bongos and stabs evoking the sounds of eighties House of the mediterranean.
Ubuntu Tutu is a more laid back affair, with its soft klangs and electric pianos. You’d be forgiven for thinking this could be a Hubbabubbklubb track, especially with the ghostly presence of Morten Skjæveland cooing in the background, but there’s a clear intention for the DJ there, and it’s made its way into a few significant DJ bags since.
Hubbabubbaklubb – Eddie & Suzanna
A Hubbabubbaklubb original Eddie & Suzanna tap into that distinctive appeal of the band first heard on Mopedbart. The “koselig” Norwegian feeling that permeates through Hubbabubbklubb’s sound is reinforced with themes that touch on the collective consciousness of the region.
Eddie & Suzanne named after a local cult film, was the second single from Drømmen Drømmerne Drømmer and tugs on some shared nostalgia that even people born after that period (including Hubbabubbaklubb) could enjoy.
That track is joined by Virklighet, the only B-side that clearly was destined for the LP, but cut out at the last minute. Shimmering guitars, elastic basslines and glimmering synths are redolent of the 1980’s palette in which the band thrives.
Putting this out on a 7 inch with the extra track, shows something of the Snorkel philosophy in giving something a little special and extra to the fans and collectors of this music.
Raaja Bones – Boardwalks
The obscure figure, Raaja Bones has contributed more to the Snorkel catalogue, than even Olefonken with an LP, an EP and a tape featured on the label. Boardwalks is the middle child and between the experimental outlier that is Sleepwalks and the soul-searching ambience of Black Dreams, Boardwalks is the artist’s most lively and engaging release.
It probably has the most in common with the Snorkel’s sound if there was a sound that could be attached to the label. Vintage synthesisers and drum machines come together in snappy electro-funk arrangements that would have Bootsy Collins tapping his feet.
After a triptych of records for the label, Raaja Bones has disappeared into the ether, but here in Boardwalks he leaves us wanting more.