Six Cups of Rebel

iTunes Review

Producer Hans-Peter Lindstrøm credits his deep love for nightclub jams to the fact that there was never an anti-disco campaign in Norway. His sophomore studio album, Six Cups of Rebel, takes on another synth-based genre that’s been similarly demonized: prog. The unwinding flurry of electric organ notes on the opening song, “No Release,” seems born from the fingertips of Yes’ caped wizard, Rick Wakeman. But with the following “De Javu,” Lindstrøm sounds like a completely different musical beast. Hearty elements of dance floor funk expand the bottom end. Wonky, distorted bass lines accompany hard-grooving drum machine patterns that sound imported from Manchester’s infamous Haçienda club circa 1989. Lindstrøm fuses prog and disco in “Magik,” an especially infectious number spanning more than eight minutes of complex mathematical keyboard arrangements. It approximates a spiral helix of notes over a bygone bellbottomed strut. The title track’s braiding of Miami Vice–era synth-pop with disco’s wah-wah guitar nearly invents a new genre.