Blodfet & DJ Lonely, the solo project of Swedish-born visual artist Jonas Ohlsson, released a new electronic album, "Titanium Hip Replacement Disco," reviewed by The Quietus's Richard Foster. Ohlsson, an artist and teacher based in the Netherlands, recorded the album at his home in De Bijlmer, a 1960s modernist Amsterdam development now undergoing gentrification, and the review described the result as often enjoyable but distinctly "artsy."
The review located the record's mood in a specific mix of Dutch and Scandinavian domesticity, what it called hygge and "huisje, boompje, beestje," a Dutch phrase for the modest comforts of home life. That sense of parody carries onto the cover, where Ohlsson appears dressed for a seventeenth-century housewarming, playing a lute.
The record leans on a loose, collage-like structure, with tracks drifting in and out and frequently built from snippets of conversation or voice-memo-style vocals; on "Song 3," a Dutch-speaking voice closes out the track saying simply, "Werkt het? Ja, goed." The review compared tracks like "Steve Albini vs. The Pixies" and "Apneu / Dags Att Andas" to Radiophonic Workshop ghostliness and voice-driven radio drama, while quieter cuts such as "Jag Lovade Att Sjunga" and "I Love You," one of the album's highlights, recalled 00s avant-garde dance acts like Sun Araw and Laurel Halo.
Even the dancier moments stay muted: the review said a track like "You Wanna Be As Strong As This Song" is hermetic enough to play "whilst putting a wash on," and that for long stretches the record "sounds like it's playing through the neighbours' wall" rather than filling a room.
The album's closing run of tracks turns overtly political, with titles including "Swedish Death Cleaning," "Would You Like to Watch Some Ethnic Cleansing," "The Genociders" and "The Circle of Life & Apartheid." The review flagged the shift as uneven, noting that singing about slicing up and walking out "the genociders" can land as self-satisfied on a limited independent tape release, even if the underlying sentiment about real conflicts in Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan and Mali is one most listeners would share.
"Titanium Hip Replacement Disco" lands in the release calendar among the rest of August's new electronic releases from Blodfet & DJ Lonely.
The facts
- New album "Titanium Hip Replacement Disco" reviewed by The Quietus
- Solo project of Swedish-born visual artist and teacher Jonas Ohlsson
- Recorded at Ohlsson's home in De Bijlmer, Amsterdam
- Cover art shows Ohlsson dressed for a 17th-century housewarming, playing a lute
- Closing tracks address real-world conflicts, including in Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan and Mali
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