It's Album Time
Studio album by
Todd Terje
Released8 April 2014 (2014-04-08)
Recorded2011–14
Genre
Length
  • 59:10 (CD)
  • 52:26 (vinyl)
LabelOlsen
ProducerTodd Terje
Todd Terje chronology
It's the Arps
(2012)		 It's Album Time
(2014)		 The Big Cover-Up
(2016)
Singles from It's Album Time
  1. "Inspector Norse"
    Released: 19 June 2012
  2. "Strandbar"
    Released: 2013
  3. "Delorean Dynamite"
    Released: 10 February 2014
  4. "Leisure Suit Preben"
    Released: 27 March 2014
  5. "Johnny and Mary"
    Released: 7 April 2014
  6. "Alfonso Muskedunder"
    Released: 30 March 2015

It's Album Time is the debut studio album by Norwegian DJ and record producer Todd Terje, released on 8 April 2014 by Olsen Records. The album was self-produced by Terje and was recorded in a span of three years. It was met with generally positive reviews from music critics. The album debuted at number 2 in Norway, number 4 on the Billboard Dance/Electronic Albums chart, number 23 on the UK Albums Chart, and number 6 on the UK Dance Albums chart.

Six singles have been released: "Inspector Norse", "Strandbar", "Delorean Dynamite", "Leisure Suit Preben", "Johnny and Mary" featuring Bryan Ferry, and "Alfonso Muskedunder".

Background

The album includes Terje's 2012 track "Inspector Norse", which became Mixmag's best track of 2012,[1] and came second on Resident Advisor's list of the 50 best tracks of 2012.[2] It also includes an edited version of the "Disco Mix" of 2013 single "Strandbar", as well as a lightly edited version of "Swing Star", from his 2012 extended play It's the Arps—which also featured "Inspector Norse". Jim Carroll of The Irish Times placed Terje's track "Strandbar" at number eighteen on his list of the best tracks of 2013.[3] The album's sole collaboration comes from Bryan Ferry, the lead singer of Roxy Music, on a cover of Robert Palmer's "Johnny and Mary".

The album's cover art was designed by Bendik Kaltenborn who also designs illustrations for The New Yorker magazine; his illustrations often complement the humour column, "Shouts & Murmurs", and the event listings in the beginning of the magazine. Terje became acquainted with Kaltenborn about ten years ago in a branch of the Dutch chain Free Record Shop, where they were both working, and quickly bonded over what Kaltenborn calls "crazy nonsense stupid humor."[4]

The vinyl version of It's Album Time features edited versions of "Delorean Dynamite", "Johnny and Mary" and "Swing Star", and is featured at a playback speed of 45 rpm instead of the usual 33 1/3 rpm. In Japan, a bonus disc titled It's Album Time (Bonus Tracks) was packaged with the album, and features edited versions of many of the album's songs. Included is the full "Leisure Suit Preben" single, as well as the edits featured on the vinyl version of the album; the edit for "Delorean Dynamite" removes the ambient outro and crossfade from "Strandbar", as featured on all album pressings, for this bonus collection.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?7.7/10[5]
Metacritic79/100[6]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[7]
The Guardian[8]
The Independent[9]
Mixmag4/5[10]
Mojo[11]
NME8/10[12]
Pitchfork8.7/10[13]
Q[14]
Resident Advisor4.5/5[15]
Spin8/10[16]

It's Album Time was met with generally positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from critics, the album received an average score of 79 based on 30 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[6] Mike Powell of Pitchfork awarded the album their "Best New Music" tag, writing "Despite recycling four of its twelve tracks from previously released singles and EPs, It's Album Time has a linear, cohesive feel. Instead of trying to top "Strandbar" or "Inspector Norse", Terje ties them together with short interstitial tracks—valleys that give perspective to the mountains."[13] Zander Porter of Consequence of Sound stated "It's Album Time gestures towards Olsen's growing confidence as a producer and newfound preparedness for curating a collection of his own musical pieces. Featuring a robust range in pace, imagery, and vocal implementation, the record is the most eclectic and thought-out work from Olsen to date."[17] Matt Oliver of Clash gave the album a score of 8 out of 10, stating "Terje comes out the other side ready to invigorate for a second time, a mite more determined and showing disheartenment (or getting too high, for that matter) shouldn't last too long. Its encased plasticity doesn't mask any novelty. Athletic brightness betters gaudiness while wearing ’80s fashions well, banging out rhythms with fingers that've have just come from the cake bowl. It's album time, and Terje feels epic".[18]

Alexis Petridis of The Guardian was mixed in his assessment of the record, writing "There's certainly nothing wrong with a producer as talented as Terje feeling constrained by the style of music that's made him famous and wanting to spread his wings. It's just that the areas that Terje spreads his wings into feel a bit hackneyed."[8] On the album, Tim Senda of AllMusic wrote "Terje should set aside the experiments and just focus on making sleek and shiny electro-disco tracks; the rest only gets in the way of a good time."[7]

The album was recognized as one of The 100 Best Albums of the Decade So Far by Pitchfork in August 2014.[19] The magazine later placed it at #98 on its list of The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s, calling it "[a} cosmic cocktail-lounge fantasia".[20]

Track listing

CD pressings

All music is composed by Terje Olsen, except track 4 written by Bosse Norgren and track 7 written by Robert Palmer

No.TitleLength
1."Intro (It's Album Time)"1:40
2."Leisure Suit Preben"4:20
3."Preben Goes to Acapulco"4:35
4."Svensk Sås" ("Swedish Sauce")2:43
5."Strandbar" ("Beach Bar")4:28
6."Delorean Dynamite"6:45
7."Johnny and Mary" (featuring Bryan Ferry)6:32
8."Alfonso Muskedunder"3:24
9."Swing Star (Part 1)"4:18
10."Swing Star (Part 2)"6:17
11."Oh Joy"7:09
12."Inspector Norse"6:59
It's Album Time (Bonus Tracks) Japanese bonus disc
No.TitleLength
1."Leisure Suit Preben" (single edit)4:37
2."Preben Goes to Acapulco" (single edit)5:06
3."Johnny and Mary" (radio edit; featuring Bryan Ferry)5:06
4."Oh Joy" (radio edit)4:06
5."Svensk Sås" ("Swedish Sauce"; long version)2:43
6."Delorean Dynamite" (radio edit)3:41
7."Johnny and Mary" (instrumental)6:50
8."Strandbar" ("Beach Bar"; Samba radio edit)4:08
10."Swing Star" (short edit)7:05
Total length:44:08

Vinyl pressings

Side A
No.TitleLength
1."Intro (It's Album Time)"1:40
2."Leisure Suit Preben"4:20
3."Preben Goes to Acapulco"4:35
Total length:10:38
Side B
No.TitleLength
1."Svensk Sås" ("Swedish Sauce")2:43
2."Strandbar" ("Beach Bar")4:28
3."Delorean Dynamite"4:52
Total length:12:02
Side C
No.TitleLength
1."Johnny and Mary" (featuring Bryan Ferry)5:05
2."Alfonso Muskedunder"3:24
3."Swing Star"7:04
Total length:15:30
Side D
No.TitleLength
1."Oh Joy"7:09
2."Inspector Norse"6:59
Total length:14:08

Charts

Chart (2014) Peak
position
Australian Hitseekers Albums (ARIA)[21] 5
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[22] 36
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[23] 93
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[24] 64
French Albums (SNEP)[25] 72
Irish Albums (IRMA)[26] 76
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[27] 225
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[28] 2
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[29] 67
UK Albums (OCC)[30] 23
UK Dance Albums (OCC)[31] 6
UK Independent Albums (OCC)[32] 3
US Billboard 200[33] 120
US Dance/Electronic Albums (Billboard)[34] 4
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[35] 22

References

  1. ↑ "BEST 2012 TUNES: 5-1". Mixmag. 31 March 2014. Archived from the original on 18 July 2013.
  2. ↑ "RA Poll: Top 50 tracks of 2012 =2014-03-31". Resident Advisor. 31 March 2014.
  3. ↑ Carroll, Jim (31 March 2014). "The biggest list in the world EVER – The Ticket music writers' Best Of 2013 lists". The Irish Times.
  4. ↑ Powell, Mike (7 April 2014). "Under the covers: Bendik Kaltenborn". Resident Advisor.
  5. ↑ "It's Album Time by Todd Terje reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
  6. 1 2 "Reviews for It's Album Time by Todd Terje". Metacritic. Retrieved 7 April 2014.
  7. 1 2 Sendra, Tim. "It's Album Time – Todd Terje". AllMusic. Retrieved 7 April 2014.
  8. 1 2 Petridis, Alexis (3 April 2014). "Todd Terje: It's Album Time review – worth the 10-year wait, but only in parts". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 April 2014.
  9. ↑ Wills, Kate; Harley, Kevin; Montgomery, Hugh; Coleman, Nick; Male, Howard (6 April 2014). "Album reviews: Aloe Blacc, School Of Language, Todd Terje, Judith Owen, Metá Metá". The Independent. Retrieved 2 November 2018.
  10. ↑ Muggs, Joe (8 April 2014). "Todd Terje". Mixmag. Archived from the original on 19 April 2014. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
  11. ↑ "Todd Terje: It's Album Time". Mojo (246): 93. May 2014.
  12. ↑ Stubbs, Dan (11 April 2014). "Todd Terje – 'It's Album Time'". NME. Archived from the original on 18 April 2014. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
  13. 1 2 Powell, Mike (7 April 2014). "Todd Terje: It's Album Time". Pitchfork. Retrieved 7 April 2014.
  14. ↑ "Todd Terje: It's Album Time". Q (336): 114. July 2014.
  15. ↑ Miller, Derek (9 April 2014). "Todd Terje – It's Album Time". Resident Advisor. Retrieved 2 November 2018.
  16. ↑ Walters, Barry (7 April 2014). "Damn Right 'It's Album Time': House Whiz Todd Terje Drops a Booty Bomb". Spin. Retrieved 2 November 2018.
  17. ↑ Porter, Zander (7 April 2014). "Album Review: Todd Terje – It's Album Time". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved 7 April 2014.
  18. ↑ Oliver, Matt (31 March 2014). "Todd Terje – It's Album Time". Clash. Retrieved 7 April 2014.
  19. ↑ "The 100 Best Albums of the Decade So Far (2010–2014)". Pitchfork Media. 19 August 2014.
  20. ↑ Pitchfork Staff (8 October 2019). "The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s". Pitchfork. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
  21. ↑ "ARIA Hitseekers – Week Commencing 14th April 2014" (PDF). ARIA Charts. Australian Web Archive. p. 21. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 April 2014. Retrieved 17 December 2014.
  22. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Todd Terje – It's Album Time" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 17 December 2014.
  23. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Todd Terje – It's Album Time" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 17 December 2014.
  24. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Todd Terje – It's Album Time" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 17 December 2014.
  25. ↑ "Lescharts.com – Todd Terje – It's Album Time". Hung Medien. Retrieved 17 December 2014.
  26. ↑ "GFK Chart-Track Albums: Week 15, 2014". Chart-Track. IRMA. Retrieved 17 December 2014.
  27. ↑ イッツ・アルバム・タイム | トッド・テリエ [It's Album Time | Todd Terje] (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved 17 December 2014.
  28. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – Todd Terje – It's Album Time". Hung Medien. Retrieved 17 December 2014.
  29. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Todd Terje – It's Album Time". Hung Medien. Retrieved 17 December 2014.
  30. ↑ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 17 December 2014.
  31. ↑ "Official Dance Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 17 December 2014.
  32. ↑ "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 17 December 2014.
  33. ↑ "Todd Terje – Chart history: Billboard 200". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 17 December 2014.
  34. ↑ "Todd Terje – Chart history: Dance/Electronic Albums". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 17 December 2014.
  35. ↑ "Todd Terje – Chart history: Independent Albums". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 17 December 2014.
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