Meet Thorsteinss?n. The Iceland-born-Denmark-bred Gunnar Thor Viggosson better known as one half of 76-79 with Tommy Vicari Jnr and bossman at Comfortable Records and Vanity. Right now, though, were calling him the man behind the first Pets artist album this year… Deliciously cosmic and cheerily schizophrenic, ‘Academy Of Heroes is inspired by a brilliant creative project Thorsteinss?n practiced during his years living in Amsterdam: Solar Industry Radio. A project that would begin with a made up artist or band name in styles ranging from cosmic funk,scandinavien disco to noise collages of the galaxies. A joyously backwards project that inspired a rich rainbow of styles, the content was then represented 24/7 online, collaged with strange jingles and sifi snippets. Genius. Returning to those creations, Thorsteinss?n and Pets have weaved together a full album that cherry picks from his thunderous proliferation: from the strutting west coast deep house of ‘1976 to the introverted electro boogie of ‘N M T F R by way of the poignant chords of ‘Untitled Disco Six, the wry acid wriggles of ‘Channel DISQ and the Trans Am twinkles of ‘Beneath A Steel Sky, the 14 collection acts as an immersive, timeless collage. A smorgasbord of synthetic exploration, rich in sci-fi, space and robotic sympathy, pieced together with the same spirit of his cult radio transmissions, it works just as well on the cans as it does in the dance… And its en route with an equally alluring package of remixes. An album, a radio show for freaks or simply a journey into Thorsteinss?ns world.. Whatever… He really is a creative maverick.
