Toy (established 2002 in

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula of ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

) is an electronic duo formed by musician and producer

Jørgen Træen Jørgen Træen also known by his stage name Sir Dupermann (born 15 April 1973) is a Norwegians, Norwegian record producer, musician (guitar, keyboards and bass guitar) and electronica artist from Bergen. He is best known for his work as a music p ...

from Bergen and the Bergen-based composer Alisdair Stirling originally from

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Biography

Toy released the single ''Rabbit Pushing Mower/Valley Cars'' (2002) as a vinyl seven inch on Telle Records described by the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

as an amusing cream puff of a tune. The next single was released on the label

Smalltown Supersound Smalltown Supersound is an independent record label, founded in Flekkefjord in 1993 and now based in Oslo, Norway. It is dedicated to new forms of jazz, rock and electronic music. Their catalog features albums by Kelly Lee Owens, Deathprod, Nene ...

, ''Sedan Through Tunnel/Decorama''. Both of these singles was sold out quickly. The debut album by the duo ''Toy'' (2006), was the released on Smalltown Supersound, and received brilliant criticism. The track "Rabbit Pushing Mower" opened their friend Annie`s DJ Kicks mix album for Studio K7 (2005). Jørgen Træen runs Duper Studios in Bergen together with

Yngve Sætre Yngve Leidulv Sætre (born 13 May 1962 in Ørsta, Norway) is a Norwegian record producer, musician (vocals and keyboards). He worked as a record producer in Sigma Studio, before, together with Jørgen Træen, he started Duper Studio in Møhlenpri ...

, where they collaborates with the likes of

Röyksopp Röyksopp (), a Norwegian electronic music duo from Tromsø formed in 1998. The duo consists of Svein Berge and Torbjørn Brundtland. Berge and Brundtland were introduced to each other through a mutual friend in Tromsø, Norway. They enjoye ...

Datarock Datarock is a Norwegian electronic rock band. The band, known for wearing red jumpsuits, formed in 2000. Original personnel were Fredrik Saroea, Ketil Mosnes and Kevin O'Brien, who soon hired Tom Mæland. O'Brien and Mæland later left the band, ...

and

Bjørn Torske Bjørn Torske (born 1971 in Tromsø, Norway) is a house music producer. He became involved with producing music and local radio before moving to Bergen, Norway. He has collaborated on many occasions with Röyksopp. Discography EPs *''Expresso'' ...

. Træen is a highly recognized producer that has produced albums for

Sondre Lerche Sondre Lerche (; born 5 September 1982) is a Norwegian singer, songwriter and guitarist, now based in Los Angeles, California. He has released nine studio albums. Early life Growing up in a suburb of Bergen, Lerche was heavily influenced by 1980s ...

Magnet A magnet is a material or object that produces a magnetic field. This magnetic field is invisible but is responsible for the most notable property of a magnet: a force that pulls on other ferromagnetic materials, such as iron, steel, nickel, ...

and

Jaga Jazzist Jaga Jazzist (also known as Jaga) is a Norwegian experimental jazz band, that rose to prominence when the BBC named their second album, ''A Livingroom Hush'' (Smalltown Supersound/Ninja Tune), the best jazz album of 2002. (in Norwegian) Biograph ...

, among others. He also has his own solo project 'Sir Dupermann' on Smalltown Supersound. Although a Londoner Stirling has his roots in Bergen where he is the driving force behind the Bergen pop workshop/collective 'House of Hiss'. In a review of Norwegian music flowering outside Norway, Nick Sylvester of the

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...

states: *"09. Toy: ''Sedar Through Tunnel'' (Smalltown Supersound) - Most people are hearing about Toy from Annie's DJ-Kicks mix, which opens with Toy's "Rabbit Pushing Mower" track from way back, issued as a seven-inch on one of Bergenite Mikel Telle's labels. I had said earlier my whole project with Norwegian music, at least at first, was to find songs that sound like Röyksopp's "Poor Leno"—cold, lonely pop, bedroom danceparty shit (though "Leno" killed Webster Hall when the boys came through). This track comes pretty damn close to the target sound, in no small part due to the haze of vocal samples, much like the Field's Things Keep Falling Down EP on Kompakt this year." ... Another statement is: *"Prozac-flavoured glory" (BBC radio 3) ... and: *"Sounds like a lot of fun being in Toy" (4/5, DJ Magazine)

Discography

*2005: ''Toy'' (

) *2007: ''Half Baked Alaska'' (

) *2015: ''40* 44* 34*'' (

)

References

{{Authority control Norwegian electronic music groups Musical groups established in 2002 2002 establishments in Norway Musical groups from Bergen Smalltown Supersound artists