Meanderthals

Formed as a joint venture, Meanderthals unites the London-based DJ/production duo Idjut Boys—Dan Tyler and Conrad McConnell—with Norwegian electronica veteran Rune Lindbaek. The participants share an affinity for eclectic left-field disco, choosing live instrumentation instead of prominently electronic textures and highlighting the softer, psychedelic, dub-tinged dimensions of the Balearic movement that surfaced in the late 2000s. Although the three had known one another for years, the actual partnership began when Tyler and McConnell missed their return flight to London after a DJ booking in Oslo; they reached out to Lindbaek, which led to an unplanned studio session layering bass, percussion, and guitars over a track by Swedish early electronic/ambient composer Ralph Lundsten and yielding the piece “Andromeda (Prelude to the Future).” Smalltown Supersound Records’ Joakim Haugland heard the result and prompted the trio to record enough material for an album. Additional sessions in Oslo with several local musicians, followed by editing and post-production in London, produced Desire Lines, which appeared in May 2009.