More than ever, Norway seems like a hub of exceptional DJs and idiosyncratic dance producers, from pop crossover stars like Röyksopp and Annie to proggy disco acts like Prins Thomas and Lindstrøm. A new documentary, Northern Disco Lights: The Rise and Rise of Norwegian Dance Music, attempts to explain why. First-time director Ben Davis follows the rise of the country’s otherworldly house, disco, and techno scenes in major cities like Bergen and Oslo, interviewing influential local artists and producers along the way.

Norway’s dance music history is only as old as the 1980s, Northern Disco Lights suggests, prompted by an oil boom that led to a period of cultural advancement, a musical “catching up” with the rest of Europe. It was in the early 1990s that the first wave of acts like Biosphere and Mental Overdrive started getting international recognition, putting a stake in the ground for Norway’s musical relevance. Later in the decade, a young, excitable DJ named Bjørn Torske emerged and began performing in the UK, returning home each time with exotic records. His music remains influential, favoring off-kilter, cosmic, noodling passages over the tight pop constructions of his Swedish neighbors. It bends like his gangly frame, long and spindly, with shades of wonky house, kosmiche-leaning disco, and Afro-cosmic flourishes.

Much of the film’s second act focuses on Tore “Erot” Kroknes, a rising star in Norway’s disco scene who died tragically in 2001 at age 23. He was known for his production work for his partner, Annie, in addition to his solo 12”s, which were significant to the country’s musical evolution; he is credited with filtering disco and boogie back into Norway’s dance equation. As the film shows, his work still feels eerily prescient and fresh; producers continue to chase his sound, and his presence is felt when Northern Disco Lights moves on to cover the rise of poppier nü-disco.

A trio of prominent dance producers also get their share of attention. In 2005, Lindstrøm became the country’s first artist to break through internationally with “I Feel Space,” his throbbing, off-kilter take on Donna Summer’s “I Feel Love.” Prins Thomas, one of the best disco DJs in Europe, also came to prominence at this time and remains one of the seminal voices in Norway, as he runs many of the area’s small labels. And Todd Terje emerged from this wave as a global house star, with an ear for perfect pop hooks and sets at Coachella and other festivals.

Though many quintessential Norwegian tracks make Northern Disco Lights’ soundtrack—including Erot’s “Song for Annie,” Ralph Myerz’s “Think Twice,” and Lindstrøm’s “Closing Shot”—its scant 74-minute runtime means many more were omitted. Now that the film is out on VOD in America, Bjørn Torske shares his picks for the best deep cuts from the land of Vikings.

Bleep - The North Pole By Submarine (1989)

“Echoing the Second Summer of Love in the UK in 1988, this album is the frostbite version of acid house. Geir Jenssen [later of Biosphere fame] spent endless nights awake programming his sequencer, conjuring up new hi-hat patterns while the rest of Tromsø was sound asleep.”

Y.B.U. feat. Jonell - “Soul Magic” (1991)

“This was maybe the first Norwegian record to break into the UK club charts. It was produced by Hans Olav Grøttheim, who would later establish Disc Lab studios in Oslo, and pursue a career as producer and A&R with Virgin Norway.”

Mental Overdrive - “About Erot (Tore Fra Singapores Usikker Musiker Mix)” (1997)

“A meeting of great artists and Erot’s first remix. This belter of a track shook the dance floors.”

Various - Style Is King (1999)

“This was released by the experimental performance group Baktruppen for an event that included several famous graffiti writers from the U.S., Denmark, and Norway. It’s a series of high fidelity field recordings from various roundabouts in the Groruddalen valley in Oslo, and a must-have.”

Anneli Drecker - “Sexy Love (Röyksopp Romantiske Sløyd)” (2000)

“Perhaps the most wobbly bass line that ever came out on a Norwegian record. Röyksopp showed the way for the new millennium before the rest of the world even knew they existed.”

Patrick & Raymond - “Bushfukka” (2002)

“Listening to this track, produced by [Norwegian Disco elder] DJ Strangefruit back in pre-Mungolian times, it makes me think of how electronic music would have sounded if it was made 60,000 years ago.”

Ost & Kjex - “Milano Model (A Thrilling Mungophony In Two Parts)” (2007)

“Norwegian house duo and perennial weirdos Ost & Kjex meet Mungolian Jet Set for a few pints, then down to the studio where they make this track, which is best described in one word: epic!”