OPSVIK & JENNINGS: Commuter Anthems (Rune Grammofon)

OPSVIK & JENNINGS
Commuter Anthems
RCD2062
Rune Grammofon 2007
10 Tracks. 46mins36secs



Buy it: CD
Opsvik & Jennings | Rune Grammofon

Opsvik & Jennings first appeared as an entity two years ago with their debut album, the superb Fløyel Files, released on NCM East. While Norwegian-born bass player Eivind Jennings had already two albums under his belt, Overseas and Overseas II, published in 2003 and 2005 respectively on Fresh Sounds Records, and had contributed to a considerable number of albums and formations, guitarist Aaron Jennings, hailing from Tulsa, Oklahoma, was a relative new comer. The pair met in New York where they both relocated in the late nineties.

Their second album, Commuter Anthems, released on Rune Grammofon, can best be described as a game of two halves. In the first section of the album, the pair adopt a rather more bucolic and chilled tone than that heard on Fløyel Files, with delicate melodies floating over air-thin instrumentations primarily formed around electric and acoustic guitars, banjo, concertina, horns and electronics. The album opens with the graceful guitar and piano motifs of The Last Country Village and Silverlake. While very much a continuation of some of the more melodic moments of Fløyel Files, these two pieces show a much more symbiotic approach to sound. The title track, which follows, has the light-hearted disposition and visionary approach of futuristic sixties pop music, underlined by a gentle melody and the prominent display of a Theremin in the background. The mood occasionally dips a tad, especially on the introvert Wrong Place Right Time, but even there, a discreet flute creates elegant patterns over a rather stern backdrop.

In its second half, the album takes a slightly jazzier turn, perhaps highlighting Opsvik’s influence over the pair’s work. Port Authority shows once again subtle sixties influences in its wonderfully melodic main theme, but later, the musical expression becomes more syncopated on I’ll Scrounge Along, where the pair work a much groovier sequence, with Opsvik’s bass taking a more central role. In contrast, Ways is a superbly evocative composition, with a clear cinematic feel. As the track unfolds, it goes through surprising transformations, evoking in turn early twentieth century music and orchestral grandeur before gently fading away in a circling melody. The Pendler is this album’s most ambitious piece, as Opsvik and Jennings appear to make good use of their full instrument arsenal, without ever loosing sight on the melodic aspect of the track. The album concludes with the short and sweet Apology / Goodbye, which dissolves before it is given time to fully develop, leaving the listener wanting more.

Commuter Anthems represents a slight departure for Opsvik & Jennings, who take their original sonic template and expand it in a range of directions, from jazz to folk and country music. The pair crafts beautiful melodies set in delicate yet complex soundscapes, creating often poetic compositions. Ultimately, Opsvik & Jennings defy classification with playful spirit and panache and present a truly enjoyable record.

ALOG: Amateur (Rune Grammofon)

ALOG
Amateur
RCD2069
Rune Grammofon 2007
12 Tracks. 59mins34secs



Buy it: CD | LP
Alog | Rune Grammofon

Thanks to tirelessly inquisitive minds and an unquenchable thirst for sound processessing, Norwegian duo Alog have, in just three albums, stretched their musical universe beyond recognition. In their hands, nothing ever sounds totally ordinary, and as their approach as become more experimental with each release, moving from largely electronic structures to much more delicate soundscapes built around acoustic instrumentations and found sounds, they have developed a truly unique semantic and continue to refine it. Alog deal with sound on a large scale, taking as much consideration perfecting elements of their tracks which are not directly within audible range as they do crafting overhead components, resulting in extremely detailed and complex pieces more fitting to avant-garde than to traditional electronic music.

Following last year’s excellent Catch That Totem! published on Melektronikk, which collected some rare and previously unreleased material, Eide and Haugan return to Rune Grammofon with their fourth album. With this opus, the pair do not quite revise their work ethic as drastically as they have done in the past, but instead refine techniques applied on 2005’s Miniatures and manage to produce a record which is at once more complex and more accessible.

Amateur, here used in the context of ‘person who appreciates’, was recorded in various locations on the west coast of Norway, especially in schools, where the pair, accompanied by Nicholas H. Møllerhaug and regular Nils Økland collaborator Sigbjørn Apeland, made use of the sometime rudimentary facilities at hand. At times, the quartet found themselves stranded in one location for days because of bad weather and passed time by building their own instruments, adding to the eclectic sources used across the album. The result is an incredibly dense tapestry of sounds and noises, at times used in their barest form, at others treated and processed beyond recognition. Opener Son Of King is a bubbling piece on which Møllerhaug’s vocal acts as a continuous thread throughout. Various phrases are chopped up and re-assembled in apparently random fashion, creating a strangely disconnected tale from which pretty much only the title can be heard intelligibly, over a backdrop of wood and metal percussions which sounds increasingly more like a trotting horse as the track progresses.

At times, Alog seem primarily concerned with the very musical essence of their work, bringing melodies to the forefront, while at others, the focus is much more on the rhythmic aspect of their compositions. It is when the two meet however, like on the fascinating The Beginner, which share with label-mate Svalastog a taste for acoustic loops, that the pair are at their most enchanting. As loops and patterns settle, the track becomes a haunting incantation. A Throne For The Common Man has a similar feel, but the context is very different. Eide and Haugan begin by defining the sonic space with bells and chimes before progressively building a dense layered structure from a variety of acoustic instruments. What results is a grinding groove that absorbs everything in its path. Sleeping Instruments questions of the notion of silence and whether it is a sound in itself. As its title suggest, this piece is entirely built around fragments of sounds sourced from instruments ‘at rest’, whether it is wood contracting or fingers running on the surface of an instrument. The Future Of Norwegian Wood works on a similar principle, but silence is not quite as intrusive here. As various wood sounds are processed and assembled, Alog create a surprisingly consequent piece which comes alive around the three minute mark as a rhythmic sequence is set in motion. The ten-minute Bedlam Emblem sees a dense cloud of saturated noises, which wouldn’t be out of place on a Spunk record, slowly materialise and become overwhelmingly oppressive. On close inspection, this constantly changing ball of sound is made of a multitude of entangled minute debris interacting with each other.

In comparison, Write Your Thoughts In Water or Turn Back. Undo appear almost too straightforward, but there again Alog play with lights and shades to create illusions and deflect the attention away from the painstakingly complex and extremely detailed assemblages that are these tracks and focus instead of the poetry that results.

After ten years, Alog continue to develop and refine their approach to sound, as they move away from recognisable musical forms. As their most abstract record to date, Amateur is surprisingly accessible and playful, and this is certainly what makes Alog one of the most compelling outfits around.

ARVE HENRIKSEN: Strjon (Rune Grammofon)

ARVE HENRIKSEN
Strjon
RCD2061
Rune Grammofon 2007
12 Tracks. 47mins08secs



Buy it: CD
Arve Henriksen | Rune Grammofon

With fingers in more pies than humanely imaginable, it is a wonder how Norwegian trumpeter extraordinaire Arve Henriksen actually finds the time to work on his own music. An active member of formations as diverse as avant-garde improv super group Supersilent, Iain Bellamy’s Food, Audun Kleive’s Generator X and the Christian Wallumrød and Trygue Seim Ensembles to name but a few, Henriksen is one of the most adaptable and gifted musicians of his generation. His first solo album, Sakuteiki, released on Rune Grammofon at the end of 2001, introduced his sparse and beautiful soundscapes, while its follow up, Chiaroscuro (2004) vastly extended his sonic range. .

Recorded with fellow Supersilent members Ståle Storløkken (Keyboards) and Helge Sten (electronics), with the latter also producing, Strjon, the medieval name for Henriksen’s home town of Stryn, is once again a departure from previous recordings. While echoes of Sakuteiki and Chiaroscuro resonate throughout the album, the scope of this third solo effort is much more open and vast than that of its predecessors.

While the compositions remain largely focussed on Henriksen’s unique sound, Stroløkken and Sten often force Strjon out of its lingering semi-torpor and into the harsh blare of electric lights to reveal much more angular and abrupt tonalities. The album opens on traditional Henriksen territory with Evocation, but the abrasive textures of Black Mountain set Strjon on a different course as Sten wraps a recurring trumpet theme in coarse noises and processed electric guitars. Ascent is quieter, but darks shadows lurk in the distance, entangled in brushed rhythmic patterns, evoking in part a malfunctioning clockwork mechanism or a hypnotic tribal call.

On Green Water, Henriksen first applies gentle touches against a cluster of percussive noises, but as the background layers become more vivid, so is the increasingly deconstructed main melody. Set against the ominous and dense textural cloud of the title track, the wonderfully airy and light Glacier Descent, with its cascading layers of vocals ranging from deep guttural hums to mystical incantations, appears incredibly sharp and poignant.

Henriksen relentlessly drifts from conventional musical forms (the radiant harmonies of Alpine Pyramid and the delicate brushes of In The Light are amongst of the finest moments on this album) to uncharted experimentation (Black Mountain, Green Water, Wind And Blow). In turn raucous, croaky, vibrant or ethereal, Henriksen carves distinctive shades and tones out of his trumpet which Sten then places into context. Yet, unlike on Sakuteiki and Chiaroscuro, where Sten remained largely in the background, his electronic textures, combined with Stroløkken’s keyboard work give this album a much earthier feel.

At its most peaceful and reflective, Stjron is as spiritual and voluptuous as its predecessors, but when subjected to harsher soundscapes and processes, it becomes a haunting collection of dense organic atmospheres. Here, Henriksen continues to develop his distinctive lexical and challenge his work to deliver his most uncompromising record to date.

HUNTSVILLE: For The Middle Class (Rune Grammofon)

HUNTSVILLE
For The Middle Class
RCD2058
Rune Grammofon 2006
04 Tracks. 50mins09secs



Buy it: CD
Huntsville | Rune Grammofon

Experimental country music, now that’s a concept that Norwegian trio Huntsville seem eager to stick their milk teeth into. Not that it represents the bulk of their debut album mind, but the band mention country music as being one of their many influences, and it certainly finds its way into Huntsville’s largely improvised compositions.

Formed by guitarist Ivar Grydeland, multi-instrumentist Tonny Kluften and percussionist Ingar Zach, who have been working together in a variety of outfits since 1998, including improv expanding ensemble No Spaghetti Edition, which they founded, and smaller formation HISS, Huntsville represents a shift from the demanding outputs of previous incarnations to much more refined and hypnotic playgrounds. For The Middle Class shows signs of a somewhat more traditional approach to composition, yet the two main pieces, The Appearance Of A Wise Child and Add A Key Of Humanity, develop from the excellent understanding that these three musicians have of each other.

The album opens on a series of white noise sequences which are progressively swallowed by growing cyclic rhythmic patterns and various interferences. As its hypnotic groove settles and its backdrop becomes less abrasive, The Appearance Of A Wise Child reveals a much warmer set of soundscapes upon which an acoustic guitar draws a hesitant melody. From there on, the piece takes on a slight tribal turn until it finally breaks up. Add A Key Of Humanity is much more melodic from the start. Although occasional coarse electric guitar distortions ripple out in the first section of the track, the mood is here somewhat peaceful and restrained. As the trio bring various elements in and build the runaway train rhythmic backbone of the track, it gains in strength and vivacity. Seven minutes in, making the most of a plateau of relative calm, Grydeland introduces a cyclical plucked banjo theme which sets the track on a completely different course. While Kluften establishes the groove on a tensed bass line in the background and improves the relief of the piece, the banjo becomes for a moment totally overwhelming and gives this track, and the album, a very distinctive flavour. Huntsville might still be miles from developing a form of experimental country music, but this certainly proves a curious and rather thrilling combination of sounds.

The two remaining pieces are much gentler and provide interesting counterpoints to these epic moments. Much shorter and entirely beat-less, Serious Like A Pope and the delightful Melon show Huntsville in a radically different light. On the former, the trio weave an intricate and dense soundscape from drones, electronics and a guitar, with just a sporadic bass marking a cautious beat, while on the latter, it is largely left to Grydeland to generate the haunting theme of the piece on his acoustic guitar. Only discreet layers of treated percussive noises and a monotone electric piano are brought in to bring some substance to this otherwise rather airy closing track.

While it is pretty obvious from the two substantial improvisations here that Huntsville can work from each other and build on their respective strength very well, For The Middle Class is a surprisingly accessible and melodic collection. The band experiment with various music forms in very effective and convincing fashion, making this album yet another flawless addition to the Rune Grammofon catalogue.

PHONOPHANI: Phonophani (Rune Grammofon)

PHONOPHANI
Phonophani
RCD2054
Rune Grammofon 2006
13 Tracks. 75mins28secs



Buy it: CD
Phonophani | Rune Grammofon

Phonophani’s Espen Sommer Eide began his solo quest with this self-titled opus back in 1998. The album originally received a very confidential airing on Geir Jenssen’s Biophon imprint in 1998, and has just been re-released by the ever-excellent Rune Grammofon with an additional three tracks. Eide has since released two further albums, Genetic Engineering (2001) and Oak Or Rock (2004), and has teamed up with Dag-Are Haugan to form Alog, with whom he has released three albums and a handful of EPs which were recently collected on the excellent Catch That Totem!

While both projects seem intricately linked and thrive from a similar ethic, Phonophani’s scope is slightly darker and relies on more openly electronic textures. Eide already demonstrates here a clear taste for intricate sonic structures and elaborate arrangements based on a surprisingly mature approach to experimentation. Right from the pulsating dub swathes of the opening I. F. A., Eide applies melodic patterns and noises onto sumptuous abstract backdrops. Relying largely on organic rhythmic elements found evolving deep within his soundscapes rather than on conventional drum/bass sequences, Eide unleashes clouds of glitches, bleeps and melodic debris onto vast landscapes and manipulates the atmospheric fabric of his compositions to ensure consistency of tone all the way through.

As the album progresses, echoes of life can be found scattered over a handful of tracks, most prominently on Duration-Happiness, on which a heavily treated human voice, possibly that of Eide, rises above a lush orchestral mist to bring the track to a slightly unnerving end, while a child’s voice illuminates the solemn Sol, and on the enigmatic C, which seems built around the skeletal remains of Simon & Garfunkel’s Mrs Robinson. Elsewhere, Eide carves delicate dreamy sequences out of minimal sound sources. Pieces such as Zumas, Kaliphoni and Order Of Disappearance show a much more spiritual side to his work as he articulates bleeps and airy melodies around hypnotic noise structures. If these can appear a tad dated now, they are so tightly integrated with the rest of the album that they never actually appear out of place. This reissue features three previously unreleased tracks recorded during the same period. Fitted at the end of the original record, these compositions do not exactly bring anything more to the album but their insertion allow the listener to wander in Phonophani’s carefully devised space a few more minutes.

On this debut release, Espen Sommer Eide assembles sounds, structures and atmospheres with impressive maturity and lays down the blueprint for his work both as Phonophani and as part of Alog. While the album doesn’t go as deep into experimental territories as its successors, it is, eight years after its original release, a surprisingly fresh-sounding and relevant collection of intricate electronic music.

Supersilent and Wibutee live at the London Jazz Festival

Londoners: two dates for your diaries.

Wibutee: 11 November, live at the ICA

Supersilent / In The Country: 15 November, live at Cargo (Thanks to Colin for pointing that one out).

Both gigs are part of the London Jazz Festival. Click here for full listing.


Supersilent

SVALASTOG: Woodwork (Rune Grammofon)

SVALASTOG
Woodwork
RCD2056
Rune Grammofon 2006
10 Tracks. 45mins25secs



Buy it: CD
Rune Grammofon

Svalastog’s take on Folk music is nothing short of interesting. Using traditional Norwegian acoustic instruments as a basis for his work, Per Henrik Svalastog then processes them to create a series of delicate hypnotic pieces with impressive evocative power.

Originating from Tromsø, Norway, home of Biosphere, Röyksopp, Alog, Mental Overdrive and many more fine electronic artists, Svalastog is perhaps best known for being one half of electronic duo Information, with who he has released three albums to date, the last one, Biomekano, published on Rune Grammofon four years ago, but he has also contributed a number of 12” and remixes under a variety of monikers, and released his debut solo album, Silencer, last year on Beat Service. Now returning to Rune Grammofon with his sophomore effort, Woodwork, he continues to explore the sonic imprints of various traditional instruments.

The idea for this solo project originated from the moment Svalastog found an old Harpeleik, a Norwegian zither, which once belonged to his grandfather, and decided to momentarily turn his back on all things electronic to focus on more natural and organic sound sources. Working from improvisations played on old acoustic instruments, Svalastog weaves intricate vignettes around incredibly detailed and sophisticated loops of incredibly to create a series of impressive cinematic compositions. Dressed in elegant acoustic debris, melodies only emerge to dissolve almost instantly, caught up in tribal rhythmic patterns, contributing further to the fragile aspect of this record.

There is a sturdy unity running throughout this record. The process used seems almost identical from one track to the next, yet on closer inspection, Svalastog combines the various elements of a particular composition into ephemeral structures, which give each piece a unique tone. From the onset of The Wood Metal Friction, which slowly lifts off from a vaporous flute-style wind instrument to develop into a cyclic rhythmic theme, Svalastog establishes the master process for the rest of the album. Snow Tracer, which follows, appears as a simple continuation of the previous track, but slow luminescent tones illuminate the background all the way through and give the piece an entirely different emotional facet. On Mouse Tracking, he liquefies the sonic incantations by introducing sliding string elements and builds on sparse bass drums and light percussive twitches to give Reforestation delightful magnetism. Even on the monolithic ambient Slow Blowing Wireless, Svalastog develops a series of deep-reaching patterns and assembles them into a stunning sonic composition.

Very much like Thomas Strønen with his solo debut, Pohlitz, released earlier this year, Per Henrik Svalastog creates an impressionist piece of work, using delicate touches and light textures to highlight the natural sheen of his original sound sources. Magnificent, graceful and evocative in every way, Woodwork is one of the most compelling Rune Grammofon releases to date.

SUSANNA AND THE MAGICAL ORCHESTRA: Melody Mountain (Rune Grammofon)

SUSANNA AND THE MAGICAL ORCHESTRA
Melody Mountain
RCD2057
Rune Grammofon 2006
10 Tracks. 42mins35secs



Buy now: CD
Susanna And The Magical Orchestra | Rune Grammofon

Two years on from their wonderful debut, List Of Lights And Buoys, Susanna Wallumrød and Morten Qvenild return with this sophomore effort, once again produced by Deathprod. While their debut featured mostly tracks written by themselves, with the exception of the two opening tracks, Leonard Bernstein's Who Am I and Dolly Parton's Jolene, Melody Mountain sees the pair applying their delicately textured sound onto a variety of classic songs taken from the repertoires or artists as far apart as Joy Division, Leonard Cohen, Prince, AC/DC, Scott Walker or Fairport Convention to name but a few.

While the originals cover a wide musical range, Wallumrød and Qvenild apply the same gentle brushes and soft tones across all of their interpretations and offer rather radical reworkings of each song as they make them their own. If this worked beautifully on Who Am I, and even more so on Jolene, and works rather well on a number of songs here, this album nevertheless proves to be a rather hit-and-miss affair over its full length.

Melody Mountain opens with the Leonard Cohen classic Hallelujah, a song that seems pre-destined to be a masterpiece in the hands of Wallumrød and Qvenild. Yet, compared to Cohen’s soulful version and Jeff Buckley’s intense interpretation, this sounds rather colourless and somewhat lacklustre. Things pick up greatly with the rather clever adaptation of AC/DC’s It’s A Long Way To The Top. Stripped of its rock’n’roll outfit, the song becomes a resounding prayer which, surprisingly, suits the “a day in the life of a touring band” lyrics to the hilt. Matt Burt’s These Days is equally inspirational and delicate, and if Prince’s Condition Of The Heart looses most of its flamboyance here, Wallumrød and Qvenild give the song an altogether more poignant touch by highlighting its wonderfully crafted melody and pushing the lyrics at the forefront.

This approach works best on Love Will Tear Us Apart. Keeping the sombre mood of the original, Wallumrød and Qvenild give this intimate interpretation all the necessary soul and highlight shimmering melodic tones to make this the most compelling moment of Melody Mountain. Their rendition of Kiss’s Crazy, Crazy Nights and Bob Dylan’s Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright are enjoyable, but Wallumrød and Qvenild don’t manage to inject any life in their version of Depeche Mode’s Enjoy The Silence. Thankfully, they do a far better job of Scott Walker’s It’s Raining Today, which becomes a rather haunting ballad in their hands, and Fairport Convention's Fotheringay.

If Melody Mountain offers quite a few moments of sheer beauty, one cannot help but feel slightly disappointed at Susanna Wallumrød's and Morten Qvenild's choice of recording a whole album of covers. The evidence of superb songwriting skills found on List Of Lights And Buoys, especially on songs such as Believer, Sweet Devil and Time is likely to leave anyone who has appreciated this album wanting for more.

HUMCRUSH: Hornswoggle (Rune Grammofon)

HUMCRUSH
Hornswoggle
RCD2055
Rune Grammofon 2006
08 Tracks. 42mins45secs



Buy this CD now
Rune Grammofon

When they recorded their debut album together, one time Food drummer Thomas Strønen and Supersilent keyboard player Stâle Storløkken still operated under their own name, but by the time the album came out, they had adopted its title, Humcrush, as their nom de guerre. This, at the time, caused some confusion to who was what, yet, the album was leaving no doubt to the two men's chosen direction. Humcrush (the album) confronted Strønen's and Storløkken's parallel sonic worlds in very playful fashion as the pair developed a series of improvised pieces. While the music challenged the mind, it proved impossible to resist the sheer energy and joy that exulted from this debut collaboration.

Cyborg II, which opens this second album, immediately sets the tone. A seemingly gentle hypnotic improvisation, it hides a rather frenetic rhythmic set up which manifests itself with repeated convulsions as it snakes it way to the exotic and syncopated title track that follows. Here, Strønen’s drumming becomes more prominent while Storløkken draws exotic arabesques in the foreground. Seersucker shows similar signs of adrenalin rush although the pace appears slightly more contained. In between, Anamorphic Images explores a much sparser and delicate series of soundscapes, which, at times, relates to Strønen’s solo effort of earlier this year. Echoes of gamelan collide with colourful experimental jazz to form rather sumptuous and grainy structures.

With Grok and Knucker, Humcrush veer into surgical micro grooves and expressive minimal melodic formations as the album reaches its experimental peak and the listener faces various rhythmic conflagrations and dense soundscapes. From thereon, the album returns to somewhat quieter territories as the two concluding tracks delve into more introvert soundscapes. Humcrush adopt on this last stretch a gentler pace and let melodies flourish over intricate percussive constructions and shapeless sonic expanses.

While Humcrush’s debut had the endless energy and friskiness of a young pup, this sophomore effort shows a strikingly more mature and contained approach, yet this is not to say that the pair have lost any of their original playful vision. It is simply more structured here and only contributes to Hornswoggle being thoroughly enjoyable from beginning to end.