When your bassist is also billed as "drone commander", I'm pretty much sold from the get-go. continues to champion acts that occupy the peculiar space of "drone jazz" -- see also Huntsville or the likewise excellent V. Sjöberg New Jazz Ensemble whose 2010 album "Lover man" was a serious sleeper hit -- and Splashgirl is yet another exemplary example of the genre. Unlike the stereotypical notion of jazz being focused on the individual virtuoso or even the lock-step ensemble arrangements of a big band, this is music that is primarily obsessed with mood and feeling. Dynamics, texture and space are key. More and more I'm finding this to be my go-to music when I can't decide what else to listen to as it's always perfect.
Rock'n'roll, dogs, boardgames... the only thing missing from this video clip is beer. Once again, use promo code ITSATRAP when purchasing what looks to be the season's best new boardgame.
A new tune from Loops of Your Heart, the new solo project of Axel Willner from The Field. The album "And never ending nights" comes out January 30 via .
01. Hymns From Nineveh - Hymns From Nineveh ( / )
02. Larsen And Furious Jane - Dolly ()
03. Malk De Koijn - Toback From The Fromtime ( / )
04. Iceage - New Brigade ( / )
05. The Raveonettes - Raven In The Grave ()
06. Mikael Simpson - Noget Laant, Noget Blaat ()
07. Suspekt - Elektra ( / )
08. Michael Møller - A Month Of Unrequited Love (self-released)
09. L.O.C. - Libertiner ()
10. Thulebasen - Gate 5 ( / / )
The poststructural feminists are going to have field day with this one. There's already been so much said on Jenny Hval, former alias Rockettothesky, that it requires some self-reflection of adding more unnecessary internet debris. I'll try to make this short and sweet. First off, "Viscera" -- the first effort released under her own name -- scares the shit outta me. Kicking off with a quirky avant-garde-like recitation, it dropkicks you like a welterweight champion of morbid genius. Heavyweights I'm referring to of course of dark siren goddesses and radical poets: Kate Bush, Siouxsie Sioux, Elisabeth Fraser of Cocteau Twins, Patti Smith, Laura Nyro, etc. It's no wonder Ms. Hval wrote a Masters' thesis on Kate Bush, probably something as bad-ass as Lacanian readings on voice (think: Mladan Dolar's, "A Voice and Nothing More", MIT Press) or phonocentrism. Just as Kate Bush's "Wuthering Heights" was inspired by an Emily Brontë novel, Jenny Hval draws on strong literary influences. It takes special brains to not only extrapolate necessary understanding of one's music on paper, but be a decisive act/performance as well. And she certainly is.
An old music critic once told me you can tell everything about a band by reading their lyrics. Most of the time you do it reluctantly, with one-eye squeezed shut -- especially bands where English isn't their first language. It's painful to ingest the gaping vulnerability of text, so it's often treated it as a discardable or excess entity, sidelined by the "real" stuff. But here the music follows the imagery of the words, pieced together like limbs conjoined and changing; developing within itself, evolving, caving in, and even exploding ("Portrait of the young girl as an artist"). Jenny Hval exhibits beautiful harmonic development ("How gentle") but her songs never get so lost to return to a theme ("Blood flight"). It never so alienates it's listener should you understand it, and patience is rewarded abundantly. - Ann Sung-an Lee
All About Jazz has two reviews of Håkon Kornstad's new solo album "Symphonies in my head", both very complimentary: http://t.co/8hsX91rh / http://t.co/Or3kWP8C
I'm ashamed to say that I've still not heard this yet, but I have no doubt it's every bit as good as they say.
Norwegian noise maestro Lasse Marhaug has started a new zine called "Personal Best" which will debut this month, the inaugural issue featuring interviews with a number of scene luminaries such as Gold Soundz, Keränen, Zweizz, Ronnie Sundin and much more. The goal is to publish two issues per year in A4 format with full-color covers -- samples and more info here: http://www.marhaugforlag.no/personalbest1.html
The final 12 nominees for the 2011 Nordic Music Awards have been decided and they are as follows:
Ane Brun - It all starts with one Lykke Li - Wounded rhymes Rubik - Solar Gus Gus - Arabian horse Malk De Koijn - Toback to the fromtime Siinai - Olympic game Björk - Biophilia Iceage - New brigade Montée - Renditions of you Anna Järvinen - Anna själv tredje Goran Kajfes - X/Y The Field - Looping state of mind
Jenny Hval