Here we got another folk originating project from Norway. Probably the most inspiring country when it comes to the musical influence today. And another, like Nils Økland, and Hardanger fiddler player. This traditional 8 string violin are sounding obvious to Northern listeners, for which it is a part of the musical heritage, but to All of us not familiar with an instrument sound and abilities it is entire universe of beauty to discover. If Økland carries well deserved title of instrument old master Apneseth equally deserves to be called young virtuoso.
The music is simply sensationally beautiful. With trio’s ability to merge together and very tight and careful listening to each other inside the band we are getting well over the usual folk tissue. The straight Folk base is more obvious here but so is the discovery path that young musicians are trying to approach.
Stryk for example extends the level of communication almost to the Noise-culture dictionary. With Meidell’s sampled guitar pulling the space apart like a spaceship in the quiet vacuum landscape. Hypnotising and mesmerising in the same time.
Undergruun with its modern beat merges traditional fiddle lines with some cosmic utopia, again driven by guitarist imagination. It all so well balanced that merging different musical traditions have to be carefully traced to be noticed. But given Erlends collaborations with Arve Henriksen, perhaps the most eloquent musician of his generation today, it shouldn’t surprise.
Saga, on the complete opposite pole, starts like little Music Box. With the charm of the spooky somnambulist walk and twisted sense of balance, his gentle bowing comes with a great strength, even if the melody is weaved from very silky filament. I admire guitar sampled tissue which is trying to imitate a natural resonance of the violins and as a result, bringing some three – dimensional and hybrid sense of thickness.
Lysne in that context, with samples lyrics on the drumming background can be considered a bit like a sort of Boom-Box and Rap poetry experience. Repetitive monotony of the text, which meaning stays hidden to me, but an intended flow with the rhythm remains obvious.
Such a groovy character of that music makes an overall tissue, present more or less in all tunes here, and keeps building the neuronal connection between the natural beauty of the strings and the synthetic hollow-spherical nature of the samples. To me it is exactly the crash of those two senses of space which creates a disturbance and enforces the listener to follow. Neither to find out more with analytical careful listening or to submerge and relax. Without a trace of precedence of research, but with simple hedonistic pleasure of exploring the inner worlds of your own imagination.
Wonderful recording with an indisputable charm and the names well worth to be remembered for every explorer of the new musical language.