1. Miso 4:49
2. Mexican Standoff5:53
3. Casu Marzu5:51
4. The Bing Bang 6:36
5. Osim1:21
6. Chili Con Carne4:49
7. Nostalgia Isn´t What It Used To Be6:05
8. Ahab 5:36
TotalTime:41:00
RecordedJanuary7and8,2017byDavidAlexanderSjølieatKvadraturenStudio,Oslo
MixedMarch10and11,2017byDavidAlexanderSjølieatKvadraturenStudio
MasteredNovember15byChristianObermayeratStrypeAudio,Oslo
ProducedbyPangpangandDavidAlexanderSjølie
ExecutiveproducerOddGjelsnes
ThisrecordingissupportedbyBandOrgandTheNorwegianAcademyofMusic
FrontcoverartbySynneAmandaSalvesen
7 090025 831942
©2018LosenRecordswww.losenrecords.noinfo@losenrecords.noAllrightsreserved.Unauthorizedduplication,publicperformanceandbroadcastingofthemusiconthisCDisaviolationofapplicablelaws.MadeinEU. ISRC:NO2NJ1894
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AllcompositionsbyHåkonNorbyBjørgo
Sander Eriksen Nordahlguitar
Håkon Norby Bjørgodoublebass
Ivar Myrset Asheim drums
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S194-2MisoThefirsttuneonthealbumalsohappenstobethefirsttuneIwrotewiththisbandinmind.Inthelastfewyearspriortowritingit,Ihadmostlycomposedmusicwithastrongemphasisonchordsandharmony-WayneShorter’smid-60’srecordsbeingakeysourceofinspiration.Agrowingdesiretowritetuneswithfreerstructuresandmoreemphasisonriffsandlines,coupledwithafondnessforJohnColtrane,AtomicandOrnetteColeman,aswellasArnoldSchönberg,resultedinthistune.Themelodyisbynomeansbasedonthelatter’sconceptoftwelve-toneserialism,butratherinspiredbytherichchromaticismofhisearlierworks.
Mexican StandoffMexicanStandoffhasadefinitiveEnnioMorriconeflavourtoit,stemmingfrommylongstandingaffectionforhisiconicfilmscores.Growingup,I'dwatchSergioLeone’sTheGood,TheBadandTheUglytirelessly,Morricone’smusicbeingamajorpartoftheappeal.ThefactthatthelasttenminutesofthefilmweremissingfrommyVHSdidlittletolessenmyappetite-thevisuals,theatmospheresandthemusicmademecomebackagainandagainanyway.
Casu MarzuCasuMarzubasicallyconsistsoftheangularopeningmelodyandthebigheavyriffneartheend,withanimprovisedsectioninbetween.Thissectionpresentsthetaskofconnectingthetwootherparts-gettingfromAtoB-eventhoughtheyhavequitedifferentcharacters.Tome,playingmusiclikethisprovidesaninterestingchallenge:itsetsupacompositionalgoalfortheimprovisation,providingframeworktostimulatetheimagination,yetallowingfreedomforspontaneity.Inthiscaseweplayaroundwithimpliedtonalcentres,creatingtensionandreleasewhilebuildingintensity.
The Bing BangInasense,thefirstandsecondhalvesofTheBingBangrepresenttwooftheprincipalcontrastingoppositesfeaturedonthisalbum.Thefirsthalfhasassertiveriffsandlong,chromaticlinessuggestingsequencesofdifferenttonalities.Thesecondhalfontheotherhandpivotsaroundspaceandtimbre,withrichtexturesanddynamiccascadesofsound.Bothsectionsfeaturecomposedaswellasimprovisedelements,butweapproachthemwithadifferentmindset.
OsimThisshortthrough-composedpieceisbyfarthesoftesttrackonthealbum,providingasombrecontrasttothemoreecstatictunes.Theinfluenceof20thcenturyclassicalmusicisquiterecognisable,buttomethetunestillfeelsverymuchcutfromthesameclothastherestofthetracks.Infact,theguitarpartisactuallybasedonthemelodyofMisoplayedbackwards,hencethetitle.Osim,beingthenewestsongontherecord,indicatesthedirectioninwhichthisbandisdeveloping;notnecessarilybecomingquieter,butrathermoredynamic.Thefuturewillseeusplayingbothsofterandharder,inadditiontoplayingbothstrictlynotatedthrough-composedpartsandopenlyimprovisedsections.
Chili Con CarneChiliConCarneopenswithaheavyriff,overwhichajaggedmelodyisthenplayed.Somesuddentwistsandturnsprovidevariationandloosenuptheregularityoftheform.Theimprovisedsectiononthistrackexemplifieshowwetendapproachopenimprovisationinthisband:notreally«norhythm»and«notonality»butrather«freerhythm»and«freetonality».
Nostalgia Isn’t What It Used To BeThistune-essentiallyasixminutecrescendo-featuresSander’ssoloingoveraseriesofmodulatingoddmetreriffs.There'sdefinitelyaretrovibegoingon,whichtheironictitle-notofmyinvention-references.SunRaandGong’searly70’salbumsprovidedtheinitialsparkofinspirationthatresultedinthistune.
AhabThefinaltuneonthealbumdrawsinspirationfromKenVandermark’smusic,aswellasthecharacterfromHermanMelville’snovelMobyDickafterwhomthistuneisnamed.There’snotangibleconnectionbetweenthetwo,buttheyfoundtheirwayintothesamecompositionnonetheless.
HåkonNorbyBjørgo
