<\/p>\n
From sun-dappled utopianism to the bleakest noir netherworld. On the astonishingly vivid \u2018Utferd\u2019, \u00c5ra\u2019s opening track, the sound begins as an inchoate, unformed thing, like an orchestra tuning up, before the musicians gradually find their level. A series of repetitive plucks and glissandos leads into an almost trip-hoppy rhythm over-ridden by the drones and keening wails of the leader\u2019s Hardanger fiddle until they reach a climax then slowly retreat back again into pure sound, trailing wisps of the dying melody as they go. It\u2019s quite a performance, and a fitting statement of intent for what is the band\u2019s second album. Their debut, \u2018Der Andre Rommet\u2019, created a suitable splash, being nominated for Spellemannsprisen, the Norwegian equivalent to the Grammy, and receiving a Norwegian Folk Award in the \u2018Open\u2019 category. A rave review in Mojo encapsulated the appeal of \u201cclose, intuitive compositions groaning, roiling and clattering with a raw, exploratory life, creating a wild new strain of Norwegian folk tunes that move, appropriately, from sun-dappled utopianism to the bleakest noir netherworld.\u201d For the follow-up, \u2018\u00c5ra\u2019, it is apparent that the band has now become something of a modest supergroup within the Norwegian scene. Upcoming concerts: 20 – Bidrobon, Oslo (N) 21 – Inder\u00f8ya Jazzklubb, Inder\u00f8y (N) 22 – Kapittel, Stavanger (N) 23 – Blaoboxen, Sogndal (N) 24 – Borlo Bygdetun, L\u00e6rdal (N) 29 – Vill Vill Vest, Bergen (N)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Although their music sounds entirely original, The Erlend Apneseth Trio represents a close to perfect improvisational update on that very contemporary format of the post-modern string trio, like a Nordic riposte to Tin Hat or Trio Taksim. An entirely spontaneous-seeming, eminently portable ensemble, they can turn, as it were, on a sixpence, moving seamlessly from one mode or style to another, carrying echoes of early music and the baroque, deep Nordic folk, desert blues, soulful cimbalon shimmers and more, sometimes all within the confines of the same piece.<\/p>\n
On the astonishingly vivid \u2018Utferd\u2019, Ara\u2019s opening track, the sound begins as an inchoate, unformed thing, like an orchestra tuning up, before the musicians gradually find their level. A series of repetitive plucks and glissandos leads into an almost trip-hoppy rhythm over-ridden by the drones and keening wails of the leader\u2019s Hardanger fiddle until they reach a climax then slowly retreat back again into pure sound, trailing wisps of the dying melody as they go. It\u2019s quite a performance, and a fitting statement of intent for what is the band\u2019s second album. Their debut, \u2018Der Andre Rommet\u2019, created a suitable splash, being nominated for Spellemannsprisen, the Norwegian equivalent to the Grammy, and receiving a Norwegian Folk Award in the \u2018Open\u2019 category. A rave review in Mojo encapsulated the appeal of \u201cclose, intuitive compositions groaning, roiling and clattering with a raw, exploratory life, creating a wild new strain of Norwegian folk tunes that move, appropriately, from sun-dappled utopianism to the bleakest noir netherworld.\u201d<\/p>\n
For the follow-up, \u2018\u00c5ra\u2019, it is apparent that the band has now become something of a modest supergroup within the Norwegian scene. Erlend Apneseth (born 1990 in J\u00f8lster), whose first solo album, \u2018Blikkspor\u2019, from 2013, was produced by Arve Henriksen, is the rising star of the Hardanger fiddle, following the example of the great Nils \u00d8kland in combining or alternating folk traditions with avant-garde, experimental forms. \u2018Blikkspor\u2019 could also be said to have provided the initial impetus for the current trio, as its final track featured contributions from both Stephan Meidell (born 1982) and \u00d8yvind Hegg-Lunde (born 1982). More recently, Apseneth played an important role in Meidell\u2019s ground-breaking electro-acoustic album \u2018Metrics\u2019 from earlier this year. Hegg-Lunde, who also plays with Meidell in the duo Strings & Cymbals, performs and records with the trio Building Instrument (with Mari Kvien Brunvoll and Asmund Weltzien), as well as touring with Jose Gonzalez. Stephan Meidell is a member of the influential trio Cakewalk, among many other projects. The difference between the debut and sophomore albums is also evident in the development of the band\u2019s approach to recording. For the first album, Apseneth says, \u201cWe weren\u2019t a band that had played very much live. We went into the studio to see what would happen and were very open to all possibilities.\u201d With \u00c5ra, he continues, there was much more preparation, and a tighter focus. \u201cBefore we started to record we got together to go through some sketches and melodic material we had gathered which we improvised on in the days preceding the sessions. We tried to listen for what worked well and what didn\u2019t in order to consolidate our material before we went into the studio.\u201d Recorded last January at Duper Studio in Bergen by Iver Sand\u00f8y, and produced by the trio themselves with Andreas R Meland, and co-produced by J\u00f8rgen Traen, the result is a thrillingly live-sounding album where the character of each of the players, and of their respective instruments, really communicates itself to the listener. You can almost feel the imprint of strings and skins on your fingertips as it plays.<\/p>\n
While the beautiful \u2018finish\u2019 evident in \u00c5ra\u2019s gorgeous sound might represent a consolodation and intensification of the trio\u2019s methods, it also extends and perhaps deepens their concern with experimental improvisation. The track \u2018Saga\u2019 incorporates an archive \u2018found sound\u2019 recording of an anonymous musician playing the musical saw, while the following track, \u2018Lysne\u2019, features the poet Erlend O. N\u00f8dtvedt – a regular collaborator with Erlend Apneseth – reading his own lines against the trio\u2019s chance accompaniment. \u201cWe sat and mixed a tune that we felt lacked an independent story, and then it occurred to us to call Erlend\u201d, says Apneseth. \u201cHe came two hours later, without having heard the music, and with a baby in his arms. One take and the track was finished." Upcoming concerts: 20 – Bidrobon, Oslo (N) 21 – Inder\u00f8ya Jazzklubb, Inder\u00f8y (N) 22 – Kapittel, Stavanger (N) 23 – Blaoboxen, Sogndal (N) 24 – Borlo Bygdetun, L\u00e6rdal (N) 29 – Vill Vill Vest, Bergen (N)<\/p>\n
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