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Krympende klode<\/i> is a new collaboration between two internationally recognised musicians from Bergen, Norway: music producer J\u00f8rgen Tr\u00e6en, who has worked with talents such as Susanne Sundf\u00f8r, Thea Hjelmeland and Jazkamer, and the unique and eternally inventive guitarist Stein Urheim, whose releases include 6 albums on the HUBRO label. On this album they present their personal collections of synthesisers and string instruments from all over the world, and let the space between the electronic and the analogue shrink to fit between the grooves of an LP.<\/b><\/p>\n
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Krympende klode<\/i> invites us into an imaginative and playful electroacoustic universe. This is music that is overwhelming, moving and consistent, all at the same time. In a rich tapestry of sound we can hear influences ranging from Raymond Scott and Delia Derbyshire to Harry Partch and the Norwegian Bj\u00f8rn Fongaard, among others.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Krympende klode<\/i> is a kaleidoscope of sound, reflecting many of the two musicians\u2019 interests. \u201cAs a starting point we wanted to pay tribute to the pioneers of electronic music,\u201d says Urheim, \u201cbut also to combine the sounds of the modular synths with a variety of string instruments from near and far.\u201d<\/p>\n The collaboration between Tr\u00e6en and Urheim began in 2010, when both participated in Bj\u00f8rn Torskes Planteband at an evening festival appearance in their home town of Bergen. J\u00f8rgen Tr\u00e6en later became involved in mixing and producing several of Stein\u2019s solo releases for HUBRO, as well as his most recent duo recording with Mari Kvien Brunvoll, released on the Jazzland label. In the past few years they have also produced and arranged several releases for other artists and projects.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Some of the material included here was created for duo concerts that they presented both as part of Bergen Kj\u00f8tt\u2019s experimental concert series in 2016 and for HUBRO\u2019s 8th<\/sup><\/span> anniversary celebration in Haugesund in 2017, but it was not until the Borealis Festival commissioned a complete work from them that they both managed to set aside enough time to carefully construct the finished product.<\/p>\n The newspaper Klassekampen<\/i> wrote the following about the work\u2019s world premiere at the Borealis Festival in 2020:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWonderfully chaotic and playful, with lots of striking bass lines and melodies that are immediately catchy.\u201d (Charlotte Myrbr\u00e5ten, Klassekampen<\/i>)<\/p>\n At the work\u2019s premiere at the Borealis Festival, the analogue live visuals by Ana Jorges, from Portugal, played a significant role. The duo also had a gigantic, home-made mushroom on stage with them, which functioned as a sort of huge hybrid instrument, and was hung with many of the instruments and electronic equipment used in the piece. It was so large that the Borealis Festival had to hire an articulated lorry to transport it from the workshop where it was built to the stage at the Grieg Hall. For obvious reasons the mushroom did not appear in the duo\u2019s next concert, which was held at the Sildajazz Festival in 2020:<\/p>\n \u201cUnfortunately, when we were going to hold our next concert we couldn\u2019t fit the mushroom into our van, and we also discovered that it was too big to fit into the doors of the concert hall,\u201d Urheim says. Luckily he could add, \u201cWe haven\u2019t thrown the mushroom away \u2013 it\u2019s alive and well, thriving in the damp backyard of Bergen Kj\u00f8tt.\u201d<\/p>\n Both Urheim and Tr\u00e6en are key names in the HUBRO catalogue. Urheim has released six extremely personal and highly treasured albums whose musical basis is formed of guitars and string instruments from all over the world, blues, folk music, world music and a stylistically confident approach to original soundscapes. He also provided vital musical contributions to Erlend Apneseth\u2019s critically acclaimed album Fragmentarium<\/i> (2020). Tr\u00e6en contributed as a musician on \u00d8yvind Torvund\u2019s The Exotica Album<\/i> (2019), which won a Spellemannspris (Norwegian Grammy), and has also played a decisive role as a producer, mixer and studio technician for a long list of releases in the label\u2019s catalogue. HUBRO founder Andreas Meland describes him as follows: \u201cJ\u00f8rgen is simply a superb artist, who has a unique way of raising all the productions he is involved in to a higher level.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Krympende klode<\/i> is a new collaboration between two internationally recognised musicians from Bergen, Norway: music producer J\u00f8rgen Tr\u00e6en, who has worked with talents such as Susanne Sundf\u00f8r, Thea Hjelmeland and Jazkamer, and the unique and eternally inventive guitarist Stein Urheim, whose releases include 6 albums on the HUBRO label. On this album they present their personal collections of synthesisers and string instruments from all over the world, and let the space between the electronic and the analogue shrink to fit between the grooves of an LP.<\/b><\/p>\n