LabField church concerts

Here is a chance to start the Nødutgangfestival early. The organisations Ny Musikk, Bodø Sinfonietta & Nødutgangfestivalen will co-operate in setting up a concert in the cathedral Bodø Domkirke 3rd of june 2008 at 2000 hrs. Check out the video below:

New tracks - released on compilations

I have two more tracks out on the web. This time two rather different ones.

The first track was released as a part of yet another CT-Collective project, Acoustic II. Recorded during November, December 2007 & January 2008, postproduction, postcomposing and mixing during February 2008. Only acoustic sounds found in or outside my house are used. Only a minimum of processing has been done. Postproduction was mostly mixing layers of acoustic sounds together. The track is called Homeacoustics (of course), and clocks in at 5 minuts precisely.

Get it here

The second track is released as a part of the HAZE netlabels release Tribute to Tribute. The track, called 19de, is a tribute to the 19th of January when I did the recordings. It is a 12 minute noise track with screeching feedback, thunderous rumbling and more multilayered than the first in this post. A classic!

Get it here

Nødutgangfestival announces all artists

from http://www.emergency.com/:
PROGRAM IS FINAL:

Thursday June 12th @ Gimle
Doors opens at 19:00. Concert starts at 20:00.
Ticketprices; 30,-/50,- NOK. (with X Rockeklubb)

NXP (with Juryen)
Scared Dog Hr. Vandal
Torstein Wjiik
Bagio (Ger)


Friday June 13th @ Bodø kunstforening
Concert starts at 18:00. Free.

Lasse Jensen
Exacerbate
Zoë Skoulding (w/Alan Holmes) (UK)


Friday June 13th @ Sinus
Doors opens at 20:00. Concert starts at 21:00.
Ticket price; 100,- NOK.

DJ-Rbruun
Metrognom
Divide Pepe (film)
KK Null (JPN)
PLX-15
Famlende Forsøk
art-errorist Jean-Hervé Peron (Ger/FR)


Saturday June 14 @ Sinus
Doors opens at 20:00. Concert starts at 21:00.
Ticket price; 100,- NOK.

DJ-Rbruun
USB (performance)
Blaakraft Bjerga/Iversen
Tognazzi featuring Haddy
Divide Pepe (film)
Varde Jazzkammer
La STPO (FR)


Sunday June 15th @ Bremnes fort
Concert starts at 15:00. Free.
Be aware that the temprature inside the mountain is about 4 degrees!

Laup String Quartet
Linn Halvorsrød
Ralph und Ralph with Ronny Wærnes

More artists for Nødutgangfestival

KK Null (Japan):




KK NULL (real name : KAZUYUKI KISHINO) was born in Tokyo, Japan. Composer, guitarist, singer, mastermind of ZENI GEVA and electronic wizard. One of the top names in Japanese noise music and in a larger context, one of the great cult artists in experimental music since the early 80's.

Read more...

Famlende Forsøk:

They started up in the early 80s, but with major inspiration from the 70s industrial music represented by Throbbing Gristle, S.P.K. & Cabaret Voltaire. In early releases they used metal percussions and industrial sounds, but later they abandoned the metal percussion, but continued down an even more experimental path, and during the 90s developed a more improvised approach.

Read more...

MetroGnom:

Local band MetroGnom plays 70s instrumental symphonic prog, with elements of spacerock and fusion. Some call it eclectic prog. However, they achieve making 20 minutes long pieces of music, without sounding boring. As a live band, MetroGnom is explosive, raw, jazzy and tender. They vary wonderful between rythmic and flowing melodies.

Read more...

Winter photos

We've had some snow this winter...

Sandbox

My garden bench
You can see more pictures here.

Jean-Hervé Peron/Andrew Liles album out

The new album of Faust frontman Jean-Hervé Peron and Andrew Liles from NWW and Current 93 is out on art-errorist label. The track "The Drummer is on Valium" is on download from the art-errorist site, and the album is available for sale direct from the site also. A very enjoyable track that promises more pleasures in forthcoming listens and live performances!

Nødutgangfestival 2008

The three first bands are ready for Nødutgangfestival 2008, in my hometown of Bodø, Norway. French avant-rockers La STPO, Norwegain soundartist Linn Halvorsrød and local heroes PLX-15.

La STPO (France):

La Société Timides à la Parade des Oiseaux was born in may 1984 on the ashes of the band Sarajevo, which played an impossible compromise between Pere Ubu, Wire and such bands.
La STPO fights against anyone defining them. Dadaism, avant-prog, punk, RIO, jazz, zeuhl og no-wave will be some of the experts opinion about this society, but they will twist and turn it to fit into the surreal La STPO world. Evidently inspired by avant-prog bands like Henry Cow or krautrockers Faust. Vocalist Godjikian describes the muisc as "musique explositionniste". He explains smilingly this french expression: music that induces explosions in the head of its listeners.

Read more...

Linn Halvorsrød:

The Radio vibrates someplace between 100 channels, Anton LaVey and Johnny Cash are having a game of Poker in the next room, intence, chanting, with a glimps of sunshine through the torn up curtains, subpop, collage, music concrete.
Read more...

PLX-15:

PLX-15 is one of the more important cult bands in Norway. participated on the very much talked about compilation ”Can a Butterfly Smash a Weel?” reviewed in the March edition of The Wire. They played some kind of punk-synthpop, by some named as pre-techno. They will have a reunion at Nødutgang 2008.

Read more...

Chain Tape Collective

The CT Collective was originally started by Michael Klobuchar as a chain tape group; that is, as a group whose members recorded music by mailing a master tape throughout the United States and Europe. The finished tape was then cleaned up and distributed to the members as a CD. No one got paid for any of this, and the organization, mastering, and mailing of our collaborative projects was done by members who volunteered their time and resources.

Nowadays, the CT collective have multiple projects going on, and it is a modern internet based collective. The projects are streamable from the website, and all the tracks are downloadable. I have recently participated in some projects, and here are two of them just now published:

Birds. This project was about only processing bird sounds. Click the picture to go to the project and access all the tracks. My track is also here:

Four Birds

Birds and Men. This project was also about processing birds, but combining human generated sounds as well. Actually, both projects was done at the same time. Click the picture to get access to all the tracks. Mine is also here:

Nightinggale BirdMan

To join the CT Collective, suggest projects, and contribute music and/or labor to the cause, go to the links page and click the mailing list link.

Avantgardefestival Schiporst

It is about time to start planning the summer, and what better place to start if not in Schiporst.

In the north-German countryside, on a farm, something important happens. Being audience or artist. During a weekend, performance and concerts of high quality and professional standards happens, in a mixture you will never find anywhere else. Add the homely atmosphere created by Jean-Hervé Peron and Carina Varain at their homefarm, and the fact that artists and audience eat and drink together, and you have a setting almost unbeatable. I have lovely memories, fantastic experiences and made very good friends at Schiporst (not to mention all the records I bought!).

As of now the following line-up appears on the festivals website:

Nurse With Wound (UK/USA) (c)

Ana-Maria Avram & Iancu Dumitrescu, Chris Cutler &Tim Hodgkinson (RO/UK) (c)

Faust ( A/F/UK) (c)

KKNull (JAP) (tbc)

Stahl Quartett (GER) (c)

Sunseastar (UK) (c)

Xabec (Ger) (c)

Black Carrots (UK) (c)

Silent Movies (I) (c)

ElectrixGarden (GER) (c)

Traummaschine ( SP) (tbc)

Biomass (I) (tbc)

13th Monkey (GER) (c)

Sternschuss Trio ( ISR/GER) (c)

Daniel Sarid & Assif Tsahar (ISR) (tbc)

Pierre Chevalier (B) (c)

Brian Mitchell (USA) (c)

Asylum Lunaticum (GER) (tbc)

New release

I am proud to announce that Ambolthue Records just released my new solo cdr Johnny Guitar. About 30 minutes and 4 brand new tracks. Crushing sounds and lots of energy is some key words for this release.

It's available through the labels mailorder at a very reasonable price, and you might find other goodies there as well.

New sounds - Stokastiske Lodd

In October 2007 I teamed up with Hallstein Sandvin in Hønsehuset studio. We had some great fun improvising, and made some wonderful noise. Hallstein mixed together the sounds we made, and composed two tracks. You can listen to it at our new Myspace, or download the tracks here:

Spor 1

Spor 2

Let us know what you think. We might do another session in the studio, and watch out for the results here.

Salvatore wins Norwegian award

Strangely enough, Salvatore was nominated and won the Norwegian Spellemannspris 2007 in the category of Electronica. Salvatore claims to be playing instrumental rock music, and use simplicity and repetition with an optimistic, emotional feel. It's an underground band, but with a sense of spaciousness and they have been quite inspired by German krautbands as NEU!.
Salvatore has mixed and explored different styles, and members have gone back and forth into the line-up. Previously, some of the members of the band used to be in electronica groups, and they sometimes mix electronic sounds with live guitar, bass and drums. This perspective might be the reason why they won this category, and of course the album itself. From the label:

2007’s first album, Days Of Rage, is Salvatore’s 6th, and was released on New Year’s Day. Now the ever-evolving band features two new English members: Anthony Barratt from Billy Mahonie (Too Pure) and Leon Muraglia, the man behind the legendary Kosmische Club in London. Still having one foot in the Kraut department, they have added more electronic elements. It might their most accessible album this far.
Not quite rock/pop, and not quite art/experimental, Salvatore inhabit an important mid-point in contemporary music. The music is intelligent, but does not compromise on heart, and that great feeling of euphoria.

Sonic Arts Network

A couple of days ago I recieved "Blood, Muscle & Air" - the new CD from the Sonic Arts Network. It concists of great vocal work by artists from around the world. Amongst the 14 vocalists we find our own Maja Ratkje and other great names such as Jaap Blonk, Chris Mann and David Moss, who curated the release and will be performing in Stavanger in September. All of the artists have theire own unique style, but they are rooted and connected to the listener by the blood, muscle and air we all possess. Great inventiveness also brands the vocalists and they have all a powerful and personal performance, it impressed me very much.

By joining the network for only £25 (£20 for UK residents), you get three CDs a year, and lots of info as well about what is going on in the UK:

Sonic Arts Network is an organisation in the United Kingdom that enables both audiences and practitioners to engage with the art of sound in diverse, accessible and innovative ways. Sonic Arts Network fosters a culture of creative risk taking and experimental approaches to sound through a cutting edge programme of festivals, events, commissions and education projects. The organisation believes in the unique capacity of listening to enrich people’s lives by unlocking creativity, promoting social and environmental awareness and engaging a diverse range of communities.Sonic Arts Network’s activities separate into three main areas:

Activities – Events, regular festivals such as Cut and Splice and Expo, tours and commissions.

Education - Award winning national education project Sonic Postcards, artist workshops and talks.

Network - Sonic Arts Network is a membership organisation that is the hub of information, opportunities and publications for the UK sonic arts scene.

Incapacitants, Hijokaidan & Birchville Cat Motel

are simultaneously released by Lasse Marhaugs new label Pica Disk. Japan noise veterans Incapacitants CD "Burning Orange" is a live recording from All Ears festival in Oslo, Norway in January 2007. This is actually a split with Incapacitants - Fumio Kosakai and T.Mikawa on track one (Orange Smoke), followed by (Out Of Schnaps ) by "Fumio Tommiakawa" who are- Kosakai and T.Mikawa with Tommi Keränen). Track one is simply fantastic pure noise, complex or simple as it can be, and you can hear the two just trying to kick ass. In a sense they do, as this is a live recording that contains a lot of energy in all its beauty. The second track starts out more varied, and it seems that the (three on this) artists try to communicate with each other. I love it after just one listen and I am already looking forward to some more rounds.



Hijokaidan is a duo of Jojo Hiroshige (guitar) and Junko (voice). The high pitch voice of Junko is a perfect match to the guitar shredding noises of Jojo Hiroshige. The "Polar Nights Live" CD was recorded at All Ears festival in 2006. From the Pica Disk website:

"Jojo and Junko performed as a Hijokaidan two-piece on the opening night of the festival, a rarely heard line-up. Their performance got such a tremendous response that they came back for an encore (Otomo Yoshihide, longtime Hijokaidan fan who also performed at the festival, proclaimed "Incredible! Hijokaidan never does encores!"). The second night Jojo collaborated with guitarist Per Gisle Galåen (DEL, The Birds), unleashing thick layers of psychedelic and distorted guitar fog, which fans of of Fushitsusha, Les Rallizes Denudes and Jojo's non-Hijokaidan work will appreciate. The final night saw Junko hooking up with noise-nik Sten Ove Toft (Ryfylke) for a hellish meltdown of twisted electronics and the most intense voice in music.
Unlike most other noise acts Hijokaidan has not spoiled their fans with a huge number of releases, which makes Polar Nights Live an even more unique statement of pure noise sound."

Bircville Cat Motel "Gunpowder Temple Of Heaven" CD contains a 40 minutes long noise-drone track. This is the project of New Zealander Campbell Kneale, and the track is building and building and is not even drowning itself! the CD also comes with a booklet with Birchville Cat Motel discography.

All the CDs come in nicely done paper wallets, and you can read more and check soundsamples at the labels website.


In addition you should check out some of the Pica Disk releases from 2007!

Why does some music make people angry?

In my favourite mailing-list, The Faust List, we had a small debate about this topic. It was raised due to experience that especially avantgarde music often makes some people furious. Some of the artist mentioned here was Sun Ra and Captain Beefheart.

This is a question with some complexity attached to it... But here is how I tried to respond to it (and some more which I added just now):

While working with people for many years, I have learned that sometimes it is impossible to predict what provoces a certain individual. This can be both clients and/or professionals I worked with or co-operated with. While working with behaviour problems, I also learned that it is very difficult to predict what triggers anger or rage, unless I was given the opportunity to investigate further. What I found as a common ground, was that most of them had an internal unsafety, sometimes based on disorganized attachement or attachement disorders.

from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_theory
"Attachment disorder refers to an inability to form normal attachments with caregivers during childhood. This may have adverse effects throughout the lifespan. Results of a study showed a positive and strong correlation between the security of the child-mother attachment representation and positiveness of self. It also showed significant and positive correlations between positiveness of self to competence and social acceptance, to behavioral adjustment at school, and to behavioral manifestations of self-esteem"

I am not saying that anger by adults towards avantgarde music co-relates to this (so far). BUT disorganized attachement makes people want to have more control! What I also found was that if someone had low self-esteem, or insecurity in the self and you combine this with a strong need of control, it would often create some form of behavioural problem, depending on how the people around this certain individual would relate to him/her. When these individuals are left in charge, and can do as they please, without being asked questions or in other ways provoced, no problems whatsoever will appear. Other than maybe someone don't like what they do at times.

Say that someone has been exposed to a boss or someone in charge who doesn't want to debate a decision and/or controlling every aspect of someones job. My theory is that this boss has some of these problems I describe. Certainly if they get angry if you try to debate something or ask uncomfortable questions. This need of control can easily adapt to how we relate to most of our world, also art.

It is also easy to understand that how we look upon our selves (self-esteem) affects our feelings, and our feelings in the next step affects our behaviour. And for most people art, and also music is affecting (or as someone pointed out, inspires) feelings as well. This is probably also the order of it; so how we look upon our selves would have a strong affect upon how we respond to art, which again will affect our physical reactions to art, and certainly music.

Music, unlike most art, is difficult to escape, especially when we are exposed to it in closed confinements. Or rooms, work, tv or radio at home...not everybody can slam the door to close it out. A painting or a sculpture that provoces you is easier to shut out. When exposed to something you don't understand and have no control of how you are exposed to it, it surely does something to you - emotionally. Response is often with silence, withdrawal, sadness, or in this case anger.

Record an album in 29 days!

It's almost that time of year again: Enter the RPM challenge! Write, record and put together an album of original material during the month of February. Just go to the site and sign up for the deed. Last year I went ahead and ended up with my release The Soprano Challenge, so I am gonna sharpen my tools and get ready this year as well. This is not a traditional contest, all you have to do is finish the challenge, and you are a winner. Last year more than 850 albums where submitted and more than 8000 songs can be found in the jukebox.


From the website:
"This is the challenge: record an album in 29 days, just because you can.
That’s 10 songs or 35 minutes of original material recorded during the month of February. Go ahead… put it to tape.

• Recording can only be done in the month of February – no prerecorded songs.
• All material must be previously unreleased, and we encourage you to write the material during February too.
• Participating bands get their own page on the site, which you can blog to as much as you want. You also get access to the band-only discussion board, where you can swap ideas, resources, etc., and the ability to e-mail and private message with the other participants.
• All the completed albums may be put up in the jukebox on the website, if you so choose, so people can check it out; conversely, if you’d rather not share your work with the public, then no one needs to hear it but us.

Write some instrumentals, split up the songwriting duties amongst band members, form an RPM side project, write songs on the piano or clarinet instead of your primary instrument, make that metal album you’ve always wanted to - buy a ukulele! Just do your best to make the best album you can. Be unafraid. What if every musician you knew put their music first for 29 days? What if you recorded the best song of your life? What if the world was never the same? What’s stopping us? Nothing. February is Record Production Month. You have no reason to say no, and nothing to lose."

So, do you accept the challenge?

HumdinGer releaseparty 26th of January

HumdinGer is one of my favourite local punks. Consisting of Steven Balmbra - vocals (aka Balmbrain), Tommen Hveding - Guitar, Lars Nicolaysen - Drums (with me in Psykisk Tortur & Blaakraft, and veteran noisehead in town) & Johnny Larssen - Bass (from Krim U and recently also in Blaakraft). Inspired by a wide range of music as punk, jazz, prog and experimental, they deliver a varied setlist. Although they are in many senses a punkband, they are to me a lot more.

Our own label Go To Gate Records, have just released "What you hear is what you get", a wonderful 10" picture disc by HumdinGer (included is a cdr of the music if you have problems with the format). Recorded live in the studio, it has the rawness of a punkrelease, but the tracks prove a band well shaken together. At the releaseparty they will do all the tracks AND more, and the record is of course up for sale!

This night they are supported by the DJ-ing of Ole Ivar from Metrognom & Mouches Volantes, the latter did a very nice job at last years Nødutgang festival in collaboration with Alan Holmes of Ectogram amongst others. Ole Ivar has promised to play a variety of his own flavours, which normally(!) ranges from ancient prog to modern music. So all in all an event I am really looking forward to!

NOR NOISE

“NOR NOISE – 12 PORTRAITS ABOUT NOISE MUSIC”
A Film By Tom Hovinbøle
[OHM] Records & Pastiche Films 2004

This double pack DVD & CD was one big inspiration for me when I first saw it. A dvd documentary about noise music is not something you can find in your common record shop or at your local dvd pusher. For me it represented a glimpse into a world quite unknown to me. Once I saw it I knew that noise was something accounted for and somehow my experiments did enter a path leading to live perfromances. I have always listened to strange music and normal music, but once this film was put in my dvd player I realised that I had missed out on something for years and years. Not strange, though, as the noise scene had somehow stayed underground for many years and only in resent years has arised and made its way to more common knowledge.

from the [Ohm] Records website:

"NOR NOISE is a documentary about Noise music – perhaps the most exiting and innovative form of music to evolve in the last years. The film maker Tom Hovinbøle has since the project started in 2001, interviewed some of the most central artists, both internationally and in Norway. The artists speaks about their relationship to tis music: What is it? Where does it come from? How do you work with pure sounds? Which possibilities opens up with the new sound processing opportunities? Noise is also put into an historical context spanning from the Futurists and Luigi Russolo before the First World War, through the first experiments with electronical music in the fifties, the avant-garde in the sixties, the Industry and Punk movements in the seventies, before Noise establishes it self as a music in its own right in Japan during the seventies. The film also contains a lot of rare concert footage with the artists. "

Some of the artists participating: Tore H. Bøe (Origami Republika), David Cotner (USA), Masami Akita (Merzbow), Lasse Marhaug, Maja S.K. Ratkje (Spunk and Fe-mail), Francisco Lopéz (Spain), Helge Sten (Deathprod) and Otomo Yoshihide (Japan) , and on the CD you can hear exciting Norwegian acts such as Jazzkammer, Crazy River, Norwegian Noise Orchestra, Fe-Mail, and more.

It is still available from the website, and being released in 2004, it is still highly valid today. In my opinion it provides an interesting introduction to Norwegian (and some international) noise history and it is a wonderfully done documentary with english subtitles.

Live @ Sound of Mu, Oslo, Norway, 27th of Oct 2007

Photo by Espen Wærnes

Situated almost at the bottom of Markveien, close to the river, Sound of Mu has a large window to the street where passers by can check out the contemporary events taking place, or art on the walls. Inside it is light and high under the ceiling, and the furniture is minimalistic retro - a chair and a table to put your pint on. Owned by artists the venue/coffeeshop has lots of various things going on; concerts, exibitions, DJ's, bookreleases and festivals. Not a crowded place, but defenetily a place where you can be surprised or have your prejudices racked.

Per Gisle of Apartment Records did the booking of this gig, being a part of the Fritt Fall concert series. I was in Oslo to see another gig by a major Canadian act, and I was up and running in high moods from the big event from the night before.

On this particular Saturday afternoon, I shared the place with SunState, normally only Swede Jon Eriksen and Norwegian Lars Myrvoll, but this time they did an extended version and where joined by three musicians. Free jazz noise would be one way to describe it. I might load up some vids of them another time, so you can make up your own mind. Here is some vids from my own performance:

Video by Espen Wærnes

Video by Espen Wærnes

Video by Terje Sjøli