Record Reviews

EIVIND AARSET ~ I. E. JAZZLAND 602547307248 (Barcode: 602547307248) ~ NORWAY ~ Electronic & Ambient Recorded: 2015 Released: 2015 This is the seventh album by Norwegian guitarist / composer Eivind AarsetFind albums by this artist, which comes three years after its predecessor released on the ECMFind albums on this label label, and sees Aarset returning to the Norwegian JazzlandFind albums on this label Recordings label, which released all his other albums so far. The album has a very long list of participants including a horn section, but the core of the musicians involved includes drummers / multi-instrumentalists Erland DahlenFind albums by this artist and Wetle HolteFind albums by this artist, bassist Audun ErlienFind albums by this artist and co-producer Jan BangFind albums by this artist. Italian vocalist Lorenzo Esposito FornasariFind albums by this artist guests on one track. The album consists of nine original compositions (one being a three-part suite); six by Aarset and three co-composed by Aarset with (in turn) Holte, Fornasari or Bang. Although Aarset is often described as a Jazz musician, with Nu Jazz being a much better labeling attempt, his music in general and certainly this album have absolutely nothing to do with the "conventional" concept of the Jazz idiom. Although there is an element of improvisation and intrinsic freedom embedded in his music, it moves in spheres different from Jazz, much closer to contemporary Classical Music, electronic and ambient music and even experimental Pop. Even if one has a very liberal and broad-spectrum approach to defining contemporary Jazz, as I hope I have, connecting this music to Jazz is both dishonest and completely inappropriate. Having said that, just in order to keep things in the right perspective, this music is absolutely stunning in its raw beauty, aesthetic power and overwhelming emotional resonance. Aarset is anything but a conventional guitarist and in fact the term guitarist hardly even applies to his music-making. Although guitars are involved, they are only a source of sounds, which later are transposed, over-layered, multiplied and radically transfixed, all this using contemporary electronic sound devices, into a new universe of sonic reality. The only link to music, as we know it, is the use of percussive instruments, which create a wall of sound effect behind the layers of electronically manipulated guitar sounds. It is difficult to speak about the conventional sense of melody and harmony in this music. Again, except for a rhythmic beat, everything else is fluid and shifting; bits of melodies come and go, replaced by electronic sound vistas, and suddenly moving into a new rhythmic pattern with another fractured melodic theme. And yet all this seemingly chaotic behavior not only makes perfect sense, but also touches the listener playing on the emotional strings of his deep soul as well as creating an abstract and complex intellectual experience of wonderful weirdness. Cold on the outside, as most Scandinavian music, with its lethargic minimalism and sluggish forward motion, this music is red-hot on the inside if only one dares to explore. One word of warning: do not listen to this music while driving as it may take over the listener so completely that his presence in charge of a speeding car might just shift into a parallel reality. This album is a treasure chest of superb musical moments, which is simply too good to be ignored. Make yourself a favor and get a copy ASAP, since my meager attempt to describe this music is simply infinitesimally less potent than the real deal. Hats off!

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