in brief
19.04.2022

Ambiente lunger

Amphior: »Another Presence«
© Amphior
Amphior

Fra allerførste sekund på Another Presence af den elektroniske producer Amphior aka Mathias Hammerstrøm kan man fornemme det: åndedrættet. Eller indånding, rettere sagt. For det lyder ikke som om, der bliver pustet ud på det første nummer »Void«. Noget ophober sig. Som luft, der siver baglæns gennem elektroniske stemmelæber og samler sig i syntetiske lunger, der vugger det ambiente liv.

Man hungrer lidt efter et forløsende brøl oven på albummets optrappende indslusning, men det kommer naturligvis aldrig. I stedet kanaliserer Hammerstrøm energien ud i forskellige vægtløse tilstande. Det er oftest lavfrekvente abstrakte landskaber, Hammerstrøm maler med sine modulationer. Som den dunkle drone på »Sleepwalker«, der dog lysner til sidst med skær af daggryskor. Indimellem dukker der figurer op, man kan gribe om: små satellitter i stratosfæren, som det brudte beat bagest i mixet på den synthbårne »Dream Traveler«, der klæber om et knitrende slør af hvid støj. Velsmagende detaljer. 

Hvis respirationssystemet havde fadere og cutoff-filtre, ville det lyde som Hammerstrøms musik. Og man fornemmer en slags åndelig ventilation i de elektroniske vejrtrækninger. En forvrænget stemme kæmper rundt omkring på albummet for at trænge igennem rumklangen. Hammerstrøm slipper den ikke fri, og det er ærgerligt, for det havde måske været den håndsrækning til lytteren, man ender med at savne i de dystre meditationer på Another Presence

© PR

»Music has been a healing balm for me.«

John William Grant is an American singer, musician, and songwriter holding both American and Icelandic citizenship. He first came to prominence as a co-founder, lead vocalist, pianist, and primary songwriter of the alternative rock band The Czars. After releasing six albums between 1994 and 2006, the band disbanded, and Grant withdrew from music for four years before embarking on a solo career.

He returned in April 2010 with a critically acclaimed debut album recorded in collaboration with Midlake. Queen of Denmark was named Album of the Year 2010 by Mojo magazine and was also selected as one of the ten best albums of 2010 by The Guardian’s music critics and writers.

© Malthe Folke Ivarsson

»In his music, composer Allan Gravgaard Madsen tries to create a better version of himself.« 

Allan Gravgaard Madsen is a Danish composer based in Copenhagen. His most recent works include Träume nicht and Nachtmusik. He tries to create a better version of himself in his music – where his personality tends to be restless, chatty and has an active inner life, his music is controlled, simple and merciless in its expression. He is the recipient of the Carl Nielsen & Anne Marie Carl-Nielsens Hæderspris 2022.

in briefrelease
23.01.2022

Finnish Space Travel

Tomutonttu: »Hoshi«
© Tomutonttu: »Hoshi«
© Tomutonttu: »Hoshi«

The Finnish multimedia artist Jan Anderzén has, with the album Hoshi, released under the solo moniker Tomutonttu, created a true little star. Not only because »hoshi« literally means »star« in Japanese, but above all due to the music itself. There is something cosmic, yet infinitely minute, about the sonic worlds Anderzén conjures—like a galaxy reflected in a puddle, or a space journey in a rocket carved from a hollow tree trunk. Synths emit busy, warm blips and bloops, while ultra-short vocal and instrumental samples create a recognizable blur. At once artificial and organic – soft, rounded, jagged, crackling.

Anderzén approaches sound with a playfulness I simply adore. His music is strange in an incredibly comforting way. It places me in a kind of colorful, trance-like state, only interrupted when, several times over the course of the album, I find myself smiling in delight at a particularly great sound. The synths on »Katse osuu sähköön!« The choral samples on »Kesä oli äkkiä ohi!« Milo Linnovaara’s flute on »Malta lausua ‘AH’!« And many more. Hoshi is an album packed with microscopic moments that together form a frayed, exploding, radiant, idiosyncratic whole—a stellar moment of just under 38 minutes.