Læg ørerne ind i de langsomme toners mange smukke lag

Mette Nielsen: »Frozen Moments«

Mette Nielsens musik er sanselige undersøgelser af toners og klangenes mindste mikroskopiske detaljer. Efter en time i selskab med strygekvartet og klarinet på hendes nye album sidder man tilbage med en følelse af at have været helt tæt på musikkens mindste bestanddele. Når trykket på strengene hos Novokvartetten er tungt, mærker man støjen og de skærende metalliske overtoner, der får trommehinderne til at blafre. Når Jonas Frølunds klarinet sætter an helt fra toppen ud af ingenting, er det atmosfærisk sitren. Men lige meget hvad tæt på.

De seks stykker på Frozen Moments er melodiske og skramlende på samme tid. Rester af musikalske minder bliver til knitrende, iscenesatte salmer, hvor klangene får karakter som objekter, der hænger i luften en ad gangen. Et stykke har kun en tone, men formår alligevel at vise masser af nuancer. Andre, som solostykket »Apart«, kommer vidt omkring med rene klarinettoner, interferencer, multiphonics, sang og growl – men stadig med grundig langsommelighed.

Hun har en fascinerende evne til at skrive rigtig smukt uden patos. Klangskønt, elegant og sart og kun med en lille smule af den slags højtidelighed, der opstår, når man giver tid og rum til klangenes egen poesi. Og selvom hun søger støjen og det bøjelige og ufikserede, når hun udforsker tonernes randområder, bliver hendes musik aldrig grim eller for meget. Den får bare lov at være sig selv med sine mange naturlige, akustiske lag.

playlist

11.09.2023

My name is John Grant – would you like to see my playlist?

»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.

playlist

13.06.2023

My name is Allan Gravgaard Madsen – would you like to see my playlist?

»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«

Vauva, 02.12

Kristoffer Møllegaard

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.