Traditional jazz drummers are usually only given a few bars to shine, and consequently these short solos are bursting with brilliant ideas and glimpses of pure rhythmic feel. I began to isolate and reprogram fragments of these rhythmic gems […] read the cover notes to Hidden Orchestra’s first record [amazon text=Night ... [Continue Reading]
post-rock
The White Birch: The Weight of Spring
Fronted by singer, songwriter and composer Ola Fløttum, The White Birch are another shining example of the exceptional vitality of the Norwegian music scene, all genres included. Born as a quartet in 1996, The White Birch have crafted over the years an expansive soundscape of slow motion, intimate and melancholic songs, ... [Continue Reading]
Erik Satie et les Nouveaux Jeunes Version 2
Modern classical composer Max Richter’s introduction to “Erik Sleeping”, his “recomposition” of Erik Satie’s “Gnossienne n°1” for the newly released Erik Satie & les Nouveaux Jeunes - Version 2 on Arbouse Recordings (2015) perhaps epitomises best the overall spirit of the project: I learnt to perform the score backwards and ... [Continue Reading]
Mogwai: Hungry face
Les Revenants (The returned) is an eight-episode TV series which was originally broadcast on French channel Canal+ in November/December 2012 and then aired on Channel 4 in June/July 2013. Set in a contemporary French suburb, the series revisits the zombie theme but without the usual gore and horror associated with it. Deceased ... [Continue Reading]
Steindór Andersen & Sigur Rós: Á ferð til breiðafjarðar vorið 1922
In 2007, Icelandic band Sigur Rós released Heima, a full length feature capturing a series of free and impromptu concerts filmed across “the furthest flung corners of their homeland” in 2006. Superbly shot in several breath-taking locations by Canadian film director, animator and long-time fan of the band Dean DeBlois, the ... [Continue Reading]