Marhaug, Lasse / Nilssen-Love, Paal

Stalk

Label: PNL Country: Norway

"Marhaug and drummer/percussionist Paal Nilssen Love have worked together in Vandermark's groups, as well as being co-producers of the annual All Ears improvised music festival in Oslo. Their first recorded duet, Personal Hygiene (Utech, 2005), captured their live duet at the Nu-Music festival in Stavanger and featured their shared affinity for thunderous and far out sonic territories. This latest release, the first on Nilssen-Love's new label, was recorded, mixed and mastered by Hild Sofie Tafjord from the all-women, electro-improv outfits Spunk and Fe-mail, who also added her own contributions to Marhaug/Nilssen-Love's original sound sources.

Tafjord uses Nilssen-Love's drum kit (especially his unique take on cymbals) together with Marhaug's lap-top as sound feeds for a grander vision, rather than the finished story. She creates six, free-form, drone-based textures that shift and mutate almost organically, while she carefully cuts and pastes, overdubs and samples the original sounds. The first track, "Paranoia Agent," is as the title suggests a stormy, clashing meeting of assorted noises. But "Satanico Pandemonium" is surprisingly meditative in its gentle use of otherworldly sounds.

Nilssen-Love's vigorous drumming is prominent in "Tenebrae," along with Marhaug's industrial-drill noise and feedback. Tafjord combines these sounds into a thick, threatening, electronic stew. "The Lodger" offers a more spare sonic atmosphere, with abrupt variations of electronic and white noise. The closing track, the slow "I Will Walk Like A Crazy Horse," offers another fresh range of sonic possibilities, mutating metallic sounds into a relaxing cyclical mix. A really fascinating album."-Eyal Hareuveni, AAJ