The Squid's Ear Magazine


Humcrush (Storlokken / Stronen): Enter Humcrush (Shhpuma)

After a six year break the Humcrush duo of Stale Storlokken on keys and Thomas Stronen on drums & electronics return with this studio album of rhythmic angularities and experimental sound worlds, drawing on their experiences with bands including Supersilent, Food, Elephant9, Time is a blind guide, Meadow and Motorpsycho.
 

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product information:

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Stale Storlokken-fender rhodes, synth, electronics

Thomas Stronen-drums, electronics


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UPC: 560906380302

Label: Shhpuma
Catalog ID: SHH030
Squidco Product Code: 24166

Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2017
Country: Portugal
Packaging: Cardboard foldover
Recorded at Cottage Studio in Trondheim, Norway, in 2014 and 2015, by Stale Storlokken.

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

"So, there's five now. The previous one was Humcrush with Sidsel Endresen - a partnership with one of Norway's most legendary singers and improvisers, showing specific coordinates because of that circumstance. And if "Ha!" was different from the previous albums, here is the new "Humcrush" introducing some profound changes in relation to "Humcrush", "Hornswoggle" and "Rest at World's End".

Between the last refered one and the record now in distribution are six years of interval: that's too much time, time enough for a transformation of the musical concepts applied by Stale Storlokken and Thomas Stronen to their common project, thanks to the experiences they had with all the other bands with which they're involved: Supersilent with or without John Paul Jones, Food, Elephant9, Time is a blind guide, Meadow or Motorpsycho. It happens that "Humcrush" has less of the electro-acoustic experimentalism, of the ambientalism and of the space music factor we used to find in the earliest Humcrush, and more of its rock side, a kind of rock with roots in prog and psychedelism, yes, but electrocuted by a punk attitude.

The influences from both jazz, electronica and rock continues to this day, and probably more than before, but there was a weight loss of the resources and, in consequence, of the music itself. This one was subtracted to find its essence: the keyboard and percussion panoplies of the past, and all of the virtual orchestrations, aren't present anymore. This edition was recorded with just a Fender Rhodes connected to a guitarist pedalboard (sounding more as a guitar than an electric piano), a synthesizer (with few appearences) and a drumkit, nothing more.

The old and dominant electronic processings gave place to a focus on distortion and fuzz, in line with a futuristic (and futurist, considering the importance, here, of noise) vision of the most improbable encounter imaginable: the one between the Herbie Hancock of "Crossing" and those genius junkies named Hawkwind. In the form of an improvised music proudly idiomatic, a sort of free jazz / free rock with the groove of funk. At the fifth record, Humcrush are better than ever."-Shhpuma

Also available on vinyl LP.

This album has been reviewed on our magazine:

The Squid
The Squid's Ear!

Artist Biographies

"Ståle Storløkken (born 22 February 1969 in Dombås, Norway) is a Norwegian jazz musician (keyboards, organ and piano) and composer, known from co-operations with artists like Terje Rypdal, BigBang, Supersilent and Motorpsycho. He is married to the Norwegian singer Tone Åse.

Storløkken was educated on the Jazz program at Trondheim Musikkonservatorium (1988-90), and subsequently did his postgraduate there too. During the studies he started the band Veslefrekk together with fellow students Arve Henriksen and Jarle Vespestad (Helge Sten joined the band at a later stage). In 1997 the name of the band changed to Supersilent. They have released six critically acclaimed albums on the label Rune Grammofon. From 1995 he played in the trio BOL along with his wife Tone Åse and Tor Haugerud.

Storløkken has been active in many contexts, both as a band leader and member, for example The Stoken Experience, and Terje Rypdal's Skywards. Along with Christian Wallumrød, and he composed the commissioned work Eight Thirty to Kongsberg Jazz Festival 1994. He has collaborated on a number of albums with the named bands, and otherwise at such musicians as Gunnar Andreas Berg, Eldbjørg Raknes, Audun Kleive and Thomas Strønen.

Storløkken together with Thomas Strønen has the Humcrush duo, which has released three albums. He also plays in the trio Elephant9, along with Torstein Lofthus and Nikolai Eilertsen. He co-composed Berit Opheim's commissioned work An angel with for Vossajazz 2007, and in 2010 composed and performed his one commissioned work for Moldejazz with the band Motorpsycho, Trondheim Jazz Orchestra and Trondheim Soloists."

-Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St%C3%A5le_Storl%C3%B8kken)
3/13/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"Thomas Strønen (born 7 December 1972 in Oslo, Norway) is a Norwegian jazz musician (drums) and composer, known for more than 60 albums, and cooperation with internationally acclaimed musicians worldwide, including Iain Ballamy, Arve Henriksen, Mats Eilertsen, Ashley Slater, Eivind Aarset, Christian Fennesz, Nils Petter Molvaer, Bobo Stenson, John Taylor, Tore Brunborg, Morten Qvenild, Ingebrigt Håker Flaten, Sidsel Endresen, Bugge Wesseltoft, Tomasz Stanko, Koichi Makigami, Ernst Reijseger, Nils-Olav Johansen, and Stian Carstensen.

Strønen attended the Jazz Program at Trondheim Musikkonservatorium (1995-99). He has participated in the following bands; Pohlitz (solo project), Humcrush with Ståle Storløkken and occasionally Sidsel Endresen, Food with Iain Ballamy and sometimes Christian Fennesz and the Swedish-Norwegian band Parish with Bobo Stenson, Meadow with the British pianist John Taylor and Tore Brunborg. Furthermore, he plays with Maria Kannegaard Trio, Reflections in Cosmo (feat. Ståle Storløkken, Kjetil Møster, Hans Magnus "Snah" Ryan), Time Is A Blind Guide (feat. Kit Downes, Ole Morten Vågan, Lucy Railton and Nils Økland), Trinity and Turanga. He has also made several commissioned works, and produced and arranged works for a variety of artists. Strønen is also an Associate Professor at Norges Musikkhøgskole.

Strønen is recording for the great German label ECM and also for Rune Grammofon. As a composer, Strønen has contributed to the release of over forty recordings as well as several commissioned works for festivals (including the Bath and Cheltenham Jazz Festival and Ultima Contemporary Music Festival) and radio (DR, BBC, Deutsche Rundfunk, NRK, BBC, Swedish Radio, and others)."

-Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Str%C3%B8nen)
3/13/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.


Track Listing:



1. The Beginning 1:12

2. Enter Humcrush 5:39

3. Puncture 2:29

4. Humming 3:03

5. Salvare 4:43

6. Flee 4:01

7. Trench 4:51

8. Splinter 4:34

9. Sinking 5:12

10. Exit Humcrush 4:16

Related Categories of Interest:

May 2017
Improvised Music
Free Improvisation
Rock and Related
Improvised Rock
Duo Recordings
European Improvisation, Composition and Experimental Forms
Clean Feed

Search for other titles on the label:
Shhpuma.


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