AM AND THE UV: TOMORROW IS ALL LIKE FLOWERS CDS  EUR 5

AM AND THE UV: SILENTLY THE BIRDS FLY THROUGH US CDS  EUR 5
"international pin-up waiting to happen" Dazed & Confused
"stunning vocals" Mark Doyle, HedKandi/JazzFM
"Karen Carpenter meets François K" Coda Magazine/France

...not a bad introduction to Anne Marie Almedal, the heart-breaking voice and sensual spotlight of Norwegian indie heroes Velvet Belly (Boilerhouse/RCA), the girl you’ve been in love with, but never met. Now joined forces with Anglo/arctic electronica pioneers Nicholas Sillitoe (DJ/producer behind Illumination, Chilluminati, Ultraviolet) and Ken Theodorsen (respected Tromsø sonic wizard, also of Ultraviolet fame) together at last...AM and The UV.

For this debut solo venture, AM and her cool collective promise an elysian bliss of pop cinematics, a sublime selection of addictive songs - written and performed by a confident artiste ready to make her strongest statement yet. Pop where it really should be, in a post-millennium haze of electronics chanson. the new true cool of Norway.

First song out of the Pandora’s box, "Everybody’s Girlfriend", featured as opening track on the "Way Out North" compilation, released with Jockey Slut Magazine. AM's bitter-sweet paean to the feminine, a lost highway ride into shimmering seduction, space-echo breakbeats, glockenspiel and reverb heaven.

ATHOME PROJECT 2x12"  EUR 15
Pitch Adjust: "Norwegian producer Stian Jacobsen presents us with a long player made solely in his bedroom studio, which gives us a flavour of his life and house. Pitched firmly on the jazz side of the breaks market, "Athome" is an unpretentious representation of Stian's musical mind. "A Feeling Of Care" comes on like early Massive Attack courtesy of some "Unfinished Sympathy" like passionate strings, as the drums kick back, a nasty bass engulfs all and the loving vocal appeals for compassion. "Panpsychism" sees a rich bizarrely shaped guitar combine with laid out keys, plump tense beats and a despondent bass. "Analogue Acoustics" is Stian's tentative flirtation with D&B, courtesy of hyper-active breakbeats, a snarling bass, forlorn vocals and keys that provide a glimmer of hope. "Everything Changes" is smoking bottomless dub, with elephantine crashing beats which shake the floor, a melodic bass to get lost in and a slowly forward marching synth. Quality powerful Scandinavian breaks." Jon Freer

ATHOME PROJECT: A FEELING OF CARE (RØYKSOPP REMIX) 12" EUR 10

BIOSPHERE: SHENZHOU CD  EUR 15
7 Mag (UK):Album of the week. Since the release of "Patashnik", on the R&S offshoot Apollo, in 1994, plenty of artists have tried, but none have come close, to making such overwhelming ambient music, as Norway's Geir Jenssen, alias Biosphere. With "Shenzou" he's made another classic, pushing the bounderies further, with orchestral like compositions, layering electronic waves, taking the listener to pastures new, as you gently drift on a sea of mixed emotions. With titles such as "Spindrift", "Heatleak", "Twooceanplateau" & "Thermalmotion", this is definitely not the hard sell package tour, of chill out Ibiza comps, "Shenzhou" is much much more than that, it's the open mindedness & isolation of Biosphere, living inside the Artic Circle. [Dean Thatcher]

BIOSPHERE: AUTOUR DE LA LUNE CD  EUR 15
Bill Meyer, Dusted Magazine: Albums like this should come embossed with the warning, “Do not play on crummy little speakers.” Biosphere (a.k.a. Geir Jenssen) makes music that you feel as well as hear. A native of Tromso, Norway, Jenssen uses the Biosphere alias whenever he goes to work in the ambient music mines, and he dug up some especially heavy ore to mold Autour de la Lune.
That may seem ironic given its title, which translates as “Around the moon.” But this is not weightless music; indeed, the central three-track sequence – “Vibratoire,” “Déviation,” and “Circulaire” – sit quite heavily on the chest; subsonic bass frequencies are like that.
Why all the French, one asks? The album is a refinement of a piece that Jenssen composed for Radio France Culture which took its inspiration and some of its raw material from an early-’60s audio realization of Jules Verne’s story De la Terre à la Lune. The opener “Translation” lasts nearly 22 minutes; built from pulsing, looped organ tones, it develops a tension so absorbing it could stand perfectly fine on its own as an EP. But there’s more.
The long, glassy resonations on “Rotation” evoke most overtly space’s vast emptiness. They also set up the record’s loveliest moment, “Modifié,” a masterpiece of shortwave manipulation. Its smudged voices and rusted metal beats materialize out of crackling fog as eerily as anything on The Conet Project. Then comes the album’s aforementioned center of gravity, the series of chest-compression exercises.
Coherent, complete, and not a minute too long despite a running time of almost 75, Autour de la Lune is a deeply affecting and unabashedly lovely recording.

INFORMATION: SUCCESSOR  EUR 15
The successor of the "Norwegian Grammy"-nominated "Artifacts" is named"Successor", consisting of 99 tunes.
Is yes, is no and is clear. Is clear and is mute. Is mute and is true. Is true and is empty. Is empty and is big.
Big is a real successor. Successor is real history. History is real life. Life is real sound. Sound is real information. Play on random!

MIND OVER MIDI: ELEKTRICAL AKTIVITY CD  EUR 15
Magic Feet, UK (nov/dec 96): "This compilation of tracks from recent EPs, new tracks and remixes, from Norway's Mind Over MIDI, is very much an album of two halves, Brian. The first five tracks, all icy ambience, ghostly drums, and liquid melodies (probably inspired by MOM maim man Helge Tømmervåg's dark past in an early 80s electro pop duo), are very reminiscent of fellow Arctic circle compatriots Biosphere, and Dub Tractor, and at their heights are stunning. Second track, "Relaxed', in particular overcomes its rather naff title, by marrying shuffling rhythms and a mesmeric piano riff to maximum hypnotic effect, and is worth the price of admission alone. Elsewhere, 'E-Scape's dreamlike qualities also have the desired impact, and only the odd ill-advised indulgence on the analogue swiggle front sits at odds with the horizontal status quo. The ambient techno of title track 'Elektrical Aktivity', however, signals a change of gear, with the thus far restrained drum corps coming to the fore, the whole caboodle dashing headlong into what I believe you youngsters would call a 'frenzy beat fest'. Which, while highly attractive to some, signals those 'bpmc' (beats per minute challenged) fogeys such as myself to cower behind the sofa and dream of more calming climes. As I said, an album of two halves.

MIND OVER MIDI: PROJECT 3 / STATEMENT) 2x12"  (limited edition 300 copies)  EUR 15
BA:"Helge Tømmervågs siste plate er en strålende fusjon av mørk ambient, minimalistiske rytmer og englevokal. Noen av englene heter Anneli Drecker og Sidsel Endresen. Anneli maler med lyder denne gangen. Og Sidsel improviserer på sitt fremmedartede, utrolig vakre, vis. Men Hilde Drange fra Slowpho drar deg også til seg oppe under skyene et sted i "Echo". Hennes mannlige motstykke er Oddman, som skaper velklang i hodet i "Walkman". Og Nils Petter Molvær svever med på "Stay". "Project 3" er en utrolig variert plate som burde frelse flere på ambient."
(5/6) Ann Kristin Frøystad

After Hours, USA:" Motion Control explores progressive house with 9 tracks of funky driving enjoyment. I was impressed enough to compare this album to the works of Carl Craig and the house side of Global Communication that has been released lately. While this album digs deep into the Detroit acid house tradition, it has its own unique, funky, minimalist approach. Very appealing to DJs."

PACEMAKER: PACEMAKER EP 12"  EUR 5
4-spors EP fra Per Henrik Svalastog og Erik Wøllo som på sitt beste nesten når opp til Fuse og Speedy J sine skuldre; men som på sitt mest ordinære kunne ha vært hvem som helst. "This station rules the nation"? Hmm...

SLOWPHO: HOTEL SLEEP 12"  EUR 5
4-spors EP: Hotel Sleep (Kango fra Bongo miks), Lovetech (Motion Control mix), Would You (Sternklang mix), Would You (Ugress mix)

STERNKLANG: FREESTYLESPACEFUNK CD  EUR 15
Rune Brøndbo med "akustiske" trip-hop/drum´n´bass-rytmer og jazzete bass over melodiøs elektronikk, luftig tverrfløyte og dansbare orgelanslag. Enorme kritikker i norsk presse! Kompatibel med Nightmares on Wax?

STERNKLANG: NEOLOUNGE EP 12"  EUR 10
"All tracks taken from the Neolounge album."

UPPER ROOMS: VIDEO BAMBINO CD EUR 15

 

Isak Anderssen med snodige, behagelige melodier og syntetisk elektronikk over lavmælt rytmeboks, lo-fi cello og ny-naivistisk vokal. Fjorårets beste fra Beatservice.

XPLODING PLASTIX: BEHIND THE EIGHTBALL CD  EUR 10
Håkon Moslet, Dagbladet: Nytt skremmende sterkt møte med elektroniske halvgenier
Röyksopp er utvilsomt den elektroniske duoen som har fått mest oppmerksomhet i 2001, men Xploding Plastix imponerer i enda sterkere grad. Deres "Amateur Girlfriends Go Proskirt" er årets aller beste norske album med sin galskap og sin fjetrende lek med agentmusikk, jazz og mørk elektronika. Denne ep-en, sentrert rundt albumkuttet "Behind The Eightball", bare understreker Plastix-gutta Jens Petter Nilsen og Hallvard Wennersberg Hagens posisjon som grever av samplealderen. Man har følelsen av å sitte i en berg-og-dalbane med hjernevaskeffekt i det "Eightball" treffer deg med sin storslåtte og farlige magi. "Omar Sharif Bonanza" er som en blodig marsj med uante konsekvenser og et militærkorps helt ute av kontroll. "Popfrontical Eclection" er et storband på syre - helt ute på en prærie man helst ikke vil befinne seg på. "The Jim Pedersen Theme" er en totalt upretensiøs casiopopflørt, men nok en indikasjon på at Plastix får bra musikk ut av nærmest hva som helst. Melankolske "Shakedown Shutoff" forteller mye om duoens melodisk teft som aldri forlater deres åndfulle eksperimentfest. (5/6)

© Biophon Records 2003