Already an incontestable figure of the Scandinavian
music scene, Maja Ratkje follows the release of her
stunning first solo album, Voice,
with two collaborative efforts. A compulsive musician
who, beside her main activity as part of all-female
avant-garde free-improvisation quartet Spunk,
is, at only 29, a lecturer in composition at the Norwegian
University of Science and Technology, a world-renowned
contemporary composer, an impressive singer and accomplished
musician who has recorded with Norwegian accordionist
Frode Haltli and the duo Jazzkammer, and performed with
a wide range of artists. She’s also a member of
noise trio (x,y,z).
Both released in extremely limited quantity, Music
For Shopping and Syklubb Fra Hælvete
(Sewing Club From Hell) explore a variety of
noise instances, contrasting in many ways with Ratkje’s
other activities, yet unashamedly drawing from these
experiences. Recorded with one-half of Jazzkammer Lasse
Marhaug, who she met during a workshop hosted by Japanese
improvisational guitarist, turntablist and composer
Otomo Yoshihide in Oslo in April 2000, the vinyl-only
Music For Shopping is released by Oslo-based
Synesthetic Recordings, with only 300 copies available.
The intense sonic assault from Ratkje and Marhaug defies
definition and conventions. A deluge of analogue and
digital processing and concussed pseudo-rhythmic sections,
built of elements of theremin, samples and sounds recorded
on minidisc whirlwind in a mind-blowing maelstrom, as
tracks merge into each other and develop over the full
length of the record. Of this autistic chaos, it is
almost impossible to isolate any particular element.
As the pair methodically lacerate their soundscapes
to experiment with the notion of noise, the listener
is left baffled by this constant barrage of information,
yet strangely, when the album finally comes to a close,
the silence that follows appears far more disturbing
than these sonic disruptions.
The tongue-in-cheek cover and loud pink vinyl of the
Fe-mail album don’t prepare in any way for the
intensity of the work presented on Syklubb Fra Hælvete.
Together with fellow Spunk-ette Hild Sofie Tafjord,
Ratkje improvises with analogue electronic gear and
effects to shape a more defined and delicate, if such
a word can in any way define the realm in which Fe-mail
evolve, series of soundscapes than the ones heard on
Music For Shopping. Adding Ratkje’s voice
to the distortions and feedback, the pair develop further
the experimentations created within Spunk.
Hailed as the best noise record ever released by Thurston
Moore, Syklubb Fra Hælvete is intriguing
and disturbing, yet manages to capture the imagination
by remaining firmly focussed all the way through.
Both albums evolve in similar territories, yet Music
For Shopping appears more extreme in its relationship
with noise, whereas Syklubb Fra Hælvete
remains in the periphery of more conventional music
forms. Both albums are challenging in their own way
though, and Ratkje’s incredibly vast talent only
benefits of the input of her two collaborators here.
Music For Shopping 3.9/5 / Syklubb
Fra Hælvete 4.5/5 |
