EIVIND AARSET

Minimalist, or only modest?

I am a bit shocked to realize that it took a combined effort of 11 musicians - that include "only" three bass players - to create such little sound. Little surprise then that the bass tends to dominate, well, sort of.- if only because of the relative absence of the other instruments.

The end result is much closer to Bill Laswell doing his Industrial approach - in his sleep. The nature of this rather dark and gloomy offer could be described as sort of a chill-out after a heavy night, The odd muso briefly regaining consciousness and contrary to a massive hangover, still able to reach the nearest instrument - not necessarily their own...! .

There are brief burst of activity here and there, before the crew runs out of puff and falls into yet another cat nap. During these bursts - which are pretty good and slightly reminiscent of Miles Davis' rhythm section in the '70s - the listener can finally ascertain that there is indeed, a guitar player present. Come to think of it, the album is under his name after all, so he'd better join in!

But seriously, judging by the odd moment of activity, I have no doubt that the very same musicians could create masterpieces, At times a comparison with ECM releases wouldn't be out of place. The difference is that ECM produces "thinking man's", music whereas this album is closer to "sleeping men".

I am not at all convinced that over time this music would grow on me. Rather the opposite, so 3,5 at the most..

— First review of this album —

On the whole, I'm not the biggest fan of Eivind Aarset, I think he does some interesting things but suffers from a lack of musicality. I heard this album was one of his best yet (which I disagree with) so I decided to pick it up. The reality is his faults haven't changed and he lost a lot of those interesting moments that made me enjoy his work in the past. This album is actually quite weak, slow and boring and only for fans of the artist or genre (but even then I give a warning.)

'Close (for comfort) starts off in a very minimalist fashion. Some atmospheric key work with background sounds. It doesn't change a great deal and feels a little bit flat, but isn't a bad song. Some nice guitar work comes in around 5:00 to shake things up a bit, sounds quite nice.

It flows nicely into 'Surrender', if you're not paying attention you may miss it. It's nice and atmospheric, if a little boring and uneventful. The ending is nice, it has an ethereal feel to it.

'Jukai (Sea of Trees)' starts of really nice but it breaks down, a very avant style of song here but unfortunately it doesn't work with the overall minimalist sound, there isn't enough going on and instead of sounding interesting it seems more like noise.

'Black Silence' is perhaps the most frustrating song on here. The odd burst of sound followed by long bouts of silence for four minutes...

'Active' starts off with some various noises, it doesn't change too much throughout this is a VERY VERY minimalist style of jazz.

'Close (Variation I)' is more tuneful than some previous songs, but it isn't the most eventful song. One of the better ones nonetheless.

'Reactive continues in this fashion, some tuneful moments but a lot of ambient noise without much actual substance.

'Homage to Greene' starts off with some lovely guitar work. This is the best track on the album, tuneful and ambient, very nice indeed! Around 2:50 the subtle changes to the music, increase of the bass and darkening of the keys is quite nice. It goes on a bit too long and begins to digress to noise at the end but is still a nice track.

'The Whispering Forest' goes on way too long for the lack of musical ideas therein, its not the low point on the album but its damn near impossible to keep engaged through this song.

'Close (Variation II)' is more of what you heard on the other 'Close' songs. Some nice guitar work on this one but nothing to write home about.

'The Beauty of Decay' is the final song on the album, and, unfortunately, not the strongest one. Very avant, a lot of noise, but once again, little substance to tie it together. This song, like 'The Whispering Forest' is far too long to warrant the lack of music ideas.

On the whole, between the two albums I have heard from Eivind Aarset, this is definitely than the good but flawed 'Sonic Codex'. If you are an avid fan of minimalist jazz or electronic jazz then there may be something for you here, but I don't even think this is very strong in its field. I don't think this is a 1 star album, it has some good ideas, good production and the songs flow together nicely, but aside from that there is virtually nothing going for it.

1.75/5 stars, not recommended.

Not always Proggy, but consistently enjoyable.

It's always dangerous going into a highly rated album with no reviews but I decided to give Eivind Aarset a try based on quite a few extremely favourable reviews on many jazz sites.

I didn't have high expectations going into this album, I generally don't enjoy electronic prog, KLAUS SCHULZE does very little for me and bands such as KRAFTWERK and TANGERINE DREAM require a very specific mood.

I put the album in and was quickly swept of my feet, I wasn't prepared for the ambient / percussive mix on an album under progressive electronic. The music reminds me of TERJE RYPDAL but it also holds it's own sound, unlike anything I have ever heard. Very Avant-garde, strong percussion and lots of weaving synths to create a unique ambience.

Eivind Aarset provides in this album a nice mix between progressive electronic and jazz rock / fusion that is surprisingly enjoyable.

(3.75/5)

Eivind Aarset is possibly most interesting nu jazz Norwegian guitarist. Better know by his long lasting collaboration with one of the best progressive nu jazz musician his compatriot NP Molvaer, Aarset is very interesting and capable musician ,releasing his solo albums as well.

His new (live) album is very representative work - from very first sounds you will hear that very specific Nordic ambient atmosphere,so well known by Molvaer's early albums. Clear air, liquid aerial sound,slow dynamics - you're again in that fairy tale Nordic world. Trumpeter Gunnar Halle collaborates on this album, so in few moments you can even feel like listening Molvaer's music, but happily there are very few such moments on this album.

Started as very down tempo ambient sound, music step by step becomes more and more dense, and one moment you will hear some energetic guitar explosions. If before that moment music was more similar to Nordic post-rock (of Sigur Ros for example), even if drumming all the time is very jazzy, from active guitar explosions you are sure it's jazz fusion! Almost all this ambient figures are build by just Aarset's guitar as well.But in few really hot moments his guitar sounds as attacking jazz rock instrument there.

Comparing with quite similar by their atmosphere Molvaer's early works, this album contains less folksy Nordic beauty and more nerves and tension. Even darker moments sometimes. But in all, this music stays real Nordic one - clear, with very controlled emotional level and it's own cold elegance.

This album is recorded live but only signs of that are some applauses in few places. Really very gracious work, could be highly recommended in a pair with Molvaer's debut to every fan of modern Nordic jazz and everyone seeking for most interesting new trends in progressive jazz fusion.