Nonwrestler Blog

weekly mp3 #9: anders dahl - kärrsilja - metal bowls, electronics, bouzouki

This week's offering is a change of pace in two ways - it's not a song (or anything to do with "pop music" in any sense) and it's from a "net audio" release, i.e. it's from a free MP3 release that's not attached to some commercial release available in a physical format.

EDIT 18/06/08: Sorry, turns out Komplott have redesigned their site, and this release is no longer available.

This track is part of an EP called Kärrsilja, flockblomstriga 2 . The EP was released in 2004 by the Swedish "contemporary music" label Komplott, which does both free MP3 and commercial CD releases.

Anders Dahl makes what could be called electro-acoustic music (if you believe that doesn't have to be made by academics), noise (if you believe that doesn't have to be loud or noisy) or free improv (if you don't care about whether he's really improvising!). The ridiculously prosaic subtitle of "metal bowls, electronics, bouzouki" tells you exactly what you're in for. I'm guessing Dahl improvised three or four tracks from these sources, layered them up and did very little additional treatments. Maybe he played along with what he had previously recorded and responded to those tracks. Maybe not. :) Likewise, it's a bit of a moot point as to whether he can play the one traditional instrument in the mix, the bouzouki, because he largely plucks out occasional harmonics.

As may be clear from my description, I can certainly understand how this kind of music can seem artless, frustrating, or plain fruitless to someone listening to it. As with most music, I'm at a loss to say why this particular collection of sounds rocks my world. Formally, I like the restraint in the use of sources, and I like the timbres of those sources individually and in combination. But it's always difficult for me to pin point anything more than that.

Friends have asked in the past whether I derive some kind of intellectual enjoyment out of this kind of thing, but I don't think that's the case any more than with any other kinds of music... There's really not that much to think about here, is there? :)

It's been 4 years now since I first downloaded this EP and I still come back for repeat listens. Not sure it would work for everyone, but I've found the best listening conditions for this kind of thing are first thing in the morning on a sunny day when I have some time to relax.

Labels: music, weekly mp3

Posted at 13:10