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A short review of Shining & Navyelectres concerts at NuMusic 09 |
I
just recently found these reviews at allaboutjazz.com, and I have to
post them together as they're written that way. Also, I do share
rehearsal space with Jørgen Munkeby and I've known him for years, so
I'm only happy having reviews of Shining on this site.
Anyway, here we go:
For
true metal extremity, Norway's own Shining dominated the night.
Formerly more of a post-John Zorn avant jazz combo, they've become
increasingly rocky, but are still betraying an instinct for complexity
and savage time-signature shifts. Jørgen Munkeby is the central figure,
singing and playing guitar. He also picks up a saxophone at strategic
points, spewing abstract solos amidst the spasm-riffing carnage. Clad
in a vest to expose God Of Thunder thews, Munkeby might have some irony
buried deep inside his music's rampant contortions. The keyboard
squiggles would push the nature of the songs in an unsuspecting
direction, but unfortunately their sonic battle with the guitars is
lost. Aside from that, the mix was gloriously vivid. Big testosterone
bulbs were burst to send their contents arcing over the crowd, which
didn't distract from the cerebral joys of headbanging to
avant-twitchery. Booted feet were riveted to stage-monitor speakers in
a variety of meaningful poses. This was going to be a hard act to
follow.
It seemed as though Austria's Fennesz was attempting to
move in Shining's sonic jetstream. Normally, he's prone to near-ambient
layerings of guitar and laptopiary, but for this set he was intent on
achieving a rock jangle, but failing to reach inside ears already
pulped by Shining.
A more successful transition was found in the
slow motion mood music of Oslo's Navyelectre. They incorporate
non-corporeal folksiness without losing an essential individuality. On
disc, this is a one-man band, but Jonas Howden Sjøvaag elects to sing
and play drums, inducting a band for his live existence. Mattis Myrland
provides a helpful degree of personality, sharing the vocals, as well
as playing harmonium and guitar. Andreas Ulvo contributes worming
vintage synthesizer parts. This was a timely atmospheric changeover
following the Shining set. It was the only advisable direction
following such an earlier ejaculation.
Written by Martin Longley
www.allaboutjazz.com
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Navyelectre - Live at NuMusic '09 |
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The entire concert is available for streaming HERE
Do take a listen, we're quite happy with it.
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As we actually have some more gigs to play, I might as well tell you about them. These are the dates:
September 10th: NuMusic Festival , Stavanger --> Tou Scene 2 at 00:30
September 16th: Ultima Festival , Oslo, with Ensemble Neon --> Gamle Logen at 22:00
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Review of concert at Punkt Elope, By John Kelman : Allaboutjazz.com |
 On
record a solo affair, in performance Navyelectre's Jonas Howden
Sjøvaag's performing quartet took his evocative writing—mostly taken
from The Mourning—and gave it both greater vitality and
improvisational energy. The music was a curiously attractive but often
dark mix of repetitive minimalism, indirect classicism, at times
oblique yet poetically effective lyrics, and occasional pop beats.
Sjøvaag's delivery was understated; while there was no shortage of
subtle drama, it felt somehow more honest than that of Philco Fiction's
Turid Alida Solberg. Perhaps it's because Navyelectre has been around
longer, and is now on the cusp of its third album, following The Mourning
and its self-titled 2003 independent debut, but where Mattis Myrland's
show was appealing in its almost naïve sentimentality, and Metamorphic
attractive in its hypnotic use of texture, there was a confidence and
comfort onstage that made Navyelectre's show the clear highlight of
Punkt Elope.
Not only a compelling songwriter and nuanced deliverer of his
dark-hued lyrics, Sjøvaag also proved to be a fine drummer, with the
group opening up his writing, at points, for strong solos from
keyboardist Andreas Ulvo. Ulvo has been helping to transform Matthias
Eick's more introspective and acoustic The Door
(ECM, 2008) into something more assertive in performance. Here, he
similarly metamorphosed Sjøvaag's "Then spring exploded into light"
into near-fusion glory, with a fiery synth solo driven by the drummer's
loose approach—far more interpretive than on the album—and guitarist
Smørdal's quirky accompaniment. Smørdal was also featured later in the
set, demonstrating his roots in Frisell, but equally asserting his own
voice, less inherently inward-looking and, at one point, even
approaching overdriven and aggressively strummed chordal frenzy.
Myrland contributed backup vocals, acoustic guitar and harmonium to
the set, his voice soaring harmonically above Sjøvaag's, but it was
Sjøvaag's ability to place so much meaning into the simplest phrase
that made him the most commanding vocalist of Punkt Elope. While he has
little to do with Leonard Cohen in terms of subject matter or
songwriting approach, Sjøvaag does share a profound command of
language, and an ability to deliver his own words better than someone
with, perhaps, a better voice by conventional measure. It's no small
challenge to take solitarily conceived and recorded music into
performance by a larger ensemble, where the writer has to trust others
to interpret his music. As good as its Punkt Elope performance was,
it's a shame there's no live recording with this group; it would be a
valuable contextual contrast with Sjøvaag's studio material.
By John Kelman
Link to entire article here
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Another review added, this time by Kwadratuur.be |
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 The text is in Dutch, and when you translate to English with google, you get a somewhat funny result. Extracts are below, entire review is here
Dutch:
'The Mourning' van de Noorse artiest
Navyelectre is op zijn zachtst gezegd een eigenaardig, intrigerend
werkstukje. Eigenaardig, want in geen enkel hokje of genre in te
passen. Ergens tussen elektronica, folk en experimentele muziek zweeft
de unieke sound van Jonas H. Shvøaag. Ondanks de onduidbaarheid spreken
de nummers direct aan en creëert de gelaagdheid van veel songs op 'The
Mourning' een nieuwsgierigheid die niet wegebt na enkele luisterbeurten.
English:
'The Mourning' by Norwegian artist Navyelectre is to say the least, a
curious, intriguing piece of work. Curiously, because in no box or
genre to fit. Somewhere between electronics, folk and experimental
music floats the unique sound of Jonas H. Shvøaag. Despite the
ambiguity speak directly to the numbers and creates the layering of
many songs on "The Mourning" is a curiosity that is not listening fades
after a few turns.
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The Mourning reviewed in Nordische-musik.de |
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Just a small note to let you know that The Mourning was reviewed on the german website nordische-musik.de.
Reviews are HERE.
This is the one from Nordische-musik:
"Was ist das? Folk? Experiment? Loop? Rock? Jazz? Elektropop? Keine
Ahnung, alles davon und nichts eigentlich. Das macht dieses Solo-Album
von Jonas Howden Sjøvaag, Schlagzeuger beim Eple Trio so ungreifbar –
und so spannend. Gleich der Titeltrack ist ein gutes Beispiel: Nach
klimpernden, ziellosen Instrumental-Loops deklamiert eine
Computerstimme endlos »The Mourning«, was die saugende Präsenz eines
Radiohead-Songs erzeugt. Der zweite Track ist sowas wie eine
melancholische Ballade, von Bläser- und Computerschlieren unterlegt,
die wie die irisierende Musik des Kammerflimmer Kollektiefs klingen.
Track drei ist ein pathetisches Piano-Stück, das sich in eine knarrende
Ballade auflöst. Danach ein auf-die-Fresse-Elektropoptrack.
So schön Sjøvaag die Tracks zusammengebastelt hat, so ausbaufähig ist
seine Stimme. In den besten Momenten klingt er wie eine Mischung aus
Nick Cave und current93, manchmal aber auch nur haarscharf schräg neben
den richtigen Tönen. Ein Track, der perfekt funktioniert, ist das
düster strahlende »Then Spring Exploded Into Light« mit einem
entrückend tollen Sax-Solo von Shining-Chef Jørgen Munkeby. Echt ein
ziemlich schräges Album. Egal, was es nun eigentlich ist – dann
sortiert man's halt im heimischen Regal unter S wie »seltsam« ein ... (sep)"
Use Google Translate if you need to.
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Have you ever felt like listening to something that could really bring you down? Something that resonates with that gloomy mood you're in? Something that takes a hold on the world and rips it apart, bit by bit?
Have you squandered through your record collection looking for a tune like that, only to find that when you've listened to Tom Waits' 'Childrens Story,' and after going through most of his back catalogue, you only want more?
Well, I felt that way recently, and out came an old classic, namely the 'Dead City Radio' by William S. Burroughs. It doesn't get darker than this.
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I was able to buy the august issue of Swing Journal from amazon.jp, and it arrived by a FedEx courier last week. Here's the review:
And now in English. Apparently it wasn't the easiest thing to translate, but it's understandable:
A project from Norway that invite us into a mysterious labyrinth of sounds
The second release following the debut album from 2004. This album seems to be a one-man show by Jonas, a multi-instrumentalist and a producer.
The sound mixes improvisation, folk, rock and electronica together, and this tendency is present in many works of scandinavian musicians of newer generation.
It seems elusive at first sight, but the joy is to explore the different points of pleasure.
Hiroki Sugita, Swing Journal
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Review in Swing Journal, a Japanese magazine |
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'The Mourning' has apparently been reviewed in the Japanese magazine Swing Journal, which is a good thing. However it seems that I wont be able to get a hold of neither the article nor the magazine itself, the reason for the first being that the articles are not published on the web, and the latter being that I'm residing on the other side of the globe.
However, if someone reading this happens to come across the August '08 issue of Swing Journal, I'd be eternally grateful if a copy of the Navyelectre review by Hiroshi Sugita found its way to my email, which is:
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
. I'll manage the translation somehow, luckily people are constantly on the move so finding a Japanese in Norway should not pose much of a problem.
Also, Swing Journal is located HERE
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Navyelectre enters the marine habitat |
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This summer I finally bought a boat, and not just any boat either. If you are interested in spending time at the seas, you know that the only real kind of boat is one made of wood. Everything else is just boring replicas of the original, and they're not very environmentally friendly either.
So, a wooden boat has been bought. This is what it looks like:
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In the dock
Sunny weather
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Crappy panorama |
In the dock
Rainy weather
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Since I've now become a Captain of my own ship, there's a lot of things I have to learn. For instance I need to know how to change two different diesel filters in my engine, how to avoid overheating if the cooling system breaks down, and what the fuck do you do if you're out in bad weather and everything just stops for no reason? It seems like a great challenge still, but I'm guessing things will work out fine. Oh, and I also learned that for those of you still using Farm100 for sealing the cracks in your boat before the season starts, there's a new product in town called Tec7 Roof. Less mess, less hassle and delivered in a tube that'll fit any standard manual pump.
Toodle-oo
Captain J
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 After recording a new album with another band I play in (Eple Trio), a metal suitcase containing various items was left in a car overnight. This suitcase contained, almost by pure coincidence, three kalimbas of mine, in addition to several other things; screwdrivers, bass FX pedals, used strings and so on. Anyway, the only thing in the car was this suitcase, but during the night some fellow decided that he wanted it. I do not know the specifics, but I suspect that he quickly ran a cost/benefit-analysis, resulting in him breaking through the back window of the car and taking the suitcase.
Fortunately for this guy, the pedals alone was worth more than a weeks supply of heroin, or whatever stimulant he prefers, and with the kalimbas as well I'm guessing he's into one hell of a high. At first, I got pissed off as I needed those instruments for a gig I was supposed to play. But after thinking about it for a while, I can see the funny side of this story, imagining this junky shooting up in a hell-hole of a house, getting high as never before and then playing away on the kalimbas. It's really an instrument made in heaven, so if you're floating away already it should be even better.
Have you never heard a kalimba?
Buy a song feturing it! --> The Mourning
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The Mourning available at Platekompaniet & other music stores |
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From Monday 07/04/08 Navyelectre's newest record 'The Mourning' is available as a physical copy at, for instance, Platekompaniet.
Order here: platekompaniet.no
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This is where things are at the moment:
A cute little collection. I love the way the newspapers all design their own dice.
However, we should not forget those not using a dice to describe music. Maybe they couldn't afford designing one, or maybe they'd rather describe their opinion in words and thus addressing the people that actually read the article instead of just glancing at the picture. I really don't know.
Anyway, these are:
Morgenbladet & Universitas
Read the reviews in full HERE
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News from the Eastern front |
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The physical CD has arrived from Österreich!
In other words, it's possible to buy this thing. Which, in my opinion, is good as I appreciate a good collection. If I had room, I would collect a lot more than I do now, but books and CD's is more than enough.
Anyway, here are some pics:
Also, Shipwreckords has entered into an agreement with Musikkoperatørene and they will take care of the distribution from now on. Therefore, you are encouraged to go to your local CD-dealer and ask for this record, if you want it, that is.
-Navy
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Navyelectre (almost) covers both ends of the scale |
Navyelectre recently received a 2/6 rating in Hamar Arbeiderblad which is funny in many ways.
First off, the review is, apart from some keyboard spelling accidents and the inability of the newspaper to find the correct cover image, very well written. The journalist has obviously listened to the record several times, and has actually counted how many times the words 'the mourning' occurs in the title track 'The Mourning.'
I didn't know, but it's repeated 130 times, exactly, according to Ingeborg Huse Amundsen. This by itself involves an amount of work far beyond what I usually expect from music journalists these days. And I really like it! Ingeborg seems to really mean what she writes, and she can tell you why she means it as well. I was recently interviewed by another newspaper, and I was somehow quoted on '... the only thing I demand is exceptional quality.' I guess the reason I like the review in Hamar Arbeiderblad is that it qualifies to this statement. It might not be exceptional, but nevertheless it's a review that backs it's opinions, and that is a rare thing.
I have to include a sentence that really describes the journalists struggle to cope with my music:
In norwegian: "Denne produksjonen er så vanskelig tilnærmelig, at selv etter titalls gjennomlyttinger har undertegnede problemer med å få et aldri så løst grep om noe som helst"
In English: "This production is so difficult to approach that even after listening to it 10+ times, the writer of this article has problems getting a hold of anything at all."
It's a funny statement, but as it turns out, the person that wrote this review is a mere 19 years old. I agree that people should be entitled to have an opinion, but honestly speaking I don't trust a person of this age with anything. Thus my initial positive take on this review has turned into me being irritated because the newspaper Hamar Arbeiderblad don't even bother using a proper journalist for their reviews. This is just a girl with no formal education in the field of journalism, therefore it is not possible for me to take it seriously. Also, when I think about it, something in my music has made this girl listen to the record tenths of times. So, it's got to be something in there for illiterates and uneducated people as well.
Still, it's a fun interview to read, but unfortunately, like I said, completely irrelevant.
Anywhooo...
In comparison, another Norwegian newspaper reviewed this record and rated it a 6/6. So, like Ingeborg Huse Amundsen says, this might be something you either love or hate. Which is fine by me as the worst thing in the world of music is the neverending stack of records that is absolute crap in such a way that it's not possible to neither love it nor hate it. It's just extremely boring, uninspired, not at all original, contributes nothing to the progression of musical genres and, in general, doesn't say a thing other than 'make me famous, I've got boobs, I have a fancy car, come to a party with me where we will bathe in champagne et cetera, et cetera.'
In short, I'm happier being able to make music that actually inspires people to write a bad review in a good way (even if they're just 19 (poor things)) than making a record that stimulates absolutely nothing in the listener.
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New record finished, and another one coming. |
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Lots of things has happened this fall, a new record being one of them. This one is entitled 'The Mourning' and is some kind of electro/acoustic thing that goes on and on, well, for 42 minutes at least.
The records features eight songs ranging from gentle melodies, to repetetive drone-ish patterns that spreads out and will certainly fill the vacuum of your living room, or head, if I may be so blunt.
Its official release in Norway is the 20th of February on Shipwreckords, and will almost exclusively be available as a download on iTunes, AmazonMP3, napster, and so on. There will be produced a few hard-copies, and maybe also a pretty heavy vinyl. If you want this, let me know on
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
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'The Mourning' was reviewed for the first time yesterday, February 6th. The Norwegian newspaper Bergens Tidende rated the record a 6 out of 6 possible. It can only go down from there.
Buy here -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------->
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Also, Navyelectre recorded an album a few years back, that has never been released. This one has no title as of now, but will have soon, at least before it goes out in the shops, as it will, pretty soon. By the power of, no, not Greyskull, but of modern technology, this one will release through Shipwreckords and be available in March 08.
By golly, the net is a fun thing.
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