Brought together by a common musical vision, Norwegian bass player Eivind Opsvik and American guitarist and multi-instrumentist Aaron Jennings have produced with Fløyel Files a delicate and enduring piece of work. All throughout this record, the pair combine acoustic and electric instruments with samplers and various electronic devices to build a series of intricate sonic constructions with strong evocative undercurrents.
Opsvik, a classically trained musician who has released a couple of solo albums, the most recent, Overseas II last year, and Jennings met seven years ago after they both decided to move to New York, and this is their first album together. Recorded between 2003 and 2004, Fløyel Files appears at once experimental and extremely accessible. While the pair use complex sound formations all the way through, with acoustic and electronic elements tightly woven together, they also pay great care at developing proper melodic structures, often layering recurring themes across the course of a track and breaking it into small sections to give it more substance. Tracks such as Thread, which opens the album, Aarons Hat, Still The Tiger Town or Mello Vibro are incredibly detailed, luxurious and evocative.
Often juxtaposing upbeat moments and more introvert structures, the pair appear to build a narrative theme over the course of Fløyel Files, with each track in some ways relating to another elsewhere on the record, often by way of soundscapes echoing each other or close melodic patterns. Yet, each track shows new layers of complexity and intricacy and opens up new grounds. The combination of various sonic elements manages to convey subtle changes in mood, often on one track, and demonstrates a great ability at forging subtle sound structures.
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Comments
Apparently they broke up recently - very shocked as I hadn't even noticed they were still around for the better part of a decade...
Craig
Abigail Washburn, City of Refuge. This one is really growing on me. I liked her earlier albums, this is more of a pop album, more "full arrangements," etc. Her banjo is still there, but it is not as featured as on Song of the Traveling Daughter.
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added by Dr. Mutex:
Three tracks from City of Refuge streaming on Bandcamp
Abigail Washburn on NPR Tiny Desk Concert
This was my first introduction to West African music - still an all time favourite
- Some old drum'n bass stuff by Vincent Fug
Markus Reuter - Todmorden 513
Excellent ! - Thanks Germanprof.
Earlier it was
In preparation of writing a review for
Great album. Put it on your Guvera list...
Just got a boxed set of 5 John Coltrane CDs from my local library - all recorded in 1957 and 1958. No doubt all will appear here over the next week!
I haven't been very dilligent so it's taken me about a year to get to disc 7 where I am now but damn this is great stuff.