"The Adventures of a Polar Expedition" - Benjamin Koppel et al

jonahpwll

I'm terribly excited about picking this album up as soon as my emusic account refreshes...



"The Adventures of a Polar Expedition" by Hans Ulrik / Benjamin Koppel / Jon Balke / Palle Danielsson / Alex Riel.

Here's an article on AAJ about Cowbell Music releasing a deluxe cd of it.

http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=37642

And here's the website and slideshow with accompanying music from the album...

http://www.cowbellmusic.dk/polarexpedition/

This is some of most beautiful music you'll ever hear. That's no hyperbole. It's just that pretty. I'm addicted to this album, already scouting out rehab albums. Benjamin Koppel is one of this years new finds for me, and I've begun digging into his discography. My first introduction was his duet album with Kenny Werner (who has a new album out today). The fluttering woodwinds, the snowbursts of piano, percussion like autumn leaves drifting down, the ensemble shifting from lazy Sunday afternoon to sudden downpour of rain. Highly recommended.

And as I mentioned, available on emusic.

http://www.emusic.com/album/Benjamin-Koppel-The-Adventures-of-a-Polar-Expedition-MP3-Download/12090868.html

Brighternow

My goodness ! it's on eMusic - thank you jonahpwll . . .

- There's been a lot of buzz in the Danish medias about this, ranging from a genuine masterpiece to some arty-farty crap.

But Benjamin is an excellent musician and composer and has gathered a fine collection of musicians including my all time favourite Danish jazz drummer Alex Riel.

BTW: Benjamin Koppel is the grand son of the Danish composer Herman D Koppel

jonahpwll

My jazz listening habits haven't been terribly varied the last year, so it's not really for me to make top ten jazz releases for 2010, but if I were, I'd probably nominate this album for it. I listen to it just about every morning and I've never come close to tiring of it.

greg

Thanks for the recommendation. I rarely download any jazz these days as I am finding too many other thngs each month, but I have put into my SFL list to download later today

jonahpwll

Benjamin Koppel has been a real find for me this year (2010).

Bad Thoughts

Not to distract from this recommendation, but Koppel's other 2010 release, the 'two-disc' A Way With Words, is $5.99 for 111 minutes at eMu

Plong42

@ jonahpwll - thanks for this link, I looked at the slideshow (http://www.cowbellmusic.dk/polarexpedition/), but had not realized this was available on eMu.

jonahpwll

Not to distract from this recommendation, but Koppel's other 2010 release, the 'two-disc' A Way With Words, is $5.99 for 111 minutes at eMu

No, no, all Koppel discussion here is very welcome.

I was scoping that out a little while back along with other past releases and had meant to check out the lay of the land after the emu pricing changes. I was thinking about canceling for good this month, but I might go one more and just load up on Koppel. Hmmm, decisions, decisions.

I have also recently picked up his duo album with Kenny Werner ("Walden"). I feel like using the word 'sublime' to describe an album is almost cliche at this point, but... "Walden" is sublime. Not sure what it currently costs on emu.

Bad Thoughts

I was scoping that out a little while back along with other past releases and had meant to check out the lay of the land after the emu pricing changes. I was thinking about canceling for good this month, but I might go one more and just load up on Koppel. Hmmm, decisions, decisions.

I listened to the samples of both, and I found Words more compelling than Adventures. The length of the samples themselves may be to blame, but I enjoyed the fragmentary, erratic, sometimes energetic playing I heard on Words better. Conversely, the slow drift of Adventures might end up being lost on me.

jonahpwll

Words sounds more like an album, bouncing from idea to idea and inducing more variation in sound. Adventures was more of a soundtrack album, so the musicians probably tethered themselves more firmly to a central theme.

Also, if you only listened to samples on Adventures, you can hear most of the tracks on the album by following the above link to the Cowbell site.

http://www.cowbellmusic.dk/polarexpedition/

Brighternow

- A bit aside from the topic, here's Benjamin with his father:


Anders Koppel was a co founder of the Danish "hippie band" Savage Rose that I've been on about @ the Psychedelic thread.
- Wiki

mommio

I had put this on my SFL when it was first mentioned. Downloaded it Monday, but have been so busy I haven't had time to listen. I will make time today!

Germanprof

A sideways leap: the review linked above comments:

However, few musicians have tried to translate the adventures of the arctic explorers into sound.

Just in case anyone's interested in pursuing the concept across genres (the following sound nothing like the Koppel et al) two suggestions would be first the very fine, haunting album Varde by Elegi:

With Varde, Norwegian composer Tommy Jansen, a.k.a. Elegi, has launched the sequel to Sistereis, attempting once again to investigate the tribulations of the first polar explorers. Throughout the record, capacious echo, gurgling bass frequencies, and morose string motifs evoke wintry landscapes, calling forth the dual sense of loneliness and achievement that must have burdened the explorers who crossed those landscapes. Solitary piano notes resonate for seven, eight seconds, before succumbing to the rippling of somber cello harmonies and windy atmospheres that alternately whistle and moan. Ominous crunches bring to mind the strain of wood, metal, and bone in extreme temperatures. Occasionally, a shuttered voice will be heard in the distance, akin to the muffled speech transmitted by a shortwave radio; and every so often, there are heartbreaking dashes of warm, civilized sound in the midst of the polar suites: “Fandens Bre” concludes with a shadowed sample of a military march, while “Angekok” opens with the layered gurgling of infants.

(from Tiny Mix Tapes review)

and then, with a focus on polar rather than explorers, for the brave-hearted and very, very patient there are several classic works by Thomas Köner recently added to emusic: Permafrost, Nunatak, Teimo, and Nuuk.

Each track has a restricted number of elements that it sets in motion, each one moving very slowly, such as a single synthesized chord that fades in and out, or a slow undulating trill. Everything is wide open, with lots of high overtones in a bath of ambient white noise. The tracks are all named after features from glaciers and the frozen parts of the world (e.g., Serac, Nival, etc.). A stereotypical image of the frozen north is without features, and Köner's album translates this image into sound, with no sharp edges to provide any sense of distance or destination, where the senses are heightened and even the smallest sound becomes an event. His frozen works are an embodiment of Jonathan Kramer's vertical time, which Köner considers a "gift within our concept of a world that is constantly losing time."

(from a review of Permafrost.)

Köner is justly famous for pushing ambience about as far into sparseness and absence as it will go, and this is definitely the polar regions without any people in them. The recently reissued 3 CD set of Nunatak/Teimo/Permafrost just went on special offer for GBP 9.99 on Boomkat, though if you live outside Europe emusic is still cheaper.

Of course, liking the Koppel et al recording does not predict being able to stand any of these musically. Seemed like an interesting comparison though given the nature of the project.

As you were.

[/uninvited digression]

mommio

There are no uninvited digressions here when discussing music (or telling stories, or posting lyrics, or . . .)