Reviews

Forgot to mention I have two recent reviews at the Norwegian free monthly Plan B; Original Silence and Lars Horntveth (both are in Norwegian).

Both are interesting records, but share one problem albeit for slightly different reasons: themes.

OS is a noise/improv band, and I've often felt that noise works best live where the physical aspect of the music comes to the fore. Listening to records is a more "intellectual" excersice, so I feel the need for some form thematic structure or propulsion is necessary to keep you listening. Luckily, OS has a terrific rhythm section in Paal Nilssen-Love and Massimo Pupillo who keep the momentum going and makes sure not everything hangs mid-air, so to speak.

Horntveth's record - a 37+ minute suite of sorts - while often quite beautiful suffers from too many ideas or themes, and sometimes you don't quite know how you got from one part to the next.