Download - Downbeat

Elephant9Walk The NileRUNE GRAMMOFON 2095AAAAEspen Erikson TrioYou Had Me At GoodbyeRUNE GRAMMOFON 2096AA 1 /2Perhaps no record label betterrepresents the sprawlingeclecticism and range ofNorwegian contemporarycreative music than RuneGrammofon, an imprintwith decidedly catholic sensibilities.That aesthetic isclearly mirrored in its twolatest releases by very differentkeyboard-led trios.Elephant9 is an explosive organ trio frontedby Ståle Storløkken, who’s best known as amember of the idiom-smashing Supersilent. Onthe group’s powerful second album, its jazz-rockattack has gotten tighter and more ferocious,smashing together an unlikely mix of DeepPurple-style hard rock with the jazz-inflectedsounds of Tony Williams’ Lifetime and early’70s Miles Davis. Drummer Torstein Lofthus(of the jazz-turned-metal combo Shining) drivesthe music with hard-hittingpolyrhythms that fracture likeglass and spread out like lava,while electric bassist NikolaiHængsle Eilertsen maintains thickgrooves to give the band its sturdyfoundation.That blend of freneticism andsolidity proves perfect forStorløkken’s rangy improvisations,which create distortedshapes and angular lines onHammond organ and FenderRhodes to explode riff-orientedrock melody and elaborate single-noteflurries into dramaticsupernovas. Despite the group’ssonic antecedents, Elephant9avoids prog-rock bombast; itssound is huge, but there are noempty displays of technical virtuosity. Onlonger pieces like the title track and “HabaneraRocket,” the trio reveals a keen dynamism,making effective use of space and lighter synthesizertextures to let some air into its monolithic,grinding vehicles.The debut album by the trio led by pianistEspen Eriksen couldn’t be more different thanElephant9. The all-acoustic music on You HadMe At Goodbye favors ECM-style introspectiongrafted onto gently melodic compositions thatdraw from rock and classical shapes more thanjazz; the concision of the performances gives theimprovisations, both by the pianist and the nimblebassist Lars Tormond Jenset, a pop-likefocus. Veteran Scandinavian piano trios likeE.S.T. and the one led by Tord Gustavsen areclear predecessors for what Eriksen is tacklinghere, but his sound is more streamlined than theformer and less heady than the latter. Some ofthe ballads are a bit florid and sentimentaldespite their sparseness, but on a piece like “NotEven In Brazil,” which seems to draw more thana touch of inspiration from the music ofRadiohead, the trio finds a simpatico balance ofmelodic moodiness and harmonic richness, astheir flexible drummer Andreas Bye unleashesever-shifting accents with strong results. If theycould ditch some of their politeness they couldmake a real splash. —Peter MargasakWalk The Nile: Fugl Fønix; Aviation; Walk The Nile; HardcoreOrientale; Habanera Rocket; John Tinnick. (44:56)Personnel: Ståle Storløkken, Fender Rhodes, Hammond organ,synthesizer; Nikolai Hængsle Eilertsen, electric bass; TorsteinLofthus, drums.You Had Me At Goodbye: Anthem; Grinde; In The Woods;Masaka Tsara; Not Even In Brazil; Intermezzo; On The Jar; ToWhom It May Concern. (37:33)Personnel: Espen Eriksen, piano; Lars Tormod Jenset, bass;Andreas Bye, drums.»Ordering info: runegrammofon.comMay 2010 DOWNBEAT 57