Varg ”Nordic Flora Series pt. 4: Techno Music & pt. 5: Crush” – anmeldelse af Lasse Skjold Bertelsen

Første gang jeg stiftede bekendtskab med Varg, var det via en anbefaling af anden del af svenskerens ”Nordic Flora Series” med undertitlen ”En Ros Röd Som Blod” udgivet på Posh Isolation. Den ambitiøse, tredobbelte kassettebåndsudgivelse overraskede mig, fordi det til dels var svært at ryste den grundige udforskning af stemninger i det ambientindustrielle udtryk af sig, og fordi denne udforskning aldrig veg fra fundamentalt at beherske virkemidlerne i det både længsels- og rædselsvækkende lydmaleri.

Efter i mellemtiden at have udsendt ”Pt. 3. Gore Tex City” er manden bag projektet, Jonas Rönnberg, nu klar med, hvad der kunne ligne afslutningen på udgivelsesrækken. Læs resten

Interview and all photos (Yuri & Internazionale, Soho Rezanejad, Raquin, Manon Lescaut 22.06.2018 @ Mayhem) by Cameron Pagett

“I always wanted it to have a feeling of anonymity.” Mikkel Valentin, founder and recording artist of Copenhagen electronic label Janushoved reflects. “I started making noise music when I was 16, I thought I had invented a completely new genre.” (laughs). Some years later and a total of 80 releases past the beginnings of Janushoved it feels like a big step forward to him. Showcasing and coming out and connecting physically as a label and a unit hasn’t always been directly on the cards. With numerous releases under different aliases, the label has a feeling of mystery and familiarity. Having established itself firmly as a name in the local Copenhagen DIY electronic scene, it feels like this could have or should have been done much more than it has. With an adoring local and international audience and a unique presence in the noise community with a sound normally bearing a romantic and sensual aura, Janushoved has grown organically from the seeds of pure sound and a penchant for exotic, bizarre and sentiment driven visuality. “It’s a label that draws the intellectually stimulated melody junkie,” an admirer reveals, “The style is distinctively Copenhagen but feels less harsh and calculating then some others … it’s more like red wine on a Saturday night rather than vodka.”
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Skee Mask “Compro” (Ilian Tape, 2018) – anmeldelse af Emil Grarup

München-baserede Bryan Müller udgav for en måneds tid siden sin anden LP under det bankrøver-agtige alias Skee Mask. Albummet hedder “Compro” og er, ligesom sin forgænger “Shred” (2016), udgivet på det glimrende, ligeledes bayerske label Ilian Tape, der til dagligt drives af brødrene bag technoduoen Zenker Brothers.

“Compro” består i al sin enkelthed af to elementer, der sættes i scene på en række forskellige måder: Ambient/choral MPC-pads og breakbeat-trommer. På numre som eksempelvis “Cerroverb”, “Vli” og “Calimance (Delay Mix)”, som alle befinder sig i den mere percussion-fattige ende, kan man drage klare lydmæssige paralleller til 90’ernes store IDM-helte Aphex Twin og Autechre (især tænkes her på Autechres “Amber” (1994) og Aphex Twins “Selected Ambient Works 1985-1992″). Overordnet er der dog på “Compro” en anden rytmisk energi at spore end på disse albums, hvilket især skyldes den dynamik, som Müllers insisterende brug af breakbeats skaber. Müller udviser på albummet en utroligt veludviklet evne til at bruge sine ambient-teksturer til at danne rum, der på samme tid er så faste og så porøse, at de bare står og flagrer – og derefter lade disse breakbeats flakke ind i, ud af og rundt i disse rum som dopede kæmpenatsværmere. De påvirker hinanden gensidigt, men sommetider på en så subtil frekvens, at man kun gradvist lægger mærke til det. Læs resten

CTM ”Red Dragon” (Posh Isolation, 2018) – anmeldelse af Morten Hviid Melsen

”Red Dragon” er det tredje udspil fra Cæcilie Triers CTM-alias. Hvor debut-EP’en ”Variations” (2012) rummede en håndfuld dansegulvsvenlige popsange, bød ”Suite for a Young Girl” (2016) på kompositioner af mere opbrudt og fri karakter. På ”Red Dragon” fortsætter erosionen af den sangform, der var projektets afsæt. Kompositionerne og produktionen er endnu mere fragmenterede og spredte, og sangene (hvilket man stadig kan kalde dem) får sjældent lov at opholde sig samme sted mere end kortvarigt, men skubbes hele tiden videre ind i andre rum og mod andre horisonter. Læs resten

Anmeldelse af Boli Group “N.D.P.S.” (Posh Isolation, 2018) – Af Emil Grarup

Fredag udgav Boli Group deres debutalbum “N.P.D.S.” på pladeselskabet Posh Isolation. Boli Group er et ensemble, der består af fem musikere, som udover primus motor Asger Hartvig tæller Nina Cristante, Thea Thorborg, Cæcilie Trier og Holger Hartvig. Alle er musikere, som Asger Hartvig har mødt igennem sine forskellige musikalske udfoldelser (Brynje, Värmland-forsamlingen, Synd og Skam, Marching Church, Dean Blunt etc).
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Vanessa Amara “Manos” (Posh Isolation, 2018) – anmeldelse af Nils Bloch-Sørensen

Birk Gjerlufsen Nielsen og Victor Kjellerup Juhls femte udgivelse som Vanessa Amara, Manos, er en klar forlængelse af det dvælende udtryk, de tidligere har dyrket på en serie bånd- og LP-udgivelser på posh isolation de seneste år. Det er den samme deformerede klassicisme, den samme elegiske stemning og den samme optagethed af den mekaniske reproduktions fejlbarlighed i form af båndstøj og forvrængning. Men selvom der arbejdes med de samme tematikker og den samme grundstemning som på gruppens tidligere udgivelser, er der på “Manos” en langt højere grad af kompositorisk dynamik i spil. Numrene forbliver ikke længe i repetitive tilstande, men er bevægelige og spænder stemningsmæssigt vidt. Til tider næsten postrocket forløsende, til tider helt intimt og skrøbeligt. Læs resten

Interview and images by Cameron Pagett

“I like it,” Nikolaj Jakobsen remarks with a gratifying sip of beer as I inquire about the infamous Fast Forward Alien Head logo. Lukas Højlund pauses in the moment and mentions; ”Yeah, it was never supposed to be the logo … on the first party at Ungdomshuset we put all sorts of things on the poster … We also had the bio-hazard symbol, but it’s not really the logo.”

I still have the first Fast Forward poster on my desktop, 2015 is not so long ago, but looking at the visual building block and having a reasonable understanding of what happens next after 400 people danced the dark away at Ungdomshuset I am feeling nostalgia. The poster feels retro now and it’s undeniably cozy when I reckognize some of the same people have played at recent shows and one played at the two year anniversary in November. Two years really isn’t so long ago, but after 30 raves, an eternity of shared memories, an explosion of growth, a new, unique agency and thousands of stories within a growing community the first party with the first Alien Head feels ages away.

Two years after the first poster I have the same alien head on my scarve shielding my face from a cold wind off Istedgade, I am finally on my way to a Fast Forward Party. A fairly recent resident in Copenhagen I mostly heard about Fast Forward through my girlfriend after buying her the Alien scarf from Posh Isolation’s 8 year celebration in March, 2017. I didn’t realize then that the unofficial official logo was connected to the agency and collective currently throwing the biggest techno parties in Copenhagen. Now less then a year removed I’m stuffing a warm durum in my backpack to hold me through the night and I’m cycling to work past kl. 23 at the much anticipated two year anniversary party located centrally in the large former train warehouse KPH Volume in Vesterbro. The windows are shaking and the walls pulsing to the opening tracks from Bunker Bauer power group Sella Turcica and Osvald Lund Rønde, and I am feeling any late night fatigue fade from my body as each sound wave pushes it out. It’s still early, I greet familiar faces, meet new ones, orient my camera and enjoy a nice beer with the door girl while devouring a now lukewarm durum kebab.

The floor is already vibrating with a small contingent of earlies enjoying an explosive, seething opening set from Sella Turcica and Rønde. I begin to wander through the space and start my night. Volume consists of two rooms with the entry room consisting of a large coat area and a rather impressive visual installation made specifically for the event by Fast Forward Collective Artists Ida Engelhart and Sara Konoy. The artwork and excellent lighting system from Tobias Molter and Paloma Cuesta is already bringing a special ambiance to the half full warehouse, and is not at full strobing power yet, but is still pushing out enough vibrant streams of color and mystery onto the floor to inspire. My camera begins to feel ready after the first couple of beers start to hit me and I feel myself unthaw from the cold ride. I’m feeling it’s time to start work and take my first pictures. Læs resten