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"The musicians make use of the folk tradition, Renaissance polyphony, and elements of contemporary avant-garde. Nordic influences are woven in, fiddle and church sounds meet the minimalism of Morton Feldman, a sound that works with the unconscious." The column Magic Mantras in German music magazine Abwärts.  "Many of the releases by Hubro are left with our jazz/impro specialist mister Mulder, but I always
check out new releases before sending them onwards, as I know Hubro can also release something that is very much up my alley. Something like Slagr for instance, a trio of Anna Hytta on hardanger fiddle, Amund Sjølie Sveen on vibraphone and tuned glasses and Katrine Schiøtt on cello. I never heard of them, either as Slagr, or as solo artists. Their music is firmly rooted in the traditional music of Norway, but also sounds like something very modern. This trio plays some beautifully eerie music. It is centred on the repeated playing of notes, very minimal, with singing overtones. The glasses sound like a Theremin, like sine waves and like wine glasses. It is ringing and singing, but the music is kept very small. It is not abundant with massive tones or big movements, but Slagr likes to keep their music reduced to a few notes, which they explore through length of a piece, which can be somewhere three and seven minutes. This is all very gentle music, maybe even at times a bit close to the world of new age, especially when the sound is very quiet and folky. The fact that this was recorded in church, with its natural reverb may also be responsible for a sort of medieval atmosphere that one can also hear in a few pieces. And yet there is always something very ‘now’ about the music; the minimalist moves, the higher pitched sounds and the role of silence. Quite a remarkable album, which could go down well in these Easter days, should you be looking for such a thing or be bored with Bach. (FdW)" http://www.vitalweekly.net/ |
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