CnRd320
Sult/Marhaug
Harpoon
Artist: Sult/Marhaug
Album title: Harpoon
Label: ConradSound
Catalog number: CnRd320
Release: 3rd March 2017
Formats and pricing:
- LP from €12
Shipping:
- From Norway to Norway
- From Slovenia to EU and rest of the world
Press
A first-time collaborative LP of acoustic improvisers Sult (Håvard Skaset: guitar / Jacob Felix Heule: percussion / Guro Skumsnes Moe: contrabass) and Norwegian sound artist Lasse Marhaug. The source material is performed by Sult, while the album was constructed and produced by Lasse Marhaug. In the hands of Marhaug the already dense and visceral expression of Sult is transformed into a maelstrom of layered sheets of scraping noise, rising and collapsing simultaneously. Some listeners will place "Harpoon" in the proximity of artists like Organum, David Tudor and Ferial Confine, but the music carves its own place in the landscape. A joint release between Pica Disk and Conrad Sound, limited to 200 copies.
Artist bio
Sult explores the hidden sounds of acoustic instruments (guitar, contrabass, percussion), magnifying them with microphones so the audience can join them inside their silent cacophony. Subtle harmonics become saws cutting through metal, and creaking wooden bodies become sinking ships. Their expression is primitive and raw, but while their playing embraces chaos, it is matched with discipline and the history of a decade-long mind-meld. The group sounds as one, with the gestalt of simultaneous layers taking primacy over any solo expression. The equality of the voices, however, invites the listener to focus on threads of their own choosing and make their own discoveries.
Sult is a trio with members from Oslo and Oakland. They have been working together since 2007, and have regularly toured Europe and America. In addition to collaborating with musicians such as Fred Frith, Bill Orcutt, and Pain Jerk, they have been regularly performing Skeleton with live cinema artist Greg Pope. They are also active as organizers within their respective music communities.
"They combine to create a scrap-heap collage of dry, brittle, abstract sounds, which they control with exquisite patience in slowly developing cycles of tension and release." -- Peter Margasak, Chicago Reader
Lasse Marhaug has since the early 1990s been one of the most active artists in the Norwegian noise/experimental music scene. As a performer and composer he has contributed to well over 300 CD, vinyl and cassette releases over the years, as well as extensive touring and performing live on all continents of the world. In addition to his solo work, Marhaug has collaborated with several artists in the fields of noise, experimental, improv, jazz, rock and extreme metal, as well as working with music and sound for theatre, dance, installations, film and video. In the mid-90s Marhaug started TWR Tapes (still going) and Jazzassin Records (ended 2001). In the 2000s he started the record labels Pica Disk and Prisma Records. In 2011 he started his own print publishing called Marhaug Forlag. He has also been active as an organizer, promoter and producer.
Credits
Guro Skumsnes Moe: contrabass
Jacob Felix Heule: percussion
Håvard Skaset: acoustic guitar
Lasse Marhaug: producer
Recording - Jacob Felix Heule
Mix and mastering - Lasse Marhaug
Cover design - Lasse Marhaug
SULT
