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Erik Honoré: Erik Honore: Heliographs
ByJoining Honoré on his leader debut is a mix of Norwegian musicians, many of whom have been active participants at the Punkt Festival since its inception in 2005, including perennials Bang, Henriksen, guitarist Eivind Aarset and singer Sidsel Endresen, along with occasional attendee, percussionist Ingar Zach. Dutch violinist Jeffrey Bruinisma guests on "Red Café"largely driven by Honoré's spare synth bass and only occasionally augmented with additional string samples and hints of flutes buried in the mix, it's one of most spartan and, most importantly, grounded pieces on an ethereal, nine-piece recording that often feels as though it was made either on or under waterand that's not a criticism; it's a wonderfully evocative sensation that Honoré has somehow managed to achieve from his decades of experience working in the studio.
Honoré's reverb-drenched synth bass, deep, swelling drones and harmonically static ambient colors combine with Zach's texture-rich percussionwhich includes bells that sound like navigational buoys and a bevy of electro-processed instrumentsto make the darkly evocative "Last Chance Gas & Water" both an album centrepiece and highlight; Heliographs' longest piecetaking up nearly a quarter of its 37-minute durationthe piece also incorporates samples from Norwegian electroacoustic experimentalists Okvango towards the end of its near-nine minute journey, with just a brief hint of trumpeter Mathias Eick emerging from the ocean depths before the piece submerges, once again, into the obsidian deep and fades to total dark.
Paralleling music's ability to convey messages with Heliographs' titular, solar telegraph instrument, "Strife" is a cacophonous miniature that blends a chaos of bells, gongs, Zach's trademark massive bass drumlaid flat on a stand and across which he rubs other instruments as well as using electronic devices and toys that he sets in motion on the massive drum head to create sounds for which the instrument was certainly never intendedwith Honoré's synths and some unexpectedly jagged guitar work from Aarset, creating a sonic tension that is only released with the following "Sanctuary Revisited." Earlier, on "Sanctuary," Endresen only hints at the more fully-formed melodies that she would bring to bear on the hauntingly beautiful "Revisited." Recent years have found the innovative singer building a new vocal languageliterally from the ground up, based on tiny vocal cells that she combines to build larger constructsbut even in the extremes of her more improvisational contexts with others including Humcrush and, in particular, guitarist Stian Westerhus, she has never turned her back on a capacity for greater beauty. and deeper lyricism Still, it's rare to hear her sing something that more closely resembles song form these days, making "Sanctuary Revisited"one of three appearances by Endresen on Heliographsa particularly notable one.
Elsewhere, on the opening "Navigators," Endresen is more decidedly about using her voice as an instrument. While her work largely blends seamlessly with Honoré's, there are brief moments where she emerges in the forefrontmagically evoking, with nothing but her voice, the same underwater sensations shaped by Honoré's layers upon layers of samples, synthesizers and field recordings.
Norwegian trumpeter (and Punkt regular) Nils Petter Molvaer doesn't make a real-time appearance on Heliographs, but a looped sample of his playing from "Dead Indeed"first recorded on Solid Ether (ECM, 2000) drives "Pioneer Trail," the album's most groove-driven track that use Molvær's contribution as the context for a piece of electro-centric minimalism. Aarset's soundscaping can be found on both "Pioneer Trail" and "Strife," but it's at its most discernible on the closing "Departed," a brooding, elegiac miniature that, rather than submersed in the deeps, seems to reach for the heavens, a tranquil closer to an album that manages to traverse a broad range of emotional landscapes.
Having worked together with Bang since their teens, it's always been something of a challenge, given the electronic nature of their work, to discern who is doing what when watching the two in a live remix at Punkt. Thankfully, first with Bang's solo recordings beginning with ...and poppies from Kandahar, and now with the equally superb Heliographs, the delineation between their work is becoming more evident. In performance, Bang has always been the one driven by an internal rhythm (even when there is none seemingly there to be found), while Honoré has been the sedentary one whoalbeit with eyes and ears always openprovides but the slightest of smiles to suggest how he's feeling about the music. With Heliographsan album rooted in precedents like Brian Eno, David Sylvian and Jon Hassell, but which could not have occurred were it not for his ten years co-directing Punkt and participating in countless live remixes, both in Kristiansand and abroadHonoré may have taken the long route to these paths far less travelled, but the end result is an album that eschews convention and utilizes sound as a driver that challenges the mind to keep up, even as it digs deeply at the heart and soul.
Track Listing
Navigators; Halfway House; Sanctuary; Pioneer Trail; Red Café; Last Chance Gas & Water; Strife; Sanctuary Revisited; Departed.
Personnel
Erik Honore
samples / effectsErik Honoré: samples, synthesizers, synth bass, rhythm programming, field recording; Sidsel Endresen: voice (1, 3, 8); Ingar Zach: percussion (2, 3, 6-8); Jan Bang: samples (1, 4), rhythm programming (4); Eivind Aarset: guitar (4, 7, 9); Jeffrey Bruinsma: violin ( 5); Arve Henriksen: trumpet (7); Jo Wang: samples from “Between Fingertip and Key” (3); Okavango: samples from “Fountain” (6), from the album Okavango, produced by Erik Honoré; Nils Petter Molvær: sampled from “Dead Indeed” (4).
Album information
Title: Erik Honore: Heliographs | Year Released: 2014 | Record Label: Hubro Records
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About Erik Honore
Instrument: Samples / effects
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