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Erland Dahlen / Hallvard Hagen / Bjorn Charles Dreyer: wESTA MAN
ByThis project began with the sound of a motor. Dreyer was involved in another sound art project that portrayed the industrial shipping history of the town Mandal located in the southern coast of Norway, where he grew up. The album, Domestic Engine , based on the sounds of of the boat engine called Marna Motor was released in 2007 by Dreyer's quartet Piston Ltd. (Hecca, 2007). Five years later Sigbjørn Nedland from NRK (the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation) challenged the three musicians to compose new pieces focusing on a particular high speed catamaran engine, the Westamaran, an innovative work of engineering, and about its cultural significance in maritime regions. The musicians were interested in its global reach and tracked it in East Africa, in one off the coasts of Zanzibar, Tanzania.
The music sets an enigmatic atmosphere. Distant, drone motor sounds are blended with the sounds of the ocean, below and over the water, patiently become clearer as the pieces evolve. Local East-African violinist Mohammed Issa Matona attempts to anchors the mournful "Hydrophone Blues" in his culture before this soundscape withdraws to another exploration of the sounds of the sea. The delicate "Pwnai," with local kalimba player Anania Ngoriga, is one of the most beautiful pieces here. The suggestive, melodic guitar lines of Dreyer are answered with subtle percussive and electronic touches that together, form a profound hypnotic experience. The industrial drones of "Kili" and "Endemic Engine" are intensified in the metallic eruption of "TINA." And then this arresting sonic journey returns to a spare and soft percussive sounds in "Nje" and the gentle conclusion of "Submerge."
Strange and beautiful.
Track Listing
Catamaran; Hydrophone Blues; Pwani; Kili; Endemic; TINA; Nje; Submerge.
Personnel
Bjorn Charles Dreyer: guitars, pedal steel, bass pedals, electronics; Hallvard Wennersberg Hagen: miscellaneous DIY instruments, bass, electronics, B-string ukelele, crotales’ Erland Dahlen: percussion, saw; Mohammed Issa Matone: violin (2); Anania Ngoria: kalimba (3,7), guitar (7).
Album information
Title: wESTA MAN | Year Released: 2013 | Record Label: Hevhetia