Hva er det som får deg til å spille musikk om og om igjen - et melodiøst refreng som gjør deg glad eller et fett groove? Det kan også være det stikk motsatte. Morgen som kveld har albumet "Spektralmaskin" gått rundene her, med sin svært effektive og minimalistiske skjønnhet.

Dette er tre lange instrumentalstykker, med vakre overtoner som kan minne om lyden av hjernen din som gnisser sensuelt mot innsiden av hodeskallen. Men også perfekt bruksmusikk til alt fra kontorarbeid til avslapning. Platen er et resultat av et frapperende møte mellom Peder Simonsen på mikrotonal tuba og gitarist Jo David Meyer Lysne. Sistnevnte er også samtidsmusikkens Reodor Felgen, med en rekke vanvittige instrumentoppfinnelser. Her i form av små magnetiske motorer med justerbare hastigheter, som brukes til å pirre strengene til å fremskape et unikt harmonisk spill.

Denne søndagen fremfører en utvidet duo et konsertverk som bygger videre på spektralmaskinens ideer, på Henie Onstad Kunstsenter - de lukkede øynes kunstmuseum!

On Saturday night I had a blast hearing Gard Nilssen’s Acoustic Unity play a killer show at Sowieso. I happened to be sitting next to Peder Simonsen, the Norwegian tuba player that’s one-third of Microtub. Earlier this year he released a terrific album with guitarist Jo David Meyer Lysne titled Spektralmaskin (Sofa), and I’ve been chastened by the fact that I had only given it one perfunctory listen back when it was released. Simonsen let me know that the duo was performing at Morphine Raum on Monday, December 2, which led me to cram in some last-minute listening for this week’s newsletter. The project began when Lysne began experimenting with sliding e-bows—a device he built from repurposed magnetic hard drives. E-bows can open a fascinating world of sound when used on guitar strings, but the process is unstable and unpredictable, yet Lysne enjoyed the process of patiently waiting for those fleeting moments when various factors line-up and the harmonic splendor of the technique opened up. He shared his research with Simonsen, who proposed using a guitar tuned in just intonation, a concept which cemented the new partnership.

On the recording Simonsen complements Lysne’s guitar sounds with a mixture of microtonal tuba, modular synth, sine tones, and various sized Pyrex bowls. They also invited several excellent improvisers—percussionist Ingar Zach, the agile violin and double bass duo Vilde (Sandve Alnæs) & Inga (Margrete Aas), reedist Espen Reinertsen, and horn player James Patterson—to join in, thickening the timbre and triggering further harmonic collisions. Each of the three pieces operate like sustained drones, but within each chunk there’s a ridiculous amount of harmonic richness and motion. Each listen has yielded greater depth and detail, at once offering a lovely strain of hypnosis while simultaneously unveiling a platter of brain-teasing activity. Below you can check out the opening piece, “I,” which includes support from Vilde & Inga and Reinertsen.

Simonsen and Lysne have been in Berlin working on new music, and a couple of local musicians have pitched in along the way: trombonist Henrik Munkeby Nørstebø and saxophonist Otis Sandsjö. The former’s participation makes loads of sense. Nørstebø is a virtuoso in multiple realms, but he has a strong affinity for the sort of harmonic exploration at the heart of this project, and he’ll play an opening solo set before joining Simonsen and Lysne during the headlining performance. The inclusion of Sandsjö, however, threw me for a loop, as the aesthetic of his work, particularly through the lens of his Y-OTIS project, couldn’t seem further apart. The Swedish expat loves groove and melody, and as heard on the project’s third and most recent album Y-OTIS TRE (We Jazz), he and bassist/producer Petter Eldh have forged a seductive, super hooky strain of instrumental funk that that melds J Dilla-style boom bap with almost folkish tunefulness. More often than the saxophonist plays terse, hooky gestures, working over licks in tight arrangements with Eldh’s slithering basslines, jagged beats played by Lukas König and Tilo Weber or programmed by the bassist, and keyboard colors from Dam Nicholls, his little phrases put through a motivic wringer and transformed by various electronic effects. Ordinarily it’s not the kind of thing that appeals to me, but the compactness of the production and the melodic grace and generosity of the tunes Sandsjö and Eldh create have hooked me. Below you can check out the simultaneously rubbery and stuttery “perla/moln.” I’m still figuring out how to reconcile that sort of attack with what Simonsen and Lysne are putting down, but I’m eager to hear it all unfold before my ears (and eyes).

What with the resources digital tools, electronics, and generative systems offer, it's never been easier to create dronescapes of extended and even unlimited duration. But for their collaboration Spektralmaskin (“spectral machine”), Norwegian experimental musicians Jo David Meyer Lysne (b. 1994) and Peder Simonsen (b. 1987) have chosen an entirely hands-on and tactile approach that's grounded in timbres sourced from analog instruments. The foundation for the album's three long-form pieces is the sound of an e-bow sliding across guitar strings to produce harmonics. Custom-designed by Lysne, these small magnetic motors generate shimmering tendrils and cresting washes of sound upon which the two layered pre-composed parts for French horn, contrabass, violin, bass clarinet, and tuba.

Das für viele interessante Alben abseits des Mainstreams bekannte Label SOFA kann seit dem 31.05.2024 mit einer weiteren spannenden Zusammenarbeit aufwarten. Auf ihrem Album „Spektralmaskin“ haben sich der Elektronik- und Microtonal-Tubaspieler Peder Simonsenund Gitarrist Jo David Meyer Lysne zusammengetan, um unter anderem gemeinsam mit Ingar Zach ein sehr spannendes Experimental-Ambient-Album zu produzieren.

Das Album besteht im Grunde aus einem Stück das in drei Teile gegliedert wurde. Der Teil ist zugleich der längste und wartet mit wunderbaren Ambientatmosphären aus Elektronik und der brummenden Tuba auf. Ingar Zach veredelt dieses Klangbild mit wenigen, aber effektiven perkussiven Klängen. Das Stück wandelt zwischen langsam und in Mollklängen vor sich hin mäandernd und wechselt dann immer wieder in etwas lichtere melodische Teile. Im Gesamtkontext klingt das zusammen wie eine verzerrte Kirchenorgel. In diesen mächtigen Klankosmos arbeiten sich dann auch noch eine Bass-Klarinette und ein Waldhorn ein, welche daran mitwirken, dass die Sanftheit zum Ende in eine eher bedrohlich anschwellende Klangwelt wechselt, die dann langsam zerfasert und wieder in die sanften Anfangsklänge zurückläuft.

Teil zwei ist dann ein bisschen schräger. Die Basis der mäandernden Klänge bleibt, auch wenn es ab und an etwas lichter wird. Über diese werden elektronisch und mit einer Violine sehr experimentelle Sound erzeugt, die sich langsam in das Gehör des Hörers bohren, bis am Schluss die Elektronik alleine übernimmt und sehr hohe, schwebende Klänge produziert,

Insgesamt passt diese Musik sehr gut zu dem Cover (oder andersherum), welches einen Blick in eine volle Baumkrone mit hellem Hintergrund gewährt. Die Musik ist insgesamt dunkel, doch blickt immer das Tageslicht durch diese Dunkelheit hervor. Das wird auch in Teil drei sehr offensichtlich, denn dieser ist wesentlich lichter und eingängiger als die zuvor präsentierte Musik.

Ein spannendes und entdeckenswertes Ambientalbum zum Augen schließen und darin versinken.

Put out on the circuit via the infamous Norwegian Sofa Music label on May 31st, 2k24 is "Spektralmaskin", the new, 34 minutes spanning three part album crafted and conceived by Peder Simonsen and Jo David Meyer Lysne who are following their experimental instincts, pairing experimental slow motion e-bow techniques, the sound of microtonal tuba, modular synthesis, sine waves, guitars, vibrating speakers and more unaltered real life instruments to form a distinct sonic landscape which, in the case of the opening piece "I" unfolds in the form of beautiful, slowly evolving and almost rural Ambient meadows moving towards layers of harmonic melancholia and all embracing low frequency movements emerging after roughly two thirds of the compositions total playtime. Furthermore we see "II" embarking on a journey into the lands of slightly off-harmonic nocturnal DarkAmbient backed by bass drone pulses and sustained, ghostly, longing, weeping and yearning tonal movements seamlessly blending into the subsequent composition that is "III" which provides a calm, almost solemn and all embracing Ambient closure for an album that's about to end up in many a genre collectors racks and needs to be heard at least once by fans and followers of contemporary Deep Listening Music - and probably by fans of the Cologne-based school of so-called Pop Ambient as well. File under: Beautiful music.

Strap yourselves in, spectral travelers, for a journey into the sonic labyrinth that is Peder Simonsen and Jo David Meyer Lysne's Spektralmaskin. This album is not background music for folding laundry. Simonsen and Lysne weave a tapestry of sound that is both unsettling and strangely beautiful. Imagine a haunted music box possessed by a playful but melancholic ghost.

Per the press release: "(The word spektralmaskin, Norwegian for 'spectral machine,' is Lysne and Simonsen's attempt to encapsulate the e-bow as a machine trained on material that is 'spectral,' referring to harmonic spectrum.)" There is a playful darkness to this production. It is the kind of album that may induce one to listen with the lights low, but not out of fear—more out of a desire to see if the music conjures any spectral companions in the room. The musicians merge an unorthodox array of instruments and sound-generating devices, amid cosmic manipulations, adding to the extraterrestrial soundscapes. The opening track, "I," sets the tone with a slow drizzle of pitches atop minimalist tonalities, gradually building into a mechanical whir that feels like the soundtrack to a robot's dream. As the album progresses, the interplay between the instruments becomes more intricate, with each track revealing new facets and subtle surprises. It is like peeling an onion, but one gets a sense of awe and wonder instead of tears. However, the respective instruments seamlessly meld together within an expansive dark horizon, yet projects warmth. Listening to this album is like wandering through a surreal landscape where the laws of physics are just suggestions. Track "III" is a standout moment on the album, displaying the duo's ability to create immersive and evocative soundscapes via Lysne's ringing guitar harmonics and droning extended notes, tinted by percussionist Ingar Zach's delicate mallet hits. It is a piece that invites the listener to close their eyes and let their imagination run wild. If you are a fan of the hauntologically beautiful, the delightfully weird, or want to impress your friends with your knowledge of adventurous Nordic soundscapes, then Spektralmaskin is for you. Just be prepared for the possibility that the music might linger long after the album ends, leaving you with the feeling that you are not alone.

Jo David Meyer Lysne è un compositore e chitarrista di stanza a Gvarv, in Norvegia, che ha già pubblicato diversi lavori per la sempre influente etichetta Hubro e per diversi colleghi ed ensemble. Peder Simonsen è invece un suonatore di tuba, compositore e produttore originario di Oslo, noto per essere membro dell’unica formazione di tuba microtonale (i Microtub). Dalla collaborazione tra i due, ecco “Spektralmaskin”, un lavoro uscito per Sofa Label e pensato per essere un grande esperimento basato sulla tecnica dell’e-bow e sulle interpretazioni armoniche di Simonsen. Il duo ha cominciato improvvisando con sintetizzatore e chitarra e ha lavorato intensamente nella fase di post-produzione, catturando il suono per il suono in tre brani lunghi, per una durata complessiva di circa trentaquattro minuti. Movimenti lenti, atmosfere calde, morbide e melliflue sono quelle di “I”, mentre il brano successivo scivola anche su lievi dissonanze e punte di acidità, in un percorso leggermente più breve, ma comunque convincente. “III” rappresenta, probabilmente, la traiettoria meno lineare, tra saliscendi in termini di intensità ed emotività. “Spektralmaskin” si scioglie su tonalità a sorpresa appena più inquiete, ma che non appaiono fuori fuoco in un contesto affascinante, anche se a tratti surreale. La collaborazione tra Lysne e Simonsen inizia col botto, con un lavoro che resta lontano dal rischio di somigliare a un esercizio di stile e corre leggero dall’alba al tramonto. (Piergiuseppe Lippolis)

Spektralmaskin – spectral Machine – documents the work of Norwegian experimental musicians – guitarist Jo David Meyer Lysne and microtonal tuba player, Peder Simonsen (of the microtonal tuba trio Microtub), using sliding e-bows (of Lysne’s own design) – small magnetic motors of adjustable speeds used to sustain strings, along guitar strings to produce harmonics. Spektralmaskin nods to such musical pioneers like La Monte Young and Harry Partch and, with its use of new music-making tools, and suggests a fresh, playful future for harmonic experiments.

Lysne and Simonsen’s fascination with their e-bow technique dates to the beginning of 2020. Lysne was amidst a shift from jazz performance to composition, pursuing an interest in space, timbre, and tuning, as well as building e-bows from repurposed magnetic hard drives and instruments. Simonsen was experimenting at that time with just intonation, and he proposed using Lysne’s e-bows to play guitars that had been harmonically tuned, resulting in striking possibilities for chords and timbres. They began improvising on modular synth and acoustic and electric guitars, with Lysne using e-bows on different speed settings to hunt for guitar harmonics. They added composed layers for James Patterson’s French horn, Vilde Sandve Alnæs and Inga Margrete Aas’ double bass and violin, Espen Reinertsen’s bass clarinet, Ingar Zach’s percussion and vibrating speakers, and Pedersen’s microtonal tuba.

Spektralmaskin is the outcome of hundreds of overdubs made by Simonsen that evoke his and Lysne’s elusive experience of time, space, and flow during the recording process. Spektralmaskinis also, as Simonsen reflected, a document of the acute modes of listening, to the guitars, to other musicians, to the natural world far beyond the studio. All resulted from these carefully woven harmonic hunts, at their essence a process of letting the instrument speak for itself.

The three enigmatic pieces offer distinct facets of Lysne’s e-bows. «I» employs a relaxed glissando that morphs into a series of vibrating chords, and steadily drifts towards a victorious conclusion. It evokes a sense of unpacking, as Lysne put it, of the instruments readying themselves for play. «II» focuses on an improvised riff that Lysne and Simonsen hoped «that the other wouldn’t stop playing», with a pulse that comes a distant, and encased in fizzling guitar harmonics. «III» is an intricate, slow drizzle of pitches atop thrumming tones that precludes a mechanical whir, after which comes a final push towards a warm finale.

This spacious and shimmering, highly meditative and immersive listening experience leaves the listener with a feeling that Spektralmaskin might be concealing as much as it lets through. You may feel that the room embraces us but retains its riddles.

Da brauchen wir was vermeintlich Anstrengendes zur Verdauung. Vielleicht die "Spektralmaskin" (Sofa) von PEDER SIMONSEN & JO DAVID MEYER LYSNE? Da wird in drei ganz schlicht römisch durchnummerierten (ich gebe den Kampf für die althergebrachte, die lateinische Wurzel sehr schön offenlegende Schreibweise "numeriert" hiermit offiziell verloren und deshalb auf) Stücken in prominenter Besetzung (Peder Simonsen - microtonal tuba, modular synthesizer, sine waves, pyrex bowls, Jo David Meyer Lysne - acoustic guitars, electric guitars, Ingar Zach - percussion, vibrating speakers on membranes (II, III), Vilde & Inga - violin, contrabass (I, II), Espen Reinertsen - bass clarinet (I), James Patterson - french horn (I)) die Stasis eines kaum bewegten Grundtons durch feine Variationen des "Drumherum" abgefedert bzw. illustriert. Bei "II" wird das zuweilen zu einem fast schon schauerlichen Heulen über dem rhythmischen TiefBrummen. Und zum Ende von "III" hin zu einem zyklischen Piepsen, wie bei einem stark gedehnten Morsesignal. Kraftvolle, ruhige und doch sehr bewegte Musik, die in reichlich 34 Minuten keine Sekunde Langeweile aufkommen lässt.

Musica dellévanescenza, sospinta da misteriose forze antigravitazionali verso le sfere celesti, impalpabile. Le fonti sonore sono minime: la tuba di Peder Simonsen - già avvezzo a trasfigurare il proprio strumento nel trio Mictrotub - e le chitarre di Jo David Meyer Lysne, modulate facendo scorrere lÈ-bow sulle corde per produrre armonici e droni. Da questa fusione se genera la "macchina spttrale" du cui al titolo, generatore di visioni in trasparenza e fugaci apparizioni a cui di volta in volta contribuiscono le percussiono di Ingar Zach, il violino e il contrabasso del duo Vilde&Inga e i fiati de Espen Reinterstsen (clarinetto basso) e James Patterson (corno), sebbene tutto rimanga strettamente delimitato entro una gamma di minime oscillazioni mantememdo costante il

Mikrotonalität, Just In- tonation und Spektralität bestimmen die Ästhetik der beiden Norweger. Der auf Hubro profilierte Jo David Meyer Lysne bringt, aus Gvarv, der kleinen Apfelhauptstadt der Tele- mark, nach Oslo gekommen, per E- Bow Gitarrensaiten zum Schwingen. Simonsen knüpft im Studio Paradiso mit mikrotonaler Tuba, Synthesizer & Sinuswellen an den ähnlich aus- gerichteten Gruppenklang mit Micro- tub an. Ausgeformt ist das jeweils als tönender Schichtkuchen. Bei (15:20) mit Espen Reinertsens Bass- klarinette, James Pattersons French Horn und Vilde & Inga an Violine und Kontrabass bilden summendes Ge dröhn einen trägen Flow. Gleitende, zeitlupig sich wälzende Wellen zei- gen, von sanftem Klingklang beharft, von Glissando gestreift, von der Tu- ba begrollt, ihre hellen Rücken, ihre dunklen Bäuche. Wenn da nicht Phill Niblock gehuldigt wird, wem dann? (9:25) erklingt, mit wieder Violine und Kontrabass und nun Ingar Zach an perkussivem Vibrato, in, nur zu Beginn, schnellem Pulsen und mit durchwegs jaulig changierenden Lauten sowie ganz sanften, ent- schleunigten Tupfen. Zach bleibt auch, nahtlos, als dritter Mann bei (9:28) und einer dritten Trift sonor im Raum schwebender Drones, weich tropfender und verhallender Tupfen. Helldunklen Drones und helldunklen Tropfen, die Tuba unten leicht an- geraut, oben wie mit Mehltau be- stäubt und repetitiv, die Tropfen jetzt klackend. Oder ich es eine gepickte Nylonsaite? Bis hin zum sanften Ausklang.

Auf SOFA erscheint in den kommenden Tagen eine Aufnahme der ersten Kollaboration der beiden norwegischen Experimentalmusiker Jo David Meyer Lysne und Peder Simonsen als Duo. “Spektralmaskin”, so der Titel des Albums, basiert primär auf dem Einsatz einiger von Lysne selbst gestalteter E-Bows – kleiner Magnetmotoren mit einstellbarer Geschwindigkeit, die in ihrer ursprünglichen Funktion zum Halten der Gitarrensaiten verwendet werden – als Erzeuger von Obertönen beim Entlanggleiten an den Saiten.

“Da diese Obertöne unregelmäßig auftreten können, belohnt die Technik den Musiker mit der nötigen Geduld, indem er den E-Bow über die Saite schwingen lässt und darauf wartet, dass die zarten Klänge ihren Höhepunkt erreichen” heißt es beim Label. “Inmitten einer aktuellen Welle des Interesses am Stimmen nickt Spektralmaskin sowohl musikalischen Vorfahren wie La Monte Young und Harry Partch zu als auch, indem es neue Werkzeuge zum Musizieren einsetzt, eine frische, spielerische Zukunft für harmonische Experimente vor”. Das Album erscheint in den gängigen Formaten, mehr zu den Hintergründen findet sich auf Bandcamp.

Tubaist Peder Simonsen og gitarist Jo David Meyer Lysne har jeg møtt i flere spennende og originale settinger de seineste åra. De har med all ønskelig tydelighet fortalt meg at de på ingen måte har tenkt å følge noen slagen landevei; de har villet og vil fortsatt stake ut sin egen kurs.

Den spesielle bua

Simonsen trakterer fortsatt sin mikrotonale tuba og Meyer Lysne spiller så avgjort gitar her også. Likevel er det ikke disse instrumentene som er mest fremtredende - i alle fall ikke hørt med tradisjonelle ører. De tre spora, som de to har unnfanga sammen, oppleves som vakre, sakteflytende droner der bruk av såkalt e-bow - en slags magnet som får strengene på instrumentet til å vibrere - er en viktig premissleverandør for det unike lydlandskapet de to tryller frem.

Når de så har fått empatisk reisefølge av Ingar Zach, Vilde & Inga, Espen Reinertsen og James Patterson, som alle har skjønt intensjonene og kursen Simonsen og Meyer Lysne har staka ut, så har "Spektralmaskin" blitt en tilstandsrapport fra Peder Simonsen og Jo David Meyer Lysne som er egna til å ta seg inn i og bli værende i ei god stund. Vakkert, annerledes og spennende.

Gullhuset

SOFA kaster også, som et par andre norske selskap som Losen og AMP, sitt nett både vidt og bredt fra tid til annen. Denne gangen er det bandet House of Gold fra Canada som blitt den ære til del å få sitt debutalbum sluppet på kredselskapet.

På mange vis er dette kanskje det straighteste SOFA-visittkortet jeg noen gang har hørt - eneren dukker opp akkurat der vi er vant med å møte den opp til flere ganger. Dermed er det på ingen måte sagt at det er noe a4-musikk vi blir servert fra landet på den andre sida av dammen - langt i fra!

Jeg har aldri hørt om om trommeslager, komponist og bandleder Isaiah Ceccarelli eller hans tre medsammensvorne Katelyn Clark (tangenter), Eugénie Jobin (vokal og synth) og Frédérique Roy (vokal, piano og synth) tidligere, men denne Montreal-baserte truppen har rundt Ceccarellis musikk og tekster skapt et vakkert og unikt musikalsk univers der både pop, jazz, impro, klassisk musikk, samtidsmusikk og en rekke andre herligheter blir satt sammen til en musikalsk gumbo jeg aldri har hørt maken til.

Unikt

SOFA nekter fortsatt å kompromisse med sine visjoner. Her har de gitt oss to strålende eksempler på musikk spennende musikk vi ikke ante fantes og slikt påfyll gjør godt for både nysgjerrighet, kropp og sjel.