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Two fractions distilled from Norway’s N-Collective – the stable long-chain of  Ultralyd and the more volatile short-chain of Moha – have spilled on Rune Grammofon.  Despite Moha’s two members Morten J.Olsen (the J disambiguating him neatly from the head coach of the Danish national football team) and Anders Hana forming a crude 50% of Ultralyd, you would hardly know it, so different are the resulting albums.

Ultralyd’s Conditions for A Piece of Music is far less frenetic than their most recent release proper Chromosome Gun, a place where the 4/4 drum beat of “Saprochord” would have felt a bit underdressed.  The influence of so-called stoner-rock bands such as Earth is obvious in the metallic drone undercurrent, to which can be added fiery space-jazz (“Comphonie III”, featuring honks from the notably restrained saxophonist Kjetil Möster, borrows from Joe Henderson’s classic “Earth”), and the lop-sided dark funk of This Heat (the brilliant “Low Waist”).  Conditions for a Piece of Music is a hugely impressive dark and slow-burning record.

Conditions… is available now from Rune Grammofon.  You can listen to more at Ultralyd’s myspace.  A review of Moha’s Norwegianism will, as surely as a red sky at night brings shepherds’ delight, appear some time tomorrow…