I must confess I was a little worried when I found out that Arve Henriksen had moved from Rune Grammofon to ECM. And not just because it would mean his new album would be without sleeve design by the peerless Kim Hiorthøy. I was concerned that some of his music’s quirky protrusions would be smoothed down and given a glossy sheen. As it turns out, while the blistering Deathprod-inspired drones of his last on Rune Grammofon have been ditched, Henriksen has a wealth of new ideas to make Cartography an absolutely compelling listen.
Helge Sten is still on mastering duties, but otherwise his role as Henriksen’s creative foil on Cartography is taken by Jan Bang. Beneath Henriksen’s fresh take on Jon Hassell’s trumpet sound, Bang adds depth with layers of minimal electronics and samples, vinyl crackle and tiny glitches, as well as snatches of voice and strings. On the first of the pair of crisply-recorded live tracks from the Punkt festival, “Poverty and Its Opposite”, he is on live sampling duties, performing subtle manipulations, building loops from the sound of Henriksen’s breath. On “Loved One” he constructs the track with a dictaphone. Bang isn’t the only guest to have a significant influence here: on two tracks, David Sylvian (who collaborated with Henriksen on the Nine Horses project) recites sonorous monologues. On “Before And Afterlife”, his reminiscences are sliced into sharp-edged fragments, before being reset amongst icy strings and muted trumpet, while on “Thermal” he is menaced gently by swelling electronics. More voices appear on the album highlight “Recording Angel”: first, the arresting falsetto of Henriksen himself, then from amidst the gloom a ghostly appearance by Trio Mediaevel.
On Cartography, Arve Henriksen is steering a course through deep and dark waters. It is a journey well worth taking with him. (I can’t help but wonder what Kim Hiorthøy could have done with the cover though.)
Cartography is available now from ECM.
1 comment
December 2, 2008 at 2:18 pm
Colin
I love this album as well. Is it your favourite Arve? I think I prefer Strjon, but it’s a close-run thing. The cover really is awful though – those inner sleeve ‘jazz performer’ pics of Arve really don’t suit the music at all and Sylvian’s words lose something by being printed out. The halcyon days of Barbara Wojirsch and Dieter Rehm are long gone. Doesn’t spoil the music, but nor does it boost it like Hiorthoy’s work. Arve’s playing is remarkably varied, probably the result of the different settings and other performers. Each album, apart perhaps from Chiaroscuro, is a remarkably coherent collage.