Erlend Apneseth Trio - Lokk '2021

Tracks list

The trio of fiddle player Erlend Apneseth with guitarist Stephan Meidell and
drummer Øyvind Hegg-Lunde follows up their Nordic Prize-nominated album of
2019, ‘Salika, Molika’, with a remarkable suite of tunes inspired
by the rhythms and physicality of the human body in motion.

Originally commissioned by FRIKAR Dance Company to accompany the performance of
a new work, ’Skaut’, dealing with the covering of the body in
different cultures, the music of ‘Lokk’ takes the trio further than
ever before into completely fresh areas of electro-acoustic improvisation. The
sounds of their original instruments are integrated with electronic beats and
treated textures to form a kind of enhanced digital-folk style whose influences
stretch from traditional south Asian ragas to contemporary dance culture from
around the globe. The result is intense, and intensely rhythmic, music where the
normally separate realms of the cerebral and the corporeal can appear to fuse
into one irresistible groove. As the trio rocks on - in a dream of perfect
interplay between instruments and players, soloists and ensemble - deep,
trembling sub-bass intersects with ethereal ambient soundscapes. Elsewhere, the
twittering of birdsong - from both real bird-calls and the uncanny imitation of
them by Apneseth’s Hardanger fiddle - meets archival recordings of
Norwegian herdswomen.

“Our musical idea for this project was to unite different extremes,
connections that felt “forbidden” in one form or another”,
says Stephan Meidell. “For example, by using the sampled recording of
traditional herd-calling, blended together with aesthetics from more
contemporary music styles. This exploration has led us further into a rhythmic
and danceable landscape than in previous releases. We also wanted to use this
opportunity to deliberately make more dance-related music. As regards the
original commission, were pretty free to do what we wanted, but there was one
specific dance in mind, ‘Valdresspringar’, for which Erlend wrote
the melody. It’s a traditional, asymmetrical dance and has a very
particular form. The melody is on the track called ’Springar’,
which we then messed around with.”

This messing around with” element is key to the sound of
‘Lokk’, whose playful experimentation over the nine separate tracks
creates a beguiling, constantly surprising sense of adventure and intrigue that
both draws the listener in, and then keeps them on their toes as to where the
next stage of the journey will take them. It also becomes inescapably obvious
that this is a group of three equals. The contributions of Stephan Meidell and
Øyvind Hegg-Lunde, as musicians, co-composers and producers, appear every bit
as important as that of Erlend Apneseth, who performs superbly throughout.
“Even though the trio carries Erlend’s name, it’s a band in
every sense of the word”, says Stephan Meidell. “We make the music
together, where everyone brings their ideas and we build on each other’s
input and output. This is not our “coming out” as a band, but the
group is sometimes interpreted as having a hierarchical structure, as a soloist
and accompaniment.”

As is evident from the trio’s live performances, where each member
seamlessly integrates the acoustic and the electronic elements in their
respective sounds through constant monitoring and tweaking, Apneseth, Meidell
and Hegg-Lunde are also pioneers, creating real-time effects that in the past
were only available through post-production or the intervention of a sympathetic
engineer and a truck-load of kit. ‘Lokk’ translates this
fleet-footed improvisational approach, and the players’ lightning-speed
reaction times, back into the environment of the recording studio, where the
music composed for the original FRIKAR dance piece was further embellished and
adapted. Played live, it will continue to change again, as improvised music
always does. 



Tracklist:
01 - Erlend Apneseth Trio - Erindring (0:43)
02 - Erlend Apneseth Trio - Impedans (4:25)
03 - Erlend Apneseth Trio - Slekter (5:04)
04 - Erlend Apneseth Trio - Linjer (3:59)
05 - Erlend Apneseth Trio - Fuglane (3:25)
06 - Erlend Apneseth Trio - Springar (5:39)
07 - Erlend Apneseth Trio - Vake (1:01)
08 - Erlend Apneseth Trio - Lokk (3:37)
09 - Erlend Apneseth Trio - Skimmer (8:52)

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