Elephant9 - Atlantis '2012

Tracks list

Tracklist

01. Black Hole
02. The Riddler
03. Atlantis
04. A Foot in Both
05. Psychedelic Backfire
06. A Place in Neither
07. Freedom´s Children


Norwegian progressive/neo-psychedelic/jazz-rock trio Elephant9 exist in an
ever-evolving musical collision of mid-70s Miles Davis, Weather Report, Tony
Williams Lifetime, King Crimson, and Hawkwind, filtered through an anarchic yet
canny expression of technological and improvisational futurism that can range
from harmonic and funky to dissonant, blaring, and sprawling. They have drawn
considerable praise from both the jazz and rock communities worldwide for their
album catalog beginning with 2008s Dodovoodoo. Commencing in 2012, they began a
series of ongoing yet sporadic collaborations with vanguard guitarist and
bandleader Reine Fiske, as displayed on Atlantis, and later on Silver Mountain
(2015) and Psychedelic Backfire II (2019).
Elephant9 formed in Oslo around the talents of keyboardist Ståle
Storløkken (Supersilent), bass player Nikolai Hængsle (National Bank), and
drummer Torstein Lofthus (Shining). The instrumental groups heady blend of
mid-70s Miles Davis, Weather Report, the Tony Williams Lifetime, King Crimson,
and Yes has drawn considerable praise from both the jazz and rock communities
worldwide. Elephant9s debut album, Dodovoodoo, was released on the Rune
Grammofon label in June 2008, and drew positive reviews in Europe. 2010s Walk
the Nile attracted U.S. jazz critics who welcomed its provocative
improvisational attack. The band issued Live at the BBC in 2011, and the
recording was greeted with nearly universal acclaim, garnering interest from
rock and jazz press. When Elephant9 returned to the studio, they enlisted
guitarist Reine Fiske (Dungen, latter-day Trad, Gräs och Stenar) as a
collaborator for 2012s Atlantis -- he received co-billing. After an intense bout
of touring, the members of Elephant9 took a time-out to focus on their other
individual projects. Fiske was enlisted again when the band began recording
sessions for a new album. In early 2016, Silver Mountain -- again co-billed --
was released by Rune Grammofon. Two years later, after collaborations with Fiske
and guitarist Terje Rypdal, they returned to the core trio of their two first
albums -- Storløkken, Hængsle and Lofthus -- to investigate a more
visceral but groove-oriented sound. The single Actionpack1 was issued in January
of 2018, with their fifth full-length, Greatest Show on Earth, following a month
later. As usual, Elephant9 thwarted critical expectations by issuing a pair of
simultaneously released albums in 2019 entitled Psychedelic Backfire I & II, the
latter (which opened with a completely reworked, 14-plus-minute improv cover of
Stevie Wonders You Are the Sunshine of My Life) in collaboration once again with
Fiske.

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