EFTERKLANG – TRIPPER (THE LEAF LABEL)
October 11th, 2004 by susanna
The excellent Leaf label bring another left-field marvel to our ears in the shape of this collection of musicians from Copenhagen who augment themselves for this release with players from Iceland’s Amina string quartet, previously known for their work with Sigur Ros. And indeed, if the glacial sounds of the likes of Mum and Ros or the new chill out tones of Telefon Tel Aviv are your cup of tea then this album will not disappoint. To add to the frieze a remarkably well-arranged Greenlandic choir looms over the proceedings lending an overall contemporary classical feel to the composition. I mean this in a good way.
A year in the making, Tripper is an unbelievably confident debut. The acoustic klang of piano, strings, voice and brass is wrapped in a glitchy electronic envelope that pushes the record forward into new territory. Despite the comparisons it doesn’t sound exactly like anything else you’ve heard this year. Quite the new sensation as it’s high up in the headphones on a crisp autumn morning.
The production is like glass and the playing assured; the quietly spoken voices bring a good measure of intimacy to the feel. There’s also a welcome proportion of droning going on through the atmospherics. Drones are absolutely essential and are often present in the best soundscapes. Efterklang means as it sounds, that is, the reverberation or “after noise”. This notion of remembrance makes for the most attractive sense of yearning in the music that is found in all of the great electronic and ambient works from Harold Budd to Biosphere.
The option of seeing this played live with the visual collagist Karim Ghahwagi should not be missed. Maybe somewhere under the stars out in the Herefordshire hills would do nicely. In the meantime, I suggest that you rush out and buy the CD from Leaf, because, as the frost forms on the windowpane and the fire flickers in the grate, this is the perfect soundtrack to all of your winter hibernation plans.
Alan James
Efterklang’s Tripper is out 25 October on Leaf
Buy it here
