Link to unofficial Supersilent site
Norways near-unclassifiable improv outfit Supersilent release their 8th album as a full length CD
on September 17. After the extended live venture which was "7" in DVD format, which encompassed
both the audio and visual dynamic and immensity of their combined skills displayed at the Oslo Jazz
Fest 2005, its back to just the abstraction of pure sound representing their art. And yes, it does
REPRESENT. The advance copy I've had this past week has been on near-continuous play at home on
the Rega stereo. As with their previous ventures, its the combined individual (both traditional and avant)
musical skill of all the members of this outfit that make for the great improvisational virtuosity of their
work. Said skills being applied to the gamut of sounds, from monolithic slabs of often dissonant textures,
to cinematic ambient passages to improvisational blasts of sonic tumult which later find rest as subtle
yearning peals of horns and electronics which dissipate into near-silence and then build in new and
varying configurations. In interview Supersilent have said that their finished albums come from extended
recordings sessions, sometimes producing as much as 10 hours of what they would call 'good' work,
which they edit down to the 'essential' and its that latter quality that makes for the content of the
album-proper. With this being their methodology, they have also spoken of, at some point, if money
and Rune Grammofon will allow, releasing a 10-12 CD box set of selections from that very-same 'good'
material which has accumulated over the years as a final closing statement to their collaborative project.
Rumors have abounded that both "7" and "8" were to be their last new recordings together as an outfit, on this
(further) evidence of their incomparable, totally singular sonic formula, I'm very much hoping its not the case.
Press release from Rune Grammofon:
http://www.runegrammofon.com
Rune Grammofon:
"Helge Sten, Ståle Storløkken, Arve Henriksen and Jarle Vespestad celebrate 10 years as a groundbreaking quartet with their first studio album in almost 5 years. Their music lives in a no-man's-land between the genres, somewhere between rock, electronica, jazz and modern composition. Yes, we say composition because when listening it's not far fetched to think it could have been, although everything here is improvised, as it has always been with Supersilent. With "8" they have yet again re-invented themselves, exploring more abstract and mysterious pathways and ending up even further away from traditional categories."
"The album is mixed by Helge Sten, produced by Deathprod and mastered by US mastering guru Bob Katz."
