Nils Petter Molvaer: Switch – review
Ethereal wisps of melody float over wreaths of electronica and the most muscular beats are given a melancholy touch
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The Norwegian trumpeter’s ethereal wisps of melody floating over wreaths of electronica conjure a brooding Miles Davis prowling Nordic urban hinterlands.
“Switch” features sparse rhythms and echoing, film-noir guitar, “The Kit” and “Strange Pillows” are built on chest-pumping beats and “Somewhere Shady” is carried along by funky bass and watery slooshes. Molvaer, unhurried throughout, gives the most muscular beats a melancholy touch.
Highlights are the four sparsely-textured “Intrusions”, in which Molvaer’s centred sound is perfectly matched by the resonant whine of Geir Sundstøl’s pedal-steel guitar.
Nils Petter Molvaer
Switch
(OKeh)
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