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ARTIST
TITLE
Opera
FORMAT
CD
LABEL
CATALOG #
HAPNA 009CD
HAPNA 009CD
GENRE
RELEASE DATE
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[replaced by HAPNA 040CD] Andreas Berthling/Johan Berthling/Tomas Hallonsten: guitars, laptop, pedals, synthesizers, harmonium, melodica, field recordings, percussion, harmonica, zither, piano, flute, bells, glockenspiel, accordion, trumpet, paper, styrofoam, yongmei. "If you listen carefully to Tape's autumnal blend of plucked guitars, skittish electronics, and warm organic sound, you can actually see the landscapes these pieces seem destined to score. The music made by this trio -- which comprises Andreas and Johan Berthling and Tomas Hallonsten -- is entirely instrumental and abstract, and yet its gentle rolling sound fields seem to encompass very concrete places and times. Resisting the powerful temptation to clutter up their songs with electronic debris, the trio uses laptop effects and glitchy splatter as accents, one more falling leaf in the dry rustle of pre-winter preparations. Opera is dominated by acoustic guitar, with simple Fahey-esque lines weaving their way through a tight winding path, surrounded on all sides by pulsating harmonium drones, horns, electronics, and hiss-filled field recordings. Tape's approach to making music is all too rare these days, as they comfortably -- and seemingly effortlessly -- straddle the barbed fence between the accessible and the avant-garde. Opera's multi-layered sonic collages are forged from the absolute cutting edge of electro-acoustic music, at times calling to mind the rattle-and-drone of the Erstwhile catalogue or the chiming laptop compositions of Kim Hiorthoy. And yet Tape is also entirely their own entity, drawing inspiration and techniques from all quarters and blending them into a melodic, accessible, mellow sound that's all them. That this album can be so lovely and seductive and charming on its surface is one thing; that it can be all that and still reveal such depth and complexity going on underneath is another, and that's what makes it so worthwhile." -- Ed Howard.
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