Label: Fro Musikkforlag, 2020
Personnel - Jakob Eri Myhre: trumpet, effects pedal, cracklebox, Casio keyboard, tuning forks; Aksel Jensen: bass, effects pedal; Henning Carlsen: samples, electronics, SPD-SX percussion sampling pad
Focusing on experimental narratives that transpire considerable abstraction and multi-sensorial awareness, Game of Drones - the Norwegian trio of trumpeter Jakob Eri Myhre, bassist Aksel Jensen and sampling artist Henning Carlsen - often pokes the listeners’ imagination through an offbeat sound design. What Computers Cannot Do is their debut full-length album.
Experimental electronic music comes along with an eruptive, erratic beat on “Speed” to convey a sinister sense of foreboding that looms large. Imagine having the dark dancing grip of Cabaret Voltaire and the underground art rock of Robert Fripp inhabiting the same space.
Also shinning darkly among other pieces, “Selenography” leans deeper into ambient, contrasting with the clear, still waters of “Sleep”, which blends tonal smears for a congruent result. The zap and sizzling electronic sounds by Carlsen are transferred into “Lucid”, which provides a more discernible harmonic progression via Jensen’s bass conduction, whether pedaling or pushing forward. Moreover, Myhre’s shimmering trumpet often searches for transparency on the higher registers.
“Bang” features an intelligible synth language with no subterfuges, ending up in a sort of mechanical fantasia that arises from the conjunction of a propelling rhythm and a bass figure. There’s a shift in mood that implies a shift in rhythm, and the beat becomes fragmented, leaving us stalled in atmospheric inquisitiveness. By the end, the trio reinstates the earliest rhythmic form with wailing trumpet phrases atop.
In a similar danceable fashion, “Alarm” goes from a more vivid streak of funk and progressive electronica into a wistful sound world of dark dronescapes, chiming spareness and spectral, cosmic-like effects.
Not for all ears, this record is recommended for those expecting jazz to go beyond standard paths.
Grade B
Favorite Tracks:
02 - Bang ► 04 - Lucid ► 06 - Alarm