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It may seem a long way from the immersive electro-acoustic studio landscapes on “IV”, to the transparent interpretations of Hildegard von Bingen´s (b. 1098) music. Or from the patient and delicate folk abstractions presented in collaboration with guitarist Fredrik Rasten, to the freely improvised meeting with the British master drummer Mark Sanders. However, Miman is an exceptionally flexible unit, that moves with ease wherever the music needs it to.
Motvind Records stalwarts Miman mark their 10th year as a working band with “X-IV”, their first release since 2021. Including four very different albums, it gives both old and new listeners the opportunity to get to know some of the different musical landscapes in which Miman are right at home.
«It doesn’t make much sense to apply a lot of the usual metrics to both the music created by the Scandinavian trio Miman or the way the group operates. Its members possess deep curiosity and generous versatility, but despite routinely pushing their music in ever- changing directions, with a constantly growing variety of collaborators, Norwegian fiddler Hans P. Kjorstad and clarinetist Andreas Røysum and Swedish bassist Egil Kalman are anything but dilettantes. They’re often categorized as improvisers—and there’s little question they excel at the practice—but such a label misses the point of what Miman is about. And Miman is about music, full stop.
X-IV celebrates the trio’s tenth anniversary, and in typical Miman fashion it more than doubles its entire recorded output over that time, with the inclusion of four disparate albums. The group released three superb, nonchalantly varied albums between 2018-2021, all of them rooted in free improvisation without heeding the tired dictates of so-called non-idiomatic improv. Miman takes the music wherever it needs to go in the moment, whether that meets touching on free jazz, Norwegian fiddle music, contemporary classical techniques, or richly striated drones. Sometimes they use the studio to add post-production flourishes, sometimes they use structural conceits in live performance, and, as you can hear from the album devoted to the music of Hildegard von Bingen, they play compositions. It’s all about music.”
From Peter Margasak´s liner notes. -
Artist: Miman
Title: X-IV
Catalogue number: MOT35, 37, 38 & 39
Recorded and mixed by:
CD1 & 2 recorded & mixed by Magnus Nergaard
CD3 recorded by Adam Asnan, mixed by Egil Kalman
CD4 recorded by Peder Simonsen, mixed by Egil Kalman
Mastered by: Giuseppe Ielasi
Release date: 07.11.2025
PERSONELL:
Andreas Røysum – Bb-clarinet, bass clarinet, contrabass clarinet, flute, percussion
Hans P. Kjorstad – Violin, synthesizer, saw, percussion
Egil Kalman – Double bass, modular synthesizer, percussion
Fredrik Rasten – acoustic guitars
(on CD3)
Mark Sanders – drums & percussion
(on CD4)
FORMAT:
4CD Box Set + digital
Including liner notes by Peter Margasak