Naaljos Ljom 2 (LP)

Ey! We have good news for everyone who likes microtonal folk music mixed with electronic and noise. Persistent Naaljos Ljom is back, and they haven't been on the lazy side since their debut.

This is a classic sequel. Taste the title… “2”. Poetic? Functionalist? Minimalistic? Yes please! Naaljos Ljom has become a self-replicating structure, and as with all organic mutations, the new installation comes with undiscovered and unexpected properties.

Because they do it the way they did it on the previous album, yes, it's a next step further in the same direction, with tonally asymmetrical and rhythmically straight angles, inserted from the uneven materials they have found at recycling stations and antiquarian resource centres. They have looked further into the nuances and details, exposed several tissue samples from the tonality, studied form, progression, and mutual distances, and thus gained control over the format.

The first record got a lot of good reviews from the writers. Fiona Talkington wrote the following in Sonlines: "I was transported to secluded valleys where age-old traditions are the passionate expressions of a community, here re-energized by the chillingly sensitive electronic wizardry of Anders Hana and Morten Joh." And here in Norway even the tabloid newspapers picked it up, VG reported on one track on the album: "Gorrlaus has the same intense and monotonously suggestive sound hunt as early Kraftwerk, at the time they played ‘Ruckzuck’".

"2" opens with a statement from Eivind Groven himself, taken from a radio program in 1966 with the title "False or pure in our folk music? Lecture by Eivind Groven with musical examples". This briefly explains the starting point for Naaljos Ljom's project: "Today we will hear music that is not performed on an ordinary organ or piano. These are folk tones, which contain pitches or intervals that lie outside the usual tonal system."

Then we hear traditional tunes from various villages, inspired by solid players such as Andres K. Rysstad, Torleiv H. Bjørgum, Ivar Fuglestad, Gunnar Austegard, Sigurd Brokke, Daniel Sandén-Warg, Anders E. Røine, Thov Wetterhus and Kenneth Lien. They also have a “halling” inspired by master Trygve K. Vågen. They also honor Eivind Groven directly on two tracks on the record, both "Tolvtalsvisa" and "To visetoner etter Eivind Groven og Ola Brenno" copy the melodic material from unique 1930s recordings by Groven and Brenno, which Motvind Records listeners will get to hear more from next year.

It is also interesting that some of the tracks go in the direction of sound collage. This must be inspired by the field recordings the duo uses to learn the material, and in this way brings us closer to the source material. The music is put in a context - the real world.

There are also more fiddle playing here than before, now Hana has started playing the fiddle as well, and Rasmus Kjorstad contributed on one tune.

We also need to mention how refined the duo are working with the sound. Because it does sound juicy like a hot blackcurrant toddy. With excellent depth and width, the sound image is designed so that the listener's ears can melt in a pleasant way.

All of us who have seen them live more than 5 times can confirm that this is a hard working band. And they get better and better. They have played at, for a Norwegian folk band, an impressive list of festivals for "cutting edge" music: Rewire Festival in The Hague, Unsound Festival in Krakow, Fri Resonans in Trondheim, Elevate Festival in Graz, Sonic Protest in Paris, UH party in Budapest, Motvindfestivalen in Oslo (of course), Tuvas Blodklubb at Riksscena, Wonderful World in Stavanger, Fanø Free Folk Festival, and Folkemusikkveka in Ål. With this release, they will probably be playing in many more places.

Cat.nr: MOT22LP
Release date: December 1st 2023

Tracklist:
A1 Tolvtalvisa (05:24), A2 Fiskaren (05:22), A3 Rammeslått 1 (03:00), A4 Halling etter Jørn Hilme (06:30), B1 Skraddarlåtten (04:39), B2 Rammeslått 2 (05:31, guest: Rasmus Kjorstad – fiddle), B3 Foss / Fuglestad / Nordafjells (05:42), B4 To visetoner etter Eivind Groven og Ola Brenno (03:40)

Personnel:
Anders Sundsteigen Hana on jaw harp, langeleik, fiddle and guitar
Morten Johan Olsen Joh on analog synths, drum machines and SuperCollider

Recording and mixing by Naaljos Ljom, Rifferiet and Stille studio, Stavanger
Mastered by Mike Grinser, Manmade Mastering, Berlin

Cover art by James Beckett
Photo by Vidar Landa
Graphic design by Dridmachine and Naaljos Ljom