Weserbergland - Sehr Kosmisch Ganz Progisch - 2017
intro
“Sehr Kosmisch Ganz Progisch” by Weserbergland is an homage to the seventies krautrock scene seen through the eyes of Ketil Vestrum Einarsen. A Norwegian flutist and multi instrumentalist we all know from his work with White Willow. As a composer he has also written music for documentaries and a TV series (together with Lars Fredrik Frøislie). Their BandCamp page talks about the simplicity of krautrock mixed with an overload of multitracking and heavy use of effects and compositional techniques from contemporary or classical music. Mattias Olsson (Änglagard) provides the motoric beat throughout the album. White Willow leader Jacob Holm-Lupo plays some bass and guitar and was responsible for mixing and mastering of this album.
line-up
Ketil Vestrum Einarsen - vocals, flute, clarinet, electric piano, synths, organ, samples and programming; Gaute Storsve - guitar, bass; Jacob Holm-Lupo - bass, guitar, programming; Mattias Olsson - drums, percussion, electric sitar; Einar Baldursson - guitar; Brynjar Dambo - synth; Roger Langvik - Fx; Lars Horntveth - saxophone; Erik Johannesen - trombone; Tetsuroh Konishi - trumpet; Stephen James Bennett - piano, synth; Lars Fredrik Froislie - synth, clavinet
review
As a complete surprise I received three albums from the Bergen (Norway) based Record label Apollon Records. Besides this Weserbergland album the label also released albums from the acts Suburban Savages and Pixie Ninja. As you will know Krautrock was a German affair so in style the project name and album title are in the German language. “Sehr Kosmisch Ganz Progisch” could be translated as Very Cosmic Completely Progressive.
On this album you can find the following four long tracks; “Tanzen und Springen” (9:46), “Das Trinklied vom Jammer der Erde” (15:44), “Die kunst der Fuge” (12:04) and “Tristrant” (8:49).
The album opens with the track “Tanzen und Springen” (Dance and Jump). On top of a bed of motoric beats from Mattias Olsson which slightly remember me of the band Into the Nursery you can find lovely synth and flute melodies. Later on the musical palette is extended by some guitar solo's. The music of this rhythmic opener is multi layered and has a cosmic atmosphere. The second track, the longest of the album, is called “Das Trinklied vom Jammer der Erde”. This beautiful track has more electronic and ambient atmospheres. The melodies used in this track are very beautiful. Very slowly the tension of the music is building up. Halfway the track you can hear after a hectic guitar solo some great flute playing of Ketil. The music is working towards a climax with delicious synth and guitar solo's before it slows down with some ambient atmospheres. Because of the melodies and the diversity this piece has become one of my favorite tracks of this remarkable album. “Kunst der Fuge” has an ambient opening before the rhythmic drums and percussion are kicking in. You can find nice organ and synth parts in this track. And again the melodies are very beautiful. In the last part of this lovely song that is mainly keyboard dominated you can find a nice guitar part. The album comes to an end with the piece “Tristant”. This piece has lush synth tunes on a bed of a combination of real drums and drum programming. In the last part the music becomes a little freaky with trumpet and trombone solo's
conclusion
Well this is a nice album with a mix of krautrock, electronic and progressive atmospheres. You can find some lovely synth and flute melodies on this album. The strong point of the album is that it keeps the attention of the listener. And that's a big complement for a completely instrumental album. Maybe it is because there is so much going on, on this multi layered album. I enjoyed listening to the album “Sehr Kosmisch Ganz Progisch” of Weserbergland very much. Keep those surprises coming!