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Reviews

Actionfredag — Turist i Eget Liv
(Bandcamp áMARXE 0924, 2023/2024, CD)

by Peter Thelen, Published 2024-11-12

Turist i Eget Liv Cover art

At the start of the opening track, “Pönk på Svenska,” one will hear some old-timey music with scratches behind it, maybe something from the 40s, but just as soon as you get used to that around twenty seconds in, a full band band erupts with some scorching instrumental progressive rock, carrying it forward for almost six minutes, when you can finally catch your breath. Never heard of Actionfredag before? That’s okay, this is the Norwegian band’s first full length album, originally released on LP by the Hærverk Industrier label in 2023; our good friends at áMARXE came in earlier this year (2024) and released an expanded edition with one bonus track on compact disc, and word of this excellent band is catching on fast. The core band is a five-piece, drummer Espen Fladmoe Wolmer mixes it up with bassist Ola Mile Bruland to make for a most formidable rhythm section, while Martin Hella Thørnquist and Aksel Valheim Lem share the guitar duties, with the former also contributing the male vocals, and keyboardist Ivar Haugaløkken Stangeby completing the quintet. Now add to that about ten guest players contributing various instruments, including two female vocalists, melodica, harp, flute, glockenspiel, sax, clarinet, and violin. Vocals are first introduced on the second cut “En behagelig durakkord som sier noe om hvordan det er å se uten å bli sett” — that’s one long song title that translates roughly to “A pleasant major chord that says something about what it's like to see without being seen”; here the band slows down the manic pace to a degree, mixing bluesy and jazzy elements with Åsa Reem’s violin while Thørnquist comports himself as an excellent singer — and do I detect a strong hint of Zappa here? “Peaches en Ulven” is probably not what you’re thinking, thirty seconds in after a polite intro this four-minute monster with wordless female vocals turns into a manic rocker informed by all the right influences, perhaps a dollup of Canterbury with that. The group puts it all together on the nine-minute “Ensomhet er bare en følelse” that closed side two of the original vinyl edition, a mix of rock, jazz, hints of folk and classical, plenty of changes and burning complexity, with Norwegian vocals (as are most of the vocals throughout), for an amazing, ever-evolving journey to the conclusion of the piece. That would be it on the vinyl, but the CD bonus, “Tobias,” is a powerful jazzy instrumental number that again has a strong Zappa meets Supersister vibe. This one is too good to ignore!

Filed under: Reissues, 2024 releases, 2023 recordings

Related artist(s): Actionfredag

More info
http://amarxe.bandcamp.com/album/turist-i-eget-liv-expanded-edition

 

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