Recommended: Geir Sundstol – “Brodlos”

 

The music of Geir Sundstøl is elemental.  The guitarist’s spellbinding melodies are a stiff breeze in a sonic atmosphere that settles in right from the first note and doesn’t fade until the last has sounded.  His latest solo release Brødløs does nothing to diminish this reputation.  An inspired medley of Bowie’s “Warzawa” and Coltrane’s “Alabama” is the album centerpiece, but just as compelling a facet of Sundstøl’s sound is the dizzying array of instruments put to use.  Pedal steel, Shankar guitar, moog, banjo, loops, mandolin are just a few of the sonic textures Sundstøl layers atop one another.  Add to this the guitarist’s enlistment of an equally diverse set of musicians on tabla, keyboards, effects, wind instruments and percussion, and this music’s hypnotic effect is amplified a hundred fold.

This is truly singular music.

Your album personnel:  Geir Sundstøl (pedal steel, six string bass, banjo, harmonica, cümbüs ̧ National Duolian, Shankar guitar, Moog MiniTaur, Lexicon organ, pianochordia, marxophone, timpani, optigan, guitar, mandolin, Prime Time loops), David Wallumrød (Minimoog, Prophet 5, Arp Pro Soloist and Juno 60), Erland Dahlen (drums, drum machine, frame drum, steel drum, log drum, marching toms, xylophones, dulcimer, musical saw, Schulmerich handbells, blossombells, triangle, metal plates, and vocals), Nils Petter Molvær (trumpet), Jo Berger Myhre (Fender VI, Moog Minitaur), Sanskriti Sheresta (tablas, vocals) and Mats Eilertsen (acoustic bass, vocals).

Released on Hubro Music.

Listen to another album track at the artist’s Soundcloud page.

Music from the Oslo, Norway scene.

Available at:  Amazon