LASSE
MARHAUG- it’s not the end of the world
(CD, quasi pop)
Lasse Marhaug is busy man. It is a wonder this is his
first proper solo release to be reviewed in these sites. Of course, there
are various cooperations (e.g. with Anla Courtis) and I remember doing an interview
with him when Cracked was still a xeroxed zine, and then another when
Cracked did not even exist, but never a review of a solo release.
Incredible, because if you are interested in fringe music you will stumble
over Marhaug sooner rather than later and by the time you stumble over this
little website you already know him pretty well. Anyway, let’s be happy
that Quasi Pop is offering this little compilation with music this
globetrotter has recorded in various places over the last four years. Some
of it released in other places on other labels, but I don’t think there is
anybody out there able to keep up with this man’s release schedule.
Marhaug is the only person I know of that has released tapes in the last
month.
“It’s not the end of the world”, but the first
tracks make you think that maybe it is close by. Harsh, disrupted and
chaotic electronic noise from various sources and samples. After a while and
with more tracks crashing in things get a little softer, but it is probably
just your mind adapting to the barrage of noise, because for one things
rarely settle down in a really easy mode and for second, the high frequency
noises of “Moto to land” are even more disturbing than the harsh noise
in the beginning. It sounds like gigantic robo fights from within the
machinery. It is crash boom clang and it works. “Business class one” and
“business class two” are the highlights of this record. Burning,
torching, blistering noise approaches that pound like a fiery hailstorm in
all their distorted, manipulated glory. On “Business class one” the most
disrubted noise turns into a droning ambient track by sheer force and
willpower. Not soothing, not at all, but somehow by magic burning your mind
until it appreciates noise for what it is, just the other end of silence.
“Business class two” takes the same raging noise and with a sleigh of
his hand turns it into a weird, rhythmical track
How much more of this noise does the world need? It
could be argued that once you have heard and experienced one, you’ll know
them all. And for most electronic noise artists this could be true, but
there is something lively and energetic to Marhaug’s approach and results
that make them different each time. And new and also exciting. No, nobody in
his right mind would play this kind of music to his new date on the first
evening, not even if she is tatooed on her forehead and wears a chain
between her pierced nipples and claims she wants to rub Masami Akita.
Moreover, there is real variety on this record, which shows that there is
still a lot to discover, to experiment and to achieve in the noise genre.
This kind of eclecticism in his very own, narrow paradigm – which Marhaug
flees out of a lot as well – shows the possible scope. He knows how to
structure a track to show slowly evolving dynamics, as he does e.g. for
“Mogel Bakover”, but otherwise on this release he prefers to get right
into your face and then twist it around.
