Late twenty-something Kåre Pedersen was born in Brazil but raised inNorway where he became an integral part of the local scenes in variousbands, probably most notably with Kåre & The Cavemen (akaEuroboys). A year after their split in 2000, Pedersen began work on'Sideman', his solo debut. I've learned to expect the unexpected whenit comes to music from Scandinavia. Yet I'm still a bit shocked by thecatchy pop and rock hooks of Kåre's tunes (kinda like when I firstopened the insert to discover him holding a gun to his head). Somereference points are easy: Spiritualized / Spacemen 3, psychedelic eraFloyd and Beatles, The Cure, My Bloody Valentine, etc. Anders Borne'ssomewhat whiny vocals are a quickly acquired taste but Kåre's (andnumerous Norwegian guests) multi-instrumentation is immediatelypleasing to the ear. Solid drums and fat bass guitar propel the melodicgrooves as they gather layers of guitar and atmospheric swirl. Subtleproduction highlights like piano, slide guitar, horns, bird song andrunning water exquisitely enhance the moods, often building up into awonder wall of sound. The album feels musically happy and upbeat, evenin the blues of "Channel Five". Wearing his heart on his sleeve, Bortneunabashedly confronts the confusion of love on "Sunshine Blues" and"Love Report". You gotta love the organ stabs, guitar soloing and BeachBoys-styled backing vocals of the infectiously giddy "Frank Furius"."Dark of Heartness" ends it all much like it began with "CaptainTrips", a longer track with several minutes of ambient decay/growth.Just another nugget from the Nordic frontiers.
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