Recorded live at the Oslo Jazz Festival in 2010, Slugfield is a trio of Lasse Marhaug, Maja S.K. Ratkje, and Paal Nilssen-Love, three artists who would rarely have the "j" genre applied to them. The five tracks that make up this improvisation aren't jazzy in the traditional sense, but instead channel that combination of chaotic sonic freedom and moments where the artists lock together as a singular, three headed noise making beast.
It's Nilssen-Love's drumming throughout these songs that keep it in league free jazz the most. From the shambolic, kitchen sink freakouts of "Get Out The Traps" to the alternating sparse rhythms and rapid blast beats of "Bring 'Em On," he provides energetic propulsion. However, he's not afraid to lock into a traditional rhythm on the latter, or to step back completely to allow Marhaug and Ratkje's electronics breathe on their own.
Ratkje's contribution that is the most easily identifiable is her vocalisms, which to some extent could be labeled as jazz scat singing, but comes across far less human or even identifiable. Occasionally an obviously human guttural chirp or shrill squeak gets through, but it mostly becomes another abstract textural piece of the puzzle. It shows up sparingly, and I would imagine human physiology has a lot to do with that, given the physicality of her performance.
The third component of this trio, Lasse Marhaug, contributes mostly electronic outbursts and occasional turntable scraping, most notably on "Bring 'Em On," where it sounds like he is spinning (and scratching) a record of farm animal noises on top of elongated electronics and weird loops. His electronics though are far more sparse and less abrasive than his solo noise work, and instead are often a pleasant study of textures, sometimes reduced to the occasional crackle or looped bit of static.
The best moments are when the focus shifts from sparse micro-sounds to more harsh noise, like the departure from traditional rhythms and tasteful electronics to full on screams and feedback, on "Slugs for Lunch." The balance is struck throughout the album, but here it is the most obvious and overt.
While it was performed at a jazz festival, the genre is more insinuated than obvious here. Slugfield embrace the dynamic improvisation of free jazz, but give it a sheen of electro-acoustic experimentation and occasional harsh noise indulgence. The result is captivating in its lighter moments, and completely thrilling in its more disjointed ones, coming together almost perfectly as a singular work.
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