The old saying about books and covers come to mind when I look at the sleeve of this album. Instead of austere, minimalist electronica; Per Henrik Svalastog serves up some gorgeously vibrant electronic(ish) music that uses the warm tones of traditional Norwegian instruments where normally glitches and icy synthesisers would be the first port of call. Solidly produced and performed, Woodwork is a marvelous album well worth investigating.
Rune Grammofon
Much like everything else on the Rune Grammofon label, Svalastog's Woodwork is a thing of elegant, minimal beauty. Eschewing the cool electronic medium that he has previously worked in, this album sees Svalastog instead pursuing a warmer acoustic path. Granted there is a lot of computer manipulation going on but the character of the acoustic instruments he is using is well preserved. He uses a selection of very old Norwegian folk instruments including a ram's horn and the harpeleik (a type of zither harp). Each of these has quite a unique sounding tone to start with and with the added effects and editing; the album develops a foreign and otherworldly atmosphere.
Many of the pieces are built out of small segments of Svalastog picking away at an instrument and layering counter rhythms over it, before being fleshing out the sound with all sorts of weird and wonderful melodies and noises. "The Wood Metal Friction" is a fitting example of this approach; it begins with a few simple refrains that do not seem to fit together particularly well until a strong bass kicks in. Then all of the elements suddenly merge with the rhythm to make a majestic and regal sounding piece. Svalastog more or less sticks to this formula for the whole album, although the music on Woodwork is anything but formulaic. "Centerline Reminder," for instance, builds up in nearly the exact same way as "The Wood Metal Friction," but sounds completely distinct (as well as being excellent).
Svalastog is obviously comfortable working on his computer as the post-production on the instruments is flawless. It is unclear how much of the sound is completely electronic or played instruments manipulated by computer. In any case, it all sounds amazing. He lets a lot of the original resonances and tones sing through. Most of the time he restrains himself to bog standard techniques like stereo panning to add some space to the pieces. The panning on "Mouse Tracking" towards the end sounds great on headphones, the stringed instrument (whatever it may be) seems to be jumping from one place to another, becoming two sources of sound before collapsing in on itself.
The pieces that make up Woodwork sit together very well on the CD. The pacing of the music is just right, with enough variation to make the album flow without hindrance. It is hard to find fault with it, I am struggling to find something wrong with it in order to make a balanced review but I think I will have to resign myself to having no bad words to say about it. Woodwork is a captivating and rewarding listen.
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