CD - 61:22 3 tracks To celebrate the Swedish artist and composer Leif Elggren and his forthcoming retrospective exhibition at Färgfabriken, Stockholm, "Flown Over by an Old King", Ash International R.I.P. has released a compact Disc The intensity of the recording reflects that of the activity on stage. It also is a metaphor for the integrity with which Leif has pursued his career without damage to his originality, spirit and sense of humour - dark and offbeat, but never losing sight of the fun. His other releases, usually as part of the Firework stable, include the book Experiments with Dreams[every toilet should have one so you can laugh and crap at the same time] and one of the finest CDs ever recorded, Talking to a Dead Queen [1996]. For Ash he contributed to Antitrade [1999], and co-authored The National Anthem of Elgaland-Vargaland [Ash 3.3, 1996] with CM von Hausswolff. UGN [Oven] In the oven the porridge cooking Two actors worked furiously Intense and violent Everything painted orange Glass porcelain smashed Tools used Sledge hammer spit club 27 girls dressed in white The porridge still cooking when the actors left Bits and pieces Stillness UGN was recorded in December 1984 at EMS in Stockholm for the performance 'UGN' at Fylkingen Stockholm on January 12th 1985 UGN was first released as a 12" by Radium 226.5 in 1986 [RAFE 016-46]] MAT [Food] Repeated four times during one evening On the border between sleep and waking Ten actors with false beards in bed Fed with potatoes during the acts Eating sleeping pills Drinking Whisky in the breaks A fight against indolence Movements rapidly changing Between intensity and stillness A dog dressed like a sheep MAT was recorded during Spring 1989 at EMS for the performance 'MAT' at Moderna Dansteatern in Stockholm on May 19th 1989 Reviews: Boomkat (UK): Originally released on Ash International back in 2000, the two lengthy pieces making up this disc are actually rather older than that: 'UGN' was recorded in December 1984 at EMS in Stockholm, and was first released as a 12" by Radium 226.5 in 1986. 'MAT' came a little later, also recorded at EMS, but in May 1989. Led by Elgaland-Vargaland founder Elggren, these two documents still have the ability to confound, yet both retain an enormous sense of power. From 'UGN' you can expect a bizarre array of electroacoustics that converge on a kind of noise-based performance art, shifting through dark rumbles, mangled operatic vocals,strange percussive gestures from within the room and distant string dissonance. It's hard to work out quite what's going on, but the wonderfully absurdist feel to it all is amped up considerably by the accompanying text's reference cues: "In the oven the porridge cooking" and "27 girls dressed in white". At thirty-five minutes, 'MAT' is ten minutes longer than its counterpart, and spends much of its duration stirring up a more subtle, drone-based soundscape. Not without a tendency to erupt into spillages of manic noise and industrial abrasion, this is the kind of musical rabbit-hole Nurse With Wound and The Hafler Trio like to lead you down - challenging, sonically unfathomable and lined with a peculiar sense of humour, UGN MAT comes highly recommended.
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