PICA037

Bjørn Hatterud & André Hardang Borgen: Dalstrøka Bortafor [LP]

Pica Disk 2017 • Catalogue number: PICA037 • LP • Release date: MAY 8th 2017

Distribution by Metamkine.


Bjørn Hatterud and André Hardang Borgen have been staples of the Norwegian experimental music underground for 20+ years. Individually they have been active with numerous projects – spanning from post-ironic queernoise and decontructed folk plunderphonics to cloudy guitar psychedelia and hard hitting avant boogie – both musicians have wandereed the kind of adventerous artistic paths that starts to make sense when viewed in hindsight, revealting continuous multidisciplinary lines of ideas.

Despite being long-time collaborators Dalstrøka Bortafor is Hatterud and Borgens debut album as a duo. It’s also a record that took 13 years to make. Not that the twosome were aiming to making an album, Dalstrøka Bortafor slowly fell in place through numerous recording sessions that accumulated and eventually took the shape of an album. (You can’t rush magic).

The six tracks that make the album are dream-like electronic excursions, with layers of synth, guitar, percussion, viola and found sounds the duo weaves a sonic tapestry that hints at a kinship to 1970’s German electronic music pioneers. This is probably not accidental, as Hatterud collaborated with Conrad Schnitzler in the years before his passing. But there’s more to it, the Norwegian title translates to The Valleys Beyond – and this is music that brings you deep into Norwegian folklore, with trolls, draugen and other mythical creatures lurking within the forest. But, Hatterud and Borgen are there to guide you through the mysterious landscape, making sure that you come out at the other end unharmed.