We’d like to call this acoustic drone jazz. Viktor calls it Slow Jazz on himself which might give you an even better idea on how this sounds. This beautiful album (Viktor’s first one with this band) is sensitive and fragile. It is music filled with passion, warmth and love. It invites you in and holds some dark moods and atmospheres which is perfect for some high quality time in your own company. A great late night companion!
Viktor Sjöberg started recording his music around 1995 experimenting with what hip-hop might be and become, and soon using field recordings and record sampling in his ambient activities. He is a member of Jens Lekman’s live band and is currently travelling the world with him.
Let’s hear what the man himself has to say about the album.
"Words are kind of tricky. This might actually be one of the instances where words are redundant, but I'm on a train right now and the activities available are somewhat limited.
So, here goes;
Jazz.
By letting people know that you are not part of a something, for instance a "musical movement", you are automatically letting yourself be controlled by the thing that you claim to have no connection to. In other words, a negated reference is still very much a reference and one should be aware of the fact that by making a statement such as "this is not one of those tired testosterone-fuelled free jazz records" you are inviting the connection between your work and the very thing that you are trying to avoid. Perhaps even more importantly, you are letting yourself be defined by what you're not. This all sounds quite serious. I could follow this up by writing that "this is not a manifesto", but by now we all know that saying that would kind of turn it into one. Yeah.
Digging myself deeper; in a conversation that I once had with Douglas Holmquist, one of the members of the Victor Sjöberg New Jazz Ensemble, he reflected on the fact that "free jazz" in the Ornette Coleman-sense was sort of followed by an implicit exclamation mark and that this exclamation mark seem to have evaporated as the phrase went from being a call to arms into being a description of something formulaic and institutionalized. The reasons behind forming this group, the Victor Sjöberg New Jazz Ensemble, and calling it a New Jazz Ensemble isn't really about something as catchphrase-friendly as "bringing that exclamation mark back!" (oh, see...I did it again). It is just a humble comment on the sad fact that a lot of the time the word jazz is very limiting, both in the mind of the consumer and from the point of view of the musician/producer. That is not cool.
The album that we have recorded is called "Do nothing 'til you hear from me" and it contains five variations on one musical theme. It is a jazz album and I hope that you will enjoy it"
// Viktor Sjöberg |
