Alog are Norwegian musicians/sound sculptors Espen Sommer Eide (a.k.a. Phonophani) and Dag-Are Haugan. Miniatures is their third album, in addition to it being yet another strong release on the eminent Norweginan label Rune Grammofon. The label has been pushing the boundaries of indigenous and contemporary Norwegian music for quite some time, and Miniatures, in that respect, does not disappoint. One thing that can certainly be said about Miniatures is that the record is truly original and unique -- an absolutely intriguing and mesmerizing combination of glitch, field recordings, and random, yet oddly calculated bits of noise woven together into a lush tapestry of sound.
The mood of the album slowly shifts over its entire course. Though Miniatures begins with the completely icy and synthetic "Severe Punishment and Lasting Bliss," Eide and Haugan gradually introduce haphazard acoustic instruments and percussion, ambient sound effects, and white noise, which culminate in the album's closer "Building Instruments," a piece that is heavy on thumping, improvised "percussion," abstract, chopped-up sonic structure, and random room recordings. Furthermore, the layers on this final piece seem to be nearly infinite. There's something to be sonically unearthed from this track upon each listen. The record as a whole is dense, to an almost impenetrable degree, and as such, offers the listener something new with each listen. Unlike the laptop-folk releases of recent years, Miniatures carries the idea of fusing the acoustic and synthetic to a higher level, in that the acoustic and the synthetic are subverted. There is something organic and flowing about the strictly electronic components of the album, and the acoustic parts are cut-up and reassembled in such a way as to sound quite unnatural.
There is also a sense that Miniatures is a sort of "jam session" of assembled sounds that is designed to convey an atmosphere of ritual drone. It's an intensely personal album that lends itself nicely to headphone listening coupled with a contemplative state of mind. In fact, it is to the credit of Alog that the artists' maturity and restraint have allowed them to create such an understated work. With a record this ambitious in its scope, it could have easily become a straight-up noise fest. Instead, what Eide and Haugan have created is a record that defies the conventional logic of contemporary electronic music and is consistent throughout its entirety.
There is little to be found here in the way of melody, however, and this is one of the album's drawbacks. Miniatures features an extremely strong sense of immediacy: it commands the listener's attention, challenging her to aurally deconstruct what she is hearing. But beyond that, the album is simply not terribly memorable. Fleeting and ephemeral, it doesn't have the resonance of some of Rune Grammofon's other recent releases.
1. Severe Punishment and Lasting Bliss
2. Steady Jogging Of the Heart
3. St. Paul Sessions II
4. The Youth of Mysterious Conversations
5. Leyden Jar
6. Pesce Spada
7. Buffalo Demon
8. Change Position
9. Building Instruments
More about: Alog
