Anfang September erscheint das gleichnamige Debüt des norwegischen Duos Naaljos Ljom, auf dem die beiden ursprünglich in den lärmenden Künsten geschulten Musiker Anders S. Hana und Morten Joh traditionelle Musik ihres Landes in eine zeitgenössische, weitgehend elektronische Gestalt überführen. Traditionelle norwegische mikrotonale elektronische Tanzmusik ist mittlerweile bereits zu einem geflügelten Wortungetüm geworden und wird durch das Album sicher noch mehr zum Gesprächsthema werden. Es escheint digital und als LP bei Motvind Records und ist Teil der Reihe Perspektiv på norsk folkemusikk.

“Was it unforeseen that the genre “traditional Norwegian microtonal electronic dance music” would appear right now? For followers of new interpretations of Norwegian folk music in recent years, the answer is probably no. The tradition is very much alive and never have there been so many practitioners of it as today. And with such a rich musical tradition, it is inevitable that the genre will be the subject of experimentation and further exploration. But, had someone who lived in the folk music scene in the 1920s or 1820s made a time travel and ended up at a hi-fi system here in the 2020s with Naaljos Ljom playing loud, the person in question would probably have shown interest. For the tones and rhythms are largely the same.

The album Anders S. Hana and Morten Joh have screwed together consists of six tracks – five tunes and one song. They are all traditional, taken from the rich folk music archives we have in Norway. Anders Hana has made a great effort in learning both langeleik (droned zither) and mouth harp. He also plays modified electric guitar with microfrets. Morten Joh, with his analog synths, plays both melodies and grooves, and he also seeks to express the magic, that is everything in between the beats, the tones and the phrases. We also need to mention the two brilliant guest musicians, Olav Christer “Laffen” Rossebø on fiddle and Kenneth Lien on vocals.” (Motvind)