Heilo Records bringen Anfang Juni das erste gemeinsame Album des ursprünglich aus dem Metal stammenden Multiinstrumentalisten Kenneth Lien und dem Elektronik-Virtuosen Jørgen Skjulstad, dessen DJ-Pseudonym Center of the Universe lautet heraus. Auf “Snu hver stein”, dessen Titel so etwas wie “Drehe jeden Stein um” bedeutet, dreht sich alles um das gemeinsame Potenzial von traditioneller norwegischer (Folk-)Musik und Elektronik und dessen bestmöglicher Verwirklichung, die hier mittels Hardangerfidel, Violine, Maultrommel, Weidenholzflöte, Drum Machine, Synthesizer, Samples und allerlei technischer Finessen bewerkstelligt wird. Das Resultat hat etwas sehr einzigartiges und so auch das Zeug, neue Traditionen hervorzubringen. Das bei der Unterschiedlichkeit der beiden Traditionen (und der Arbeitsweisen der beiden Musiker) schnell etwas ironisches oder gar parodistisches entstehen kann, wird bewusst mitreflektiert und entsprechend umgangen. “Why are there so few combinations between Norwegian folk music and electronic music?”, heißt es im Begleittext. “Is it because the traditional music is too obscured in norwegian culture or because the scenes are too different? The last years something new has happened; folk music has taken new previously unknown forms. Maybe the road is short from traditional dance to a night out clubbing? But how can this be done without ending up as a parody of both genres?”. Die Lösung der Problems liegt im Augenmerk auf den 
verbindenden Elementen: “On this album Lien and Center try to answer this question by digging deep into the material. The title means “turn each stone”, and the duo does just that in the search for something common between the two genres. That was not as difficult as expected! The hypnotic pulse, mysterious vibes and a tempo you can dance to is common, also both musics often drones along without any changes of key. The duo also quickly found that their combination set fire to dancefloors, with people going crazy at their live gigs”. Dabei wird auch der hohe Grad an Bewusstheit betont, der sich in der einzigartigen Gestalt des Resultats auszahlt: “For this album Kenneth played and producer Jørgen harvested the samples of the over and understrings of the traditional hardanger-fiddle, they sampled mouth harps, and they made drum machines play “springar” (a Norwegian traditional asynchronous rhythm and dance). It would be easy to water out traditions using electronic instruments since the technology tends to decide. Lien and Center refuse to do this, instead they go for amplifying the traditions to hopefully lay the ground for something new. Following this logic, the synths are tuned to natural scales, leaving the drum machines tumbling away to follow the steps of old folk dances. All the tunes and rhythms are traditional, but can we say this about the 808 drums and 303 basslines of house and techno? Maybe club music is just a more recent type of folk music after all?”. Das Album erscheint als LP und digital.