press «For the middle class» (2006):
Adverse Effect
«Pretty incredible long-player…»
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monochrom (AT)
«All the while the music flows and grooves like some living organism,
with the plucked notes from the bass bouncing, the drums steadily going
their way and various kinds of noise blazing away everything that might come in the way of our happy little trail. It is as easy to join as to come aboard the peace train.»
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It’s a trap!
«Without a doubt, though, Huntsville take you on a wild, often psychedelic ride, making every overlapping sound matter. This is a major release in the realm of Nordic soundscape music.»
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All About Jazz
«Norwegian trio Huntsville isn’t a traditional country band, or a traditional anything else for that matter.»
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Sefronia
«”For the middle class” se transforme alors, par intermittence, en magnifique album de noisy folk, hallucinatoire et énigmatique.» Read
more here
Coke Machine Glow
«I heard this album right after we submitted our lists for the year-end, but this would have almost certainly been in my top
ten.(…)Huntsville are a wonderful new edition to the experimental ranks of jazz and electronics, both in their seasoned instrumentation and the obvious joy they take in created music with character, soul, and humor, as well as a lot of broken middle class dreams.»
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Rock City
«The middle classes referenced would doubtless scratch their heads in bewildered indifference and carry on with nondescript exsistences. For the most part that would be their loss.»
BBC
«…involving, evocative music that’s genuinely emotionally engaging
aswell as pressing all the right buttons for those on the lookout for newsonic thrills. Beautiful.»
All About Jazz
«Each musician has developed such an idiosyncratic language and
analmost telepathic interaction with each other that the musical
outcomeblurs any conventional concept of listening, yet the music
sounds verynatural and organic and surprisingly quite harmonic.
(…) For The Middle Classes is
the most accessible recording from these creative musicians —surprising, sometimes funny, sometimes irritating, always offering tons of provocative revelations, and very convincing. One of my top ten releases of 2006.»
read more here
Boston Weekly
«A Norwegian improv trio armed with a banjo, a double bass, a pedalsteel, a bizarre tabla machine, shruti boxes and a fondness for freeing folk from its folk songs—from Santa Fe to Bombay. (…) If the futureis too much to bear come New Year’s Day, lodge yourself in the
present with a 50-minute stay in Huntsville.»
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Gonzo
«Huntsville spookt op intrigerende wijze door tal van stijlen en doet
dat met een subtiel oor voor finesse, experiment en eigenzinnigheid.»
«Hypnotisered its de enige juiste omschrijving.»
«Ivar Grydeland,
Tonny Kluften en Ingar Zach slagen erin dit onwaarschijnlijke geheel
bijzonder meeslepend neer te zetten om zo van ”For the Middle Class”
een spanned stukje experimentele muziek te maken.»
Other Music
«Epic, hellmouthed buildups that never quite break, organ grinder monkeys given bionic arms and legs and left to wonder why, obtuse drone, and the foresight to assemble all of these disparate elements into one compelling package are what’s at stake here,
Huntsville providing a dead serious, dreamlike, at times blisteringly
impatient stab at the advancement of the avant-garde trio. Hypnotic
and reassuring.»
Indiepoprock.net
«Expérimentant de nouvelles formules, de nouveaux assemblages,
lestrois membres de Huntsville proposent un premier album dépaysant,
sortede folk atmosphérique mutant où les espaces de libertés sont nombreux, y compris pour y laisser courir notre imagination dans une
relativequiétude… A découvrir !»
read more here
De:Bug – 108, 12/06
«Grossartige Platte!»
read more here
De:Bug – 108, 12/06 – (the second review in the same magazine)
«Huntsville sind die Köninge des Rhythmus!»
read more here
Jazznytt – 06:2006
«(…) but it sounds good. And new. Nobody has made such music before.»
The London Milk Man
«While it is pretty obvious from the two substantial improvisations here
that Huntsville can work from each other and build on the irrespective
strength very well, For The Middle Class is a surprisingly accessible
and melodic well cooked gourmet collection. The band experiment with various music forms in
very effective and convincing fashion, making this album yet another flawless addition to the Rune Grammofon catalogue.»
Readmore here.
Almost cool music reviews
«(…)definitely make me want to keep an ear out for Huntsville.»
Read more here.
Nordische Musiek
«Jazz oder Elektronik? Das Trio Huntsville will sich da wohl nicht
sorecht entscheiden. In dem Fall ist aber gar nichts dagegen
einzuwenden, denn die vier Stücke »für die Mittelklasse« gewinnen durch dieses Wabern zwischen den Stilen. Und der Hörer irrt mit: Ist die
Perkussion perfekt gespielt oder digital geloopt? Ist das ein Bass oder eine Bassmaschine? Gitarre oder Synthesizer? Handgemacht oder maschinengefertigt lässt sich hier nicht mehr trennen. Dabei klingt
der Anfang noch wie reine Experimental-Elektronik: Nach über drei
Minuten schält sich ein Beatmuster heraus, nach acht Minuten schillert
der Klang dann hinüber ins Instrumentale. Die
Highspeed-Rhythmus-Schleifender 20-Minuten-Tracks peitschen ordentlich voran; dahinter klimpert, raschelt und zupft es improvisatorisch,
plötzlich mit Hawaii-Gitarre oder einem Walking Bass, der die nervöse Trommel-Lokomotive auf einmal grooven lässt. Einfache Musik ist das
nicht. Man könnte sie sogar anstrengend nennen, diese ausgestelle
Nervosität und Auflösung aller Jazz-Strukturen – wenn sie nicht gleichzeitig so unverschämt lässigwäre.»
Trust
«Drei impro-erfahrene Norweger entdecken ihre Liebe für Country, Elektronikk, Drones und Folk. Dabei bevorzugen sie immer noch expansivere Formen, bringen gerade mal vier Stücke auf diesem
Album unter, die sich langsam zu voller Pracht entfalten, verleugnen
auch die Liebe für freien Jazz nicht. Was indes bis weilen bei freier Musik den Einstieg verwehrt – immenser Krach, Kakophonie oder im
Gegenteil annäherndes Nichts– sucht man hier vergebens. Ein
oberflächlich betrachtet sanfter Fluss, in dem sich auch mal eine
Steelguitar finden lässt, delikate Pickings, filigrane Polyrhythmik. Das
erinnert manchmalan die freieren Momente von Gastr del Sol, aber auch
an Jim O’Rourke’sche Folk-Exkursionen.»
Terz
«Als ob’s in der Luft läge: dieses norwegische Trio
verbindet Folk-Fingerpicking / Countryvibes mit elektronischen und Improv-Kontexten, wobei der freigeistige Aspekt noch mehr überwiegt
alsbei Alexander Tucker. Gerade mal vier Stücke hat’s hier, die aberhaben’s in sich: langsam entwickeln und öffnen sich Strukturen, die mehr auf Stimmung und Serielles setzen als auf ständige Re-Territorialisierung. Hochspannende perkussive Polyrhythmik
und neue Klangquellen – großartig!»
Dagsavisen
«”For the Middle Class” is an album that immediately appeals
and challenges the listener with new revelations on repeated listenings.
In their search to find unexplored territories they haven’t just made
a record for the middle class, but for everybody.» (5/6) read it here (Norwegian only)
Groove
«The music is similar to the film music of the Boxhead ensemble, Ornette Colemans polyrhytmical works, Canadian post-rock and early Supersilent -
but most of all it’s strikingly original and different»
Click here to read it (Norwegian only)
De Subjektivisten
«From their own world and with their own sound they embrace Supersilent,
Bohren Und Der Club Of Gore, Beirut, Tape, Tim Hecker, In The Country
and John Cage»
Click here to read it
Alternative Nation
«Freie Geister entwerfen einen mitreißenden Rhythmenorganismus und
dieHüfte folgt: One World Under The Influence Of Its Complex Grooves, Dancing To The Rhythm Of Our Hearts – um die Quintessenz von For The Middle Class in einer der Weltsprachen auszudrücken.»
Click here to read more
Dagbladet
«(…) a feast of sound with a steady beat and soft harmonies. (..) a kind
of electronica- country (…). The interaction of many, often unorthodoxily played instruments, in addition to some
electronical boxes, varies in density, and gives therefore the necassary
dynamic to a very original and attractive interplay.»
Bad Alchemy
«Diese Überraschung gelingt! Was immer ich von den drei Herren
aus Norwegen erwarten würde, die HUNTSVILLE bilden, For The Middle
Class(RCD2058) wär’s nicht.»
Aftenposten
«Det er en sann fornøyelse å høre hvordan Ivar Grydeland, Ingar Zach
og Tonny Kluften utfordrer seg selv. (…) Ja, Huntsville frigjør seg, uten å fornekte røttene og opptrer med smidig muskuløsitet. Alle
bidrager rettet inn mot fellesskapet. “For The Middle Class” er tuftet
på spilleglede og skarp retningssans. Det er denne typen utgivelser som fornyer troen på det uforutsigbare i musikken.»
(5/6) read more here (Norwegian only)
HISSIG
«So, by all means, give this a chance, For the Middle Class is undoubtably one of the finest albums of 2006» read it here (Norwegian only)
Side 2
« «For the Middle Class» er tøff og annerledes musikk som kommer overraskende fra Grydeland/Kluften/Zach – nå også kjent som Huntsville.»
read more here (Norwegian only)
The WIRE
«If a title like For The Middle Class sounds like a provocation, then Huntsville’s mélange of floating grooves, Indian tabla rhythms and Ambient guitar might play directly into the hands of dilettantes not really interested in the message of improvised music. Tonny Kluften (bass), Ivar Grydeland (guitars) and Ingar Zach (drums,
percussion, tabla) are familiar from their work in Improv ensemble No
Spaghetti Edition and as founders of the Sofa label; as such it’s slightly disconcerting to witness this latest direction.»
Read more here
Universitas
«Huntsville må nok sette seg ned og stille spørsmålet om visse stilarter rett og slett ikke kan blandes, eller at de kan det, men da av noen helt andre.» read the rest of this good, but bad review here (Norwegian only)