The Aller Værste: Materialtretthet
MIC’s Listen to Norway series continues with a true classic from the vibrant Norwegian early 80s new-wave era: The Aller Værste and their ‘Materialtretthet’ album.
“(The) Worst of all”, they called themselves, and in a time when many bands took pride in just that (sic.) 1980 was a year of unease and anomaly in the eyes of the musical establishment; things were going astray, moving inn all directions simultaneously it seemed. A lot of diverse, irregular and remarkable music was being produced. In Norway this new wave had many proponents, but none more influential perhaps, and in hindsight ahead of their time, -hence veiled in enigma, than “Det Aller Værste!” Their 1980 album “Materialtretthet” has been one of those rare few albums that though itself obscure, has been spoken of and exercised tacit influence over the years. The advent of its reissue has been long awaited, but finally it is here anew, for all ignorant and oblivious to compute. The strange and strong commitment traceable in the record is challenging: the music is original, diverse, unpredictable, and most of all intrinsically vibrating with the force of true commitment and concern. The lyrics accord in all these ways; written –in Norwegian- by four different individuals, expressing the restless souls of youth taking the responsibility of doing it all their own way. The words created precedence in Norway, as did the music. The record is a legend, it changed things.
Headlines:
Himmelkvad
Celebrated vocal ensemble Nordic Voices is currently out on its promo tour for their new outing ‘Himmelkvad’, a critically acclaimed album presenting Norwegian composer Lasse Thoresen’s unique vocal universe. MIC Norway takes a closer look at the cutting-edge vocal ensemble and ground-breaking composer.
I was the devil in my younger years
Late Feb sees Enslaved heading out on a month-long European tour. MIC Norway hooked up with Enslaved’s Ivar Peersen to talk about musical cross pollination, inspirational sources, humour and his fascination for singer-songwriter Stein Torleif Bjella.
