Manafonistas

on life, music etc beyond mainstream

2014 25 Feb

Good morning, Henning!

von: Michael Engelbrecht Filed under: Blog | TB | Tags: , Comments off

You are the only one I know witnessing one of the live performances of Stian Westerhuis and Pale Horses (the title reminds me a bit of a melancolic western movie with Clint Eastwood, „The Pale Rider“). So, Rune Grammofon will issue a record with the band. Dark stuff with uplifting moments? Brutalist noise? Or even some beautiful melodic lines involved, Northern adagios, so to speak. What can we expect? So long, Michael! 

 
Hai, Michael.
 
A short jump into Stianologics?

Neither nor, I guess …

Pale Horses was invented in the deep woods of Sjøbygda out of Trondheim. Right, I saw their first concert, den ersten Auftritt der Schimmelreiter mit ihren Bleichgäulen, at last year’s Molde-Festival. The concert was handicapped by heavily imbalanced sound but I liked the direction and the energy. Here’s short VIDEO snapshot, Nights And Sleepless Days.

Pale Horses is definitely meant as a rock-modelled band with Stian as a singer-guitarist at the center and open to far outreaching excursions. The Pale Horses show at Molde had this nightride quality ever conjured up by The Doors. It was driven by Erland Dahlen’s mighty bass-drum bombs, the electric storms of Øystein Moen’s keys and Stian Westerhus’ battery of guitar-pedals and his singing. Here’s a critical note by an experienced concert visitor.

Mælstrom, the title of their first album to be released on Rune Grammofon, suggests the sounds of a raving wild bunch with inscripted songs sang by the great master himself. A compact format accessible for bigger audiences?

Pale Horses recently played at Budapest’s Trafo a double bill opposite the Jakob Bro Trio with Thomas Morgan and Jon Christensen. Guitarreros del norte contrarios. Here’s a review:

A nyugalom azonban nem tartott túl sokáig, mivel rövid szünet után színpadra lépett Stian Westerhus és a Pale Horses. Westerhus neve Nils Petter Molvaer szárnysegédjeként nem lehet ismeretlen a norvég jazz rajongóinak, de most bizonyította, hogy szólóban is rendkívül erős. Ha Bro zenéjét a fehér jelzővel akarnánk illetni, akkor Westerhus világa koromfekete: kemény noise-rock, rengeteg kísérletezéssel, és a gitár adta lehetőségek radikális újraértelmezésével, pszichedelikusan hideg színekbe burkolva. A billentyűsök mögött Øystein Moen állt, akinek betonkemény Mellotron akkordjai és vészjósló szinti-hangszínei remekül passzoltak Erland Dahlen profán dobolásához. Mivel Westerhus sokat énekelt, a hangulatilag szerteágazó, ám mindvégig borongós zenei betétek néhol dalokká transzformálódtak. A trióban felgyülemlő nagyfeszültséget elsősorban a gitár vezette le: ebben nagy szerepet játszott az effektarzenál is. Sodró lendületű, útkereső zenekar a Pale Horses, a norvég kortárs hullám talán legnagyobb reménysége.

And here’s a VIDEO of Pale Horses performing inside the impressive Dome of Trondheim last august together with Susanna Wallumrød. It has a long, very long startup.
 
salut, Henning

 

Hai, Henning,

very interesting, and even better that i grew up in Budapest, so it’s an easy read!

I only have small doubts concerning the vocal qualities of Stian. But errors are my daily food :)

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