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▒ ░ ░ "OPEN MUSiC ASSOCiATiON"
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▒ █▓▓█▀ ██▓░ ▓ PROUDLY PRESENTS: ░ ▒ ░ █▓▓▓▒█ ▒
▓ ▀█▒█▄ █ ▓ ██▓▒█▀ ▓
▓█ █▓░█ ▒ Ketil Bj°rnstad - Devotions █░▒█ █▓
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▀█▄▄ ▀ ARTiST..[ Ketil Bj°rnstad ▀ ▄▄█▀
░ █ ▀█ TiTLE...[ Devotions █▀ █ ░
▒ █ ▀█ GENRE...[ Jazz GRABBER.[ EAC █▀ █ ▒
▓ █▄ █ LABEL...[ Emarcy Rec ENCODER.[ Lame 3.97 █ ▄█ ▓
█▄ █▄ █ YEAR....[ 2007 QUALiTY.[ avg. 183kbps █ ▄█ ▄█
█▄ █▄█ SOURCE..[ CDDA MODE....[ Joint-Stereo █▄█ ▄█
█ ▀█ PLAYTiME[ 77:03 min REL.DATE[ 12.31.2008 █▀ █
██▄ TRACKS..[ 16 RiPPER..[ TEAM OMA ▄██
░ █▓█▄ SiZE....[ 100,9 MB SUPPLiER[ TEAM OMA ▄█▓█ ░
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░ █ ▀█ █▀ █ ░
▒ █▄ ▀█ NR. TRACK. TiME. █▀ ▄█ ▒
▓▄ █ █ ∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙ █ █ ▄▓
█ █░ █ 01 The Window (Evening Version) 03:21 █ ░█ █
█ █░ █ 02 Here 03:14 █ ░█ █
█ █░ █ 03 The Moon Rising 05:58 █ ░█ █
█ █░ █ 04 The Tree in the Courtyard 03:55 █ ░█ █
█ █░ █ 05 Silhouetees 06:02 █ ░█ █
█ █░ █ 06 I Will Go There 05:49 █ ░█ █
█ █░ █ 07 The First Room 05:28 █ ░█ █
█ █░ █ 08 Confession 05:06 █ ░█ █
█ █░ █ 09 Approaching 06:48 █ ░█ █
█ █░ █ 10 Devotion 04:34 █ ░█ █
█ █░ █ 11 White (The Innocence) 07:23 █ ░█ █
█ █░ █ 12 Red (The Passion) 04:30 █ ░█ █
█ █░ █ 13 Black (The Sorrow) 03:54 █ ░█ █
█ █░ █ 14 The Inner Story 03:45 █ ░█ █
█ █░ █ 15 A Sunnen Thought 02:53 █ ░█ █
█ █░ █ 16 Nexus 04:23 █ ░█ █
█ █░ █ █ ░█ █
█ ▀█▄█ ∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙ ░ █▄█▀ █
▀█ ▀█ ▒ TOTAL: 77:03 ▒ █▀ █▀
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▓█ █▓░█ █░▓█ █▓
█ █▓░█ Where pianist Ketil Bj°rnstad gets his energy is █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ anybody's guess. Dubbed Norway's Renaissance Man for █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ his critically acclaimed work in music and █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ literature, the 55 year-old pianist is currently █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ celebrating the release of Devotions. It's the latest █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ in a series of elegantly crafted tone poems that █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ include Grace, Before the Light, The Nest, Seafarer's █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ Tale, Floating and the epic three volume solo piano █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ set Rainbow Sessions for Universal's EmArcy label █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ that have brought him an international audience for █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ his haunting, moving and melodically intense music. █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ Devotions follows on from where 2005's Floating, his █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ first album in the orthodox piano-bass-drums █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ configuration, left off. On it he is joined by █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ bassist Arild Andersen and drummer Alex Riel, but █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ this time the trio becomes a quartet with the █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ addition of Wolfgang Puschnig on bass clarinet and █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ flutes. "I enjoyed Floating and it would have been █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ easy for me to make two or even three more albums as █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ a trio," says Bj°rnstad. "But bringing in Wolfgang █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ Puschnig's instruments widens the soundscape, and █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ after Floating I'm more conscious about melody, what █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ are the possibilities. So for me it is to find a █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ balance between a very intimate approach and █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ expression I want and exploring further the █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ possibilities of melody than ever before." █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ Like so much of Bj°rnstad's work, Devotions is like a █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ soundtrack for a movie yet to be written. Evoking █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ powerful musical imagery through the tightly woven █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ elements of composition and improvisation on "White █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ (The Innocence)," "Red (The Passion)," and "Black █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ (The Sorrow)" - inspired by Edvard Munch's painting █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ "The Dance of Life" - and pieces such as "The Moon █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ Arising" and "The Tree in the Courtyard," the █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ unifying theme of the album is the bitter sweet █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ memories of places and associations of time gone by. █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ "For me it is more like a short story with the titles █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ giving a little hint of the story line," he says. █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ "The private house which becomes a private concert █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ hall - you listen to music in this flat or in that █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ house. I remember my old flat in Oslo, where I was █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ listening to some important players and I can still █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ see the rooftops and the sky, and how important this █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ small flat was for me and my music. You are playing █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ music during the night and the morning comes and █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ there is something is different in the music and █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ there is also the fascination with people so close to █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ each other in a city but not knowing anything about █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ each other." █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ Over the years Bj°rnstad says he has come to realise █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ how important melody, its variation and development, █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ are to his music. "I have come to realise what I can █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ do, and what I can't do, and so I concentrate on what █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ I can do," he reflects. "I like there to be very █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ distinct melodic content, not just on the themes, but █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ during the improvisation as well. What has developed █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ in the later years is a more conscious collaboration █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ with the recording engineer Jan Erik Kongshaug in his █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ famous Rainbow Studio here in Oslo and I feel that he █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ is able to record something very close to the perfect █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ piano sound. I know I can do things that will be █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ heard, the dynamics and the overtones will be there, █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ so you dare to play less notes." █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ The recording studio is where Bj°rnstad defines his █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ music, "For me the studio situation is very █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ important, I know many of my colleagues - musicians - █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ they have concerts first and then they can say, 'Okay █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ we go into the studio and record it.' For me it █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ starts in the studio, when the music is very fresh █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ and new, rather than going on tour for many weeks to █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ prepare and then go in the studio, because I believe █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ you loose the first magical feelings of the music. I █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ bring in new material and everything is very fresh, █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ very new and extremely vulnerable, so for me the █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ studio production is extremely important so I prepare █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ a lot for it." █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ Throughout I, the elements of simplicity and purity █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ in Bj°rnstad's music and the way he and his musicians █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ respond to them are often impressive in their █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ momentary effect. With Puschnig's flutes and bass █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ clarinet adding an ethereal, floating quality to his █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ music, Devotions opens a fresh chapter in Bj°rnstad's █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ musical odyssey. Arild Andersen on bass and Alex █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ Riel on drums shape the music from within, with █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ Andersen's haunting bowed acoustic bass providing a █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ hint of "ambient" shading on three titles. "There █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ were so many surprises the way the music was █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ created," reflects Bj°rnstad. "With four people the █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ energy of wanting to try out things and go further █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ was so exciting."But ultimately Devotions success █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ lies with the touch, the intensity and the █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ transparency of Bj°rnstad's piano. Somehow he manages █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ to suggest a tension between the temporal art form of █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ music making and art itself, an aspiration of █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ timelessness that can be found throughout his best █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ work. There is hard earned musical wisdom in this █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ music as Bj°rnstad condenses powerful emotions into █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ small spaces. A Renaissance Man yes, where the joy of █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ music surfaces in his literature and the writer's █░▓█ █
█ █▓░█ storytelling privilege surfaces in his music. █░▓█ █
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█▄ █▄ █ ░ iRC: #euhmnope? ░ █ ▄█ ▄█
█▄ █▄█ MAiL: oma@hushmail.com █▄█ ▄█
█ ▀█ ░ WEB: http://www.never-ever.com ░ █▀ █
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░ █▓█▄ ▓▓░ We're always looking for skilled rippers! ░▓▓ ▄█▓█ ░
▒ █▓▓█ ██▓░ Use one of the contact methods above to apply ;) ░▓██ █▓▓█ ▒
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▀▀▀▀▀░░█████▓█▄▄ Ascii by ▄▄█▓█████░░▀▀▀▀▀▀
▀▀█▄▄▄ ▓░░█████▄▄ AyLieN ▄▄█████░░▓ ▄▄▄█▀▀
▀▀▀ ▀▀▀ ▀▀▀ updated by ▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▄ ▀▀▀
cA3R0n