- Release Info -------------------------------------------------------------- -
Artist: Hanne Hukkelberg
Album: Blood From A Stone
Label: Nettwerk
Playtime: 45:00 min
Genre: Indie
URL:
Rip date: 2009-04-29
Street date: 2009-05-12
Size: 61.29 MB
Type: Advance
Quality: 180 kbps / 4410kHz / Joint Stereo
- Release Notes ------------------------------------------------------------- -
Blood From A Stone is the third album by Norwegian artist Hanne Hukkelberg.
In part inspired by her past as a member of various rock and metal bands
(especially their live incarnations) and in part by her 80Æs dominated
collection of indie/rock albums, Hanne acknowledges that the likes of Sonic
Youth, Cocteau Twins, Pixies, Einstⁿerzende Neubauten and P.J. Harvey have
all exerted an influence over her new songs, while one can also detect traces
of Siouxsie & The Banshees at their most oblique and many other new wave/post
punk outfits.
However, although it is immediately apparent that this is a more ærockÆ album
than HanneÆs previous releases (Little Things [2005] and Rykestrasse 68
[2007]), the results are still undeniably leftfield leaning. The bulk of her
vocals are first takes and her lyrics more direct and less introverted than
on previous albums. Musically, the songs continue her penchant for combining
traditional and unusual instrumentation to form a soundscape unique to her;
for a self-confessed ærockÆ album, Blood From A Stone still manages to
include field recordings of flagpoles, train doors, seagulls, clogs, rocks,
kitchen utensils, freezers, stoves and a school desk. And no regular drum
kit. In line with the pervading approach towards the recording process, all
instruments were tuned by ear, with digital tuners banned from the studio.
Although Blood From A Stone was recorded in HanneÆs regular studio in Oslo,
the songs themselves were written during a seven month spell living in a tiny
coastal village on the Norwegian island of Senja, 300 kilometres north of the
Polar Circle. This both compares to and starkly contrasts with a similar
period of time spent ensconced in Berlin while writing her previous album.
Hanne explains:
ôIn the north of Norway it is way more quiet. It has been interesting to
experience composing in both a busy city and in a quiet village. I noticed it
affected me in very different ways. I felt a need for composing more quiet
songs in the noisy city, and more noisy music in the quiet village.ö
Repeated listens to Blood From A Stone reveal an album of depth and many
treasures. Among its highlights, the metal inspired Salt Of The Earth begins
with gentle verses featuring a church organ and a softly coo-ing vocal
harmony, before lurching into an epic chorus that sports crashing piano
chords and metal percussion galore and that carries with it an ominous sense
of foreboding. The title track is built around a robust, repetitive bass and
metal percussion rhythm with an uplifting, melodic chorus and added vocal
whoops and hollers aplenty, while Bandy Riddles swiftly develops into a
frenetic acoustic indie-rock strummerà.albeit an indie-rock strummer without
a drumkit, although it does incorporate bicycle spokes, clogs and a vaseline
box into the mix. In contrast, the closing Bygd Til By gradually unfolds in a
sedate and stately manner, building to a musical climax that maintains a
controlled grandeur throughout. It is the only song on the album with lyrics
in HanneÆs native Norwegian.
Blood From A Stone is produced by HanneÆs long-term collaborator Kσre
Vestrheim and co-produced by Hanne. Several of her regular musicians appear
on the album, including Henning Sandsdalen, Lena Nymark, Erland Dahlen and
Kσre Vestrheim, while other contributors are Bent Sµther (of Motorpsycho)
Ivar Grydeland (Huntsville), Martin Langlie (Gσte, Valkyrien Allstars), Mark
Jowett (head of HanneÆs international label, Nettwerk), and the unusual
rhythm section Hurra Torpedo (on freezers and stoves). Hanne herself plays
bass, guitar, drums, percussion, piano and various bric-a-brac.
Hanne started singing and playing instruments in her home town of Kongsberg,
Norway at the age of 3 and later played in various jazz, pop and rock groups
as well as a doom metal band. A graduate of the Norwegian Academy of Music,
she has gained a reputation as a powerful live performer.
- Track List ---------------------------------------------------------------- -
01. Midnight Sun Dream ( 4:06)
02. Blood From A Stone ( 3:56)
03. Bandy Riddles ( 4:24)
04. No Mascara Tears ( 3:03)
05. Seventeen ( 4:11)
06. Salt Of The Earth ( 4:34)
07. No One But Yourself ( 4:06)
08. In Here, Out Here ( 4:22)
09. Crack ( 4:55)
10. Bygd Til By ( 7:23)
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