Geir Sundstøl - Brødløs (2018)

Ambient goes country and David Bowie and Brian Eno share a tune with John Coltrane in slide guitar maestro Geir Sundstol's astonishing cinematic travelogue.

What seem at first to be familiar musical textures drawn from ambient music, country rock or jazz are made strange through their juxtaposition with oddly clashing elements taken from totally different registers: Indian tabla drums with Mini-Moog, say, or the gated thwack and hiss of Eighties power-ballad drums next to an avant-garde electronic shimmer or Sneaky Pete-style pedal steel. It's a fascinating place where 'Paris, Texas' might meet 'Tubular Bells', Ennio Morricone can rub shoulders with Brian Eno, and David Bowie really does run into John Coltrane. This is 'Brodlos', the third solo album by the Norwegian composer, guitarist and multi-instrumentalist Geir Sundstol.

"The album title is the name of the area in my hometown of Halden, where I grew up", says Sundstol". Directly translated, it means "out of bread", but perhaps penury would be a better translation. From what I've been told, the name goes back to WW2. Hard times." Although Sundstol (born 1968) didn't make his solo album debut until 2015, with Hubro's 'Furulund', he is one of the most respected (and most frequently played on the radio) musicians in Norway, having appeared as a sideman on nearly 300 albums since turning professional in 1988, as well as touring internationally with artists as diverse as iconic Nordic pop-stars A-ha and the legendary post-jazz trumpeter Nils Petter-Molvaer (who has an important cameo role on 'Brodlos').

Sundstol also has an international profile himself through his celebrated 1990s collaboration with U.S. alt-country singer-songwriter Jimmie Dale Gilmore, his role in the partnership credited with helping to inspire Joel and Ethan Coen - who attended one of the duo's concerts - to create the character of Gaear Grimsrud (the monosyllabic hitman played by Peter Stormare) in their Academy Award-winning film from 1996, 'Fargo.'

Tracklist:
01. Geir Sundstøl - Snev
02. Geir Sundstøl - Leben
03. Geir Sundstøl - Læms
04. Geir Sundstøl - Warszaw / Alabama
05. Geir Sundstøl - Kraag
06. Geir Sundstøl - Blunder
07. Geir Sundstøl - Kulten
08. Geir Sundstøl - Waterloo