Release Date: March 9, 2018
Catalog #: RR7983
Format: Digital
21st Century
Avant-Garde
Chamber
Percussion
Trumpet

The Broken Vessel

Andreas Barth composer
Geir Hjorthol composer
Magnar Åm composer

With THE BROKEN VESSEL, Andreas Barth, Geir Hjorthol and Magnar Åm take the concept of “industrial music” to a whole new level. The recording took place in an abandoned Norwegian factory, “The Propeller Hall,” utilizing everything from the acoustics in the building to the muffled sounds of traffic outside its walls. In this way the building became a partner in a concrete as well as a metaphorical way in creating the music of this ten-track album.

Let us quote the composing musicians: “Metaphorically the building with all its scars could be seen as a broken vessel, left alone and non-productive. And this broken vessel even became the reflection of how our minds had to willingly enter into the nothingness of the creative moment, where we are left with nothing but what we are and what is around us, trying constantly to find a meaningful way into the next moment. This is true both as far as composition and improvisation concerns, maybe even living in general…”

The notion of THE BROKEN VESSEL is borrowed from German philosopher and critic Walter Benjamin. Benjamin argued against the idea that any original work could be translated into another language while still retaining its original meaning. Thus any translation would be a “broken vessel”.

“We chose this title,” the composing musicians say, “because we acknowledge the impossible challenge in translating what our hearts feel into a musical language. But music was the most direct language we could find.”

From this double inspiration, the three composers/musicians created their sonic interpretations of a factory, now abandoned, as an image of the relation between past and present, but also between the materiality of industrial production and the spirituality of music.

They created this project using instruments such as a glass harp, grand piano, trumpet, the human voice and various percussion instruments including tools and materials found within the factory. They manipulated their sonic output to simulate the industrial sounds of production in an attempt to musically translate the labours, but also the hopes and longings of the workers of the past. The outcome of this was a series of musical images filled with contrasts between darkness and light, drama and peaceful meditations.

Though the past cannot be fully translated, Barth, Hjorthol and Åm reimagine the factory in its working condition, bringing the building to life in an attempt to retell its story to a new audience.

Listen

Hear the full album on YouTube

Track Listing & Credits

# Title Composer Performer
01 Entrance Andreas Barth, Geir Hjorthol & Magnar Åm Magnar Åm, grand piano, glass harp, voice, waterbowl; Andreas Barth, drums, marimba, cymbals, brassbowls, saw, analog taperecorders, synth; Geir Hjorthol, trumpet, calimba, electrician’s tube, voice 5:32
02 The Factory Andreas Barth, Geir Hjorthol & Magnar Åm Magnar Åm, grand piano, glass harp, voice, waterbowl; Andreas Barth, drums, marimba, cymbals, brassbowls, saw, analog taperecorders, synth; Geir Hjorthol, trumpet, calimba, electrician’s tube, voice 3:07
03 Refractions I Andreas Barth, Geir Hjorthol & Magnar Åm Magnar Åm, grand piano, glass harp, voice, waterbowl; Andreas Barth, drums, marimba, cymbals, brassbowls, saw, analog taperecorders, synth; Geir Hjorthol, trumpet, calimba, electrician’s tube, voice 4:06
04 Refractions II Andreas Barth, Geir Hjorthol & Magnar Åm Magnar Åm, grand piano, glass harp, voice, waterbowl; Andreas Barth, drums, marimba, cymbals, brassbowls, saw, analog taperecorders, synth; Geir Hjorthol, trumpet, calimba, electrician’s tube, voice 4:14
05 Refractions III Andreas Barth, Geir Hjorthol & Magnar Åm Magnar Åm, grand piano, glass harp, voice, waterbowl; Andreas Barth, drums, marimba, cymbals, brassbowls, saw, analog taperecorders, synth; Geir Hjorthol, trumpet, calimba, electrician’s tube, voice 5:34
06 On the Edge Andreas Barth, Geir Hjorthol & Magnar Åm Magnar Åm, grand piano, glass harp, voice, waterbowl; Andreas Barth, drums, marimba, cymbals, brassbowls, saw, analog taperecorders, synth; Geir Hjorthol, trumpet, calimba, electrician’s tube, voice 8:34
07 Second Nature Andreas Barth, Geir Hjorthol & Magnar Åm Magnar Åm, grand piano, glass harp, voice, waterbowl; Andreas Barth, drums, marimba, cymbals, brassbowls, saw, analog taperecorders, synth; Geir Hjorthol, trumpet, calimba, electrician’s tube, voice 2:21
08 Deconstruction/Reconstruction Andreas Barth, Geir Hjorthol & Magnar Åm Magnar Åm, grand piano, glass harp, voice, waterbowl; Andreas Barth, drums, marimba, cymbals, brassbowls, saw, analog taperecorders, synth; Geir Hjorthol, trumpet, calimba, electrician’s tube, voice 5:39
09 Fragile Andreas Barth, Geir Hjorthol & Magnar Åm Magnar Åm, grand piano, glass harp, voice, waterbowl; Andreas Barth, drums, marimba, cymbals, brassbowls, saw, analog taperecorders, synth; Geir Hjorthol, trumpet, calimba, electrician’s tube, voice 3:42
10 Way Out Andreas Barth, Geir Hjorthol & Magnar Åm Magnar Åm, grand piano, glass harp, voice, waterbowl; Andreas Barth, drums, marimba, cymbals, brassbowls, saw, analog taperecorders, synth; Geir Hjorthol, trumpet, calimba, electrician’s tube, voice 8:51
11 The Broken Vessel Andreas Barth, Geir Hjorthol & Magnar Åm Magnar Åm, grand piano, glass harp, voice, waterbowl; Andreas Barth, drums, marimba, cymbals, brassbowls, saw, analog taperecorders, synth; Geir Hjorthol, trumpet, calimba, electrician’s tube, voice 9:42

Recorded in the Propeller Hall, Volda, 16th – 19th October 2016

Sound Engineers: Per Aasmund Aarnes and Tor Konstalij

Track 1–5: Recorded in the Melting Room

Track 6–10: Recorded in the Montage Hall

Executive Producer Bob Lord

Executive A&R Sam Renshaw
A&R Brandon MacNeil

Audio Director Jeff LeRoy
Engineering Manager Lucas Paquette
Additional Mastering Shaun Michaud
Engineering Manager Lucas Paquette

Design & Marketing Director Brett Picknell
Design Emily Roulo

Artist Information

Magnar Am

Composer

Born in Trondheim 1952. The Music Conservatory of Bergen (now The Grieg Academy) 1969-1971 (Church musician, composition studies with Ketil Hvoslef). Royal College of Music in Stockholm 1971-1972 (composition studies with Ingvar Lidholm). Full time composer since 1974. Has written commissioned works for the large orchestras of the country, for choirs like Bergen Cathedral Choir and The Norwegian Soloists Choir, for chamber ensembles like the Oslo String Quartet and Grieg Trio, and for soloists like Geir Inge Lotsberg (violin), Arvid Engegård (Hardanger fiddle), Njål Vindenes (guitar), Jan Hovden (piano), Geir Draugsvoll (accordeon), Bjørn Ianke (double bass), Eirik Birkeland (bassoon), Øyvind Bjorå (violin), Willy Postma (harp), Jun Zhi Cui (Chinese harp), Nils Økland (Hardanger fiddle), Ellen Sejersted Bødtker (harps), Kåre Nordstoga (organ) and many others.