Westerhus, Stian - The Matriarch and the Wrong Kind of Flowers
SKU
05-RCD 2133
"This is the third solo album on Rune Grammofon by Norwegian experimental guitarist Stian Westerhus. With The Matriarch and the Wrong Kind of Flowers, Westerhus not only challenges and stretches the limits of his instrument but also comes up with an extraordinary piece of music that has more in common with modern contemporary music than just being a left-field "guitar" album. In spite of having studied jazz in the UK as well as in Norway, he also has a remarkably non-academic approach to making music. It's not imperative for Westerhus to make the guitar sound like anything other than a guitar, it's simply his instrument of choice to express himself musically. At the age of 13, he saw Jimi Hendrix on TV doing "Star Spangled Banner" at Woodstock and since then, there's been no looking back. His way of working is very intuitive, both when recording and playing live. Nothing is planned and he tries to avoid thinking about what's going to happen. He is probably one of the hardest-working musicians in Norway, also finding time to record and play concerts with other projects like Puma, Monolithic (with Motorpsycho drummer Kenneth Kapstad), his duo with Sidsel Endresen and as a member of Nils Petter Molvær's trio. He's also an in-demand producer after having produced Pelbo's Days of Transcendence and Nils Pettter Molvær's Baboon Moon. Most of the material on this album was recorded at the Emanuel Vigeland Mausoleum in Oslo, a tomb sonically known for its 20-second natural reverb, generally known for enormous wall paintings about the circle of life. The temperature inside is kept at 5 degrees Celsius to preserve the paintings in the best possible way. With The Matriarch...Westerhus has taken a great leap forward and produced a unique record that, together with his international activities, should get him the recognition he so thoroughly deserves. Stian Westerhus: guitars and voice."