Terje Isungset's IglooTerje Isungset's Igloo
An album made with nothing but voices and instruments made out of ice. What better time to write about this album than December?
It's actually the second album from Terje Isungset composed of ice sounds. Here's a bit of info from the Norwegian label's website (called All Ice Records, releasing only 1 album a year of ice-music).
In 2003 Terje Isungset did an ice concert at the Ice Hotel in North Sweden. The quality of the ice that year harvested from Tårnelven was exceptional. Ice Hotel let us store a block of the river ice for possible future use. In 2004 Terje returned to record the second ice CD. Icehotel in Jukkasjarvi was naturally selected as the site. The block of ice from the previous winter was still there, safe and secure! In addition 32 igloos were left over from a wedding of a Polish rock star. They became the most amazing recording studio. Tor Magne Hallibakken used one igloo as his control room, placing Sidsel Endresen in another and Terje Isungset in a third. Stable weather at -10 to -20 degrees C was perfect for the project. The studio space was -4 - 6 and perfectly silent.
Definitely drawn in by the premise of this concept album, I was curious to see what kind of music can be made with an Iceofon, Ice Harp, Ice Horn, Ice trumpet, Ice percussion, and an Ice bass drum carved from one block of ice. The only non h20 elements are a bass drum pedal, fish line for suspension and the strings on the ice harp (but of course).
It's ambient and quiet. On the third track, Morning, gentle taps on the iceofon are accompanied by haunting whispers and howls from Terje. On the fifth track, Ice Beauty, the ice harps tones are stretched across the sound of a block of ice being dragged across the ground. It's like you can feel the cold and desolation of the frigid winters of Norway. The sixth track, Iceman 2, gets even more primal, with straight up grunts and moans that would probably aggravate the Geico cavemen (and not be especially enjoyable to listen to by the 21st century homosapien).
It's an album that will garner interest as a unique approach to ambient/avant-garde music. After a few listens however, the novelty wears off and you're only left with something you can impress your friends with (instead of actually enjoy on a day to day basis). That said, I would still jump at the chance to see him live at the annual Ice Festival every January in Sweden.
