Maja S.K. Ratkje - Vannstand [Motvind Records 010]

Released on March 12th, 2k21 via the Norwegian imprint that is Motvind Records is "Vannstand", the latest album outing created by composer Maja S.K. Ratke who has taken influence and input from the pulse of the tidal shifts alongside the countrys seemingly endless jagged coastlines in terms of song- or better: score-writing for pieces which are in fact named after places in Norway's coastal regions which then are - drumroll and.... surprise! - interpreted by children only to be re-edited and mixed by Maja S.K. Ratke herself to be cast into a final form. Rolled out over the course of eight compositions and roughly 40 minutes total playtime the results of this fascinating approach vary widely in terms of their musical direction, from collage'esque, somewhat Plunderphonics-oriented pieces created from various vocal snippets and wind / air flow sounds generated by an array of seemingly fast moving, whirling tubes, pipes and hoses to inward-looking, calm, yet highly detailed experimental Jazz / Folk cuts to echoes of echoes of highly abstract Contemporary Classical music, elements of Fluxus, Chamber Music and other bits that make "Vannstand" an album predominantly speaking and applying to somewhat of an intellectual, avantgarde-informed audience.