Alexander Rishaug – Ma.Org Pa.Git

Crónica

Ma.Org Pa.Git is the fifth solo release from the Norwegian sound artist and experimental musician Alexander Rishaug. Here he is exploring the space and the acoustics of a church organ and the hiss, overtones and feedback of an old tube amp and electric guitar. The album consist of two long pieces, recorded in the Norwegian seaman’s church in Rotterdam. Even though the material is heavily processed and recomposed, the overall feeling is genuinely spacious and acoustic.

The sounds are subtle, with very weak hisses or extremely slowly built up ambient drones. The volume is low, it is definitely not intrusive, it’s rather more like when you listen to someone talking very quietly, and you have to try to make an effort to listen to what was said. Not that I am certain Rishaug wants to express something other than wanting to explore these sounds and recordings. The mechanics of the organ are also used to create some occasionally interesting sounds that are mixed together with the low hiss and drones.

The whole feel of the album is very slow and meditative. After listening for a while I am filled with images, or associations, of space-time-motions, or being locked inside a big gigantic tanker out on the pacific, not noticing the sea at all at all. Or imagining watching a documentary of what life is like under the big glaciers of the Arctic waters, and this being the soundtrack. All in all, definitely music for contemplative silent moments.

-Ronny Wærnes-