I was intrigued to discover that, as well as performing in various small ensembles over a twenty-five year career, Tomas Hallonsten has offered his skills to such diverse acts as Fire! Orchestra and The Concretes.
I can’t think of two more disparate acts and neither group really sheds any obvious light on the pieces compiled in Monolog, his first solo offering. He has a welcome home at Thanatosis who, although becoming more prolific, give great consideration to the variety of their output and you can always guarantee an interesting and immersive listen.
There is an intriguing combination of easy groove and scattered electronics that disrupt the harbourside sway of opener “Go Ashram Go”. The electronics are ever at odds with the smooth flow and it feels like two very different mentalities being applied to one song, the experimental element trying to provoke a reaction, mixing things up but never managing to do so. The whimsical soloing and noise generation keeps the soporific beat alive, but the length of the piece allows us to see how it sounds when stripped of all except bare piano. You feel as if there are no rules here, yet we are safe somehow. A dreamy, easy drift with a wordless harmonising vocal that is smooth as silk keeps the yacht quotient well buoyed on “In Clouds Part 1” while the Hammond goes wild, making out like a modern-day Klaus Wunderlich. The sounds are old but the effect is one of timeless elegance, while reminders of some of Felt‘s later work, that soft jazzy sensitivity pervading “Part 2”, but having to work against more destructive elements that bring to mind a classic ’80s drama soundtrack, causing tension and not allowing the dust to settle.African percussion enters the mix on “Düsseldorf – Douala”, its gentle pace and exploratory nature setting the percussion against a freewheeling synth, but also adding motorik momentum into the recipe while this natural groove escapes on the snake-charmer vibe of Joe Henderson‘s “Earth”. The diversity of these disparate yet heartwarming directions is let loose on closer “Vals Antifon”, which attempts to meld with great success everything that came before, sending the listener into a world where Klaus Wunderlich can put his arm around Sun Ra, and share a drink with Bruce Hornsby and Kraftwerk. It is a world we should all experience, starting right here.
-Mr Olivetti-
