Geir Sundstøl is a guitar player and one of Norway's most prominent session musicians.
For his fifth solo album he has assembled an eclectic bunch of guest musicians and embarked on a sophisticated musical journey that crosses numerous genres in the course of just over 30 minutes.
Sundstøl plays pedal steel, Indian Shankar guitar and ,on Snik, the harp . He also contributes most of the keyboard and bass playing.
A significant part of the sound is influenced by Jamaican records Sundstøl grew up listening to. These include the works of masters like Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry, Augustus Pablo and King Tubby. The resulting instrumentals form what he calls an ”ambient raga-country/reggae-beat record!”
The album opens with the reggae rhythms of Gem and this is followed by Dogg which was apparently inspired by Ornette Colemann’s Lonely Woman but actually sounds more like something Ennio Morricone might have come up for a Spaghetti western soundtrack.
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The longest track, at over nine minutes, and the only one to feature vocals, is the exotic sweep of C’est vide en ville. This mixes classical Indian music with Parisian cool and is enhanced by the seductive voice of Maria Due.
Of the closing tune, Whole, Sundstøl comments this is the closest I’ve come to making normal music” and it is like a prog version of New Age self-help tape with an urbane male voice advocating the need for ‘compassion’, ‘love’, ‘respect’, ‘forgiveness’ “and wholesome recreational activities.”
Despite such meditative qualities, Sundstøl says he “wanted to make a record without too much thinking involved; less head, more heart.” It will appeal to listeners who are content to adopt the same ‘go with the flow’ philosophy.
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