Unheimlich Manoeuvre

Jo Berger Myhre

1930´s German double bass, 1964 Gretsch 6071 bass guitar, Music Man HD150 amplifier, Simmons SDS8 drum machine, Moog Minitaur, Grendel Drone Commander and various analogue electronics.

Kaveh Mahmudiyan

tombak (#2, 4, 5, 7)

Jana Anisimova

upright piano (#2, 3)

Morten Qvenild

synth (#3, 5)

Ólafur Björn Ólafsson

organ (#5)

Vivian Wang

narration (#5)

Jo David Meyer Lysne

acoustic guitar (#2, 3, 6)

Myhre makes his solo debut with the release of the captivating and mysterious Unheimlich Manoeuvre. The title is an obvious play on the life-saving technique, though whether the added negation makes the threatening or simply subverted remains ambiguous. More to the point, the English translation of unheimlich is “uncanny” or “eerie” – an apt descriptor for the sounds that Myhre creates. To borrow a phrase from David Lynch’s Twin Peaks, Myhre conjures aural landscapes that suggest “a place both wonderful and strange,” stunning in their beauty with something alluringly unsettling lurking just underneath.

While the 2020 pandemic has led to a definite surge in solo projects necessitated by quarantine conditions, Myhre began work on Unheimlich Manoeuvre in September 2019, long before Covid had intruded on the world’s consciousness. The album is the end result of Myhre’s career-long experimentation with his approach to his instrument, evolved via his work with others yet ultimately yielding rich results in his own personal expression.

While the pandemic may not have instigated the project, it certainly provided Myhre with the significant free time he needed to record it. It also allowed him to invite remote contributions... more

credits

released September 24, 2021

Jo Berger Myhre – 1930´s German double bass, 1964 Gretsch 6071 bass guitar, Music Man HD150 amplifier, Simmons SDS8 drum machine, Moog Minitaur, Grendel Drone Commander and various analogue electronics.

Kaveh Mahmudiyan – tombak (#2, 4, 5, 7)
Jo David Meyer Lysne – acoustic guitar (#2, 3, 6)
Jana Anisimova – upright piano (#2, 3)
Morten Qvenild – synth (#3, 5)
Ólafur Björn Ólafsson – organ (#5)
Vivian Wang – narration (#5)

1. Everything effacing
2. Smallest things, part 1
3. Aviary
4. Cynosure
5. Smallest things, part 2
6. Gate opens
7. Perils
8. Sustainer
9. Inner relations

Composed, performed, recorded, mixed and produced at Kennel Collective by Jo Berger Myhre
Co-produced by Morten Qvenild
Mastered by Espen Høydalsvik at Oslo Fuzz

Lyrics excerpted from “I Could See the Smallest Things” from WHAT WE TALK ABOUT WHEN WE TALK ABOUT LOVE by Raymond Carver. Copyright © 1981, Raymond Carver; Copyright renewed © 1989, Tess Gallagher, used by permission of Tess Gallagher.

My deepest thanks to all musicians involved for how your beautiful contributions have enhanced this music. And Zhubin Kalhor, teacher and mentor. Natural sound!

Forever grateful also to Giacomo Bruzzo, Niklas Adam, Jenny Berger Myhre, Ole Morten Vågan, Ivar Grydeland, Jon Balke, Nils Petter Molvær, Jon Marius Aareskjold, and Elena Frohlick at The Wylie Agency who helped this process move along.

Inga, Svava and Edda. I love you.

Executive Producer For RareNoiseRecords: Giacomo Bruzzo
Cover painting “The Education of Icarus 2”, by Yari Ostovany. Used with permission.
Supported by TONO, NOPA, Statens Kunstnerstipend and the Norwegian Academy of Music.

© + ℗ RareNoiseRecords 2021