From Norway, the Hornorkesteret offer nine new tracks of strange acoustic music on Dans Fra Dalstrøka (PANOT LP 004) made mostly with reclaimed reindeer horns…the team of Jonas Qvale and his crew have been doing this for over 25 years now, and we first heard their odd blend of mysticism, woodlore and rough magic on the Jehovas Vinter LP in 2020.
On today’s spin I’m reminded more than once of the similar odd sound produced by Hans Reichel and his “Dachsophon” or Daxophone, which he invented in 1987 and played on The Dawn of Dachsman, and other recordings. Reichel’s wooden instruments were carefully carved tongues mounted in resonant wooden boxes, but like Hornorkesteret he tended to apply the bow and likewise produced animalistic whines and grunts. Qvale and team also add percussion and some conventional instruments to the mix, but to remind us of their quasi-pagan roots, there are four antler-players in the band, plus the use of bone flute, moose skull and hoof rattle tells us that animals are never very far away – in spirit, and in a very corporeal sense.
I like the way they keep the melodies very simple – if they were rock musicians, this could almost be very rough post-punk riffing or even a form of acoustic Black Metal (which is something they ought to try, in my view), but they can’t help syncopating their rhythms, in an attempt to get us onto their dancefloor and watch us execute a lumbering stomp. When I say dancefloor, it’s probably a charmed circle in the forest with mushrooms and stones and goblins nearby. Elaborate cover art curlicues, emblems and pastoral scenes likewise confirm this “wild men of the woods” image they’re trying to push, as do the charming silhouette pix of the band indicating that long hair and nudity are entry-level requirements if you wanna “blow” with the Hornsters. At the same time, they’re also urban sophisticates who are keen to blend krautrock and minimal-improv moves with their folk-inflected antics. Some nice moments of wildlife field-recording punctuate the tracks, but I don’t think they actually recorded it in the open air. (11/11/2024)
Available in the UK through Cold Spring