Elephant9
Dodovoodoo
Rune Grammofon, 2008
By Allana Mayer
Elephant9, yet another side-project-slash-collaboration-slash-new-artistic-venture from the Rune Grammofon collective, is a trio gone wild on organ and LSD. Dodovoodoo, their first recording after a few years of live touring, managed to capture (on tape, no less) the sweat-flinging exuberance their performances reportedly consist of. As you can probably imagine, jazz plus live improv plus tons of energy plus a reputation for the unconventional equals a continuous stream of music with many variations on the same theme, rather than an album of concretely separate tracks.
The first and title track is a tossup of Beefheart, Acid Mothers Temple, and other Grammofon influences (Supersilent, The National Bank, and Shining are represented by keyboardist Ståle Storløkken, bassist Nikolai Eilertse, and drummer Torstein Lofthus, respectively). The band explodes out of the gates with Shining-like energy, improvised organ bits, ridiculous cymbal use, and a bizarre, jerky, groovy refrain. The second, “I Cover The Mountaintop,” slows everything down to a Supersilent tempo, with Supersilent’s machine wail and abstract drumming to boot. Rather than build into the trademark doom-knell, it develops into a fairly well-structured jazz tune and brings back that psychedelic energy.
Elephant9 works in this general area with moderate success until the sixth track, “Doctor Honoris Causa,” when they slow back down to more minimalist territory for thirteen minutes of wicked dynamics and impressive self-control. The sound gets more intelligence: stronger refrains get used as launching points for more interesting bits of improv. The album fades out on this note, as closing song, “Directions,” adds another seven minutes of guitar-feedbacking, pitch-twisting, wave-riding soundscapes.
You can tell that Dodovoodoo is but a foreshadow of yet more amazing live shows, less an album than a calling card. And once again I’m pouting, because I can’t afford to fly overseas to catch the full intensity of this group before they inevitably embark on new projects.
