Maria Bertel & Maria Diekmann - Live In Murmansk

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Label's release notes:
Trombonist and violinist of Copenhagen’s Selvhenter make noise in Russia’s Far North.

Maria Bertel and Maria Diekmann are founding members of the acclaimed Selvhenter band and Eget Værelse, a collective that unites various projects of its members ranging from free noise to electronic pop music.

In the middle of winter of 2017, two Marias visited Murmansk, Russia, a fjord city 2° north of the Arctic Circle, to play a rather short but very inspired set of solo and duo improvisations, and this is the document of that evening.

Bertel’s trombone improvisations are real heart-stoppers. They stem from her work under Ymers Pizza moniker; however, they sound more concentrated here: short, concise investigations of clear ideas. But mind, she does not spare any distortion or sub-bass pressure here, and yes, there is a noise piece.

Diekmann’s solo violin bits are “amplified minimalism,” and instantly bring to mind associations with the NYC loft scene and Tony Conrad. One of the improvisation ventures into a somewhat bluesy territory, bringing to mind Loren Connors at his most distorted.

The solo sets are punctuated by beautiful duo interplay that is just wonderful and even sounds composed. If you like your music simple, horizontal, and aggressively lo-fi, look no further.
credits
released May 16, 2020

Maria Bertel: amplified trombone
Maria Diekmann: amplified violin

Recorded live at Inversia Festival on February 3, 2017, in Murmansk, Russia, by Igor Trofimov. Mastered by Moa Pillar. Design by Ivan Zoloto based on photographs by Maria Bertel and Maria Diekmann. Thanks to Oleg Khadartsev, Zhanna Guzenko, and the whole Inversia crew.

Released by School of the Arts in 2020.
Cat. no. SOTA111.