Sigurd Ytre-Arne
August EP
Bislet Beats

From out of no-where (well, at least for me and my pair of ears) comes musician/producer Sigurd Ytre-Arne (drums, samplers, synths, electronics) - a young man hailing from Bergen. This August EP seems to be his first solo recording. Solo, as Sigurd Ytre-Arne (from now on: SY-A), but with a little help from his friends. Additional musicians count vocalists Anne Gravir Klykken (Vintermåne) and Sigrid Aase (Englestøv), guitarist Espen Skretteberg (Alion), and drummer Tobias Ørnes Andersen (from Shining and Aiming for Enrike).

Even though this is his first solo outing, he has been involved with several bands/projects earlier, such as the duo Wauwatosa (along with Natalie Sandtorv), the pop-rock trio komakid (counting Stian Eriksen, Krister Skadsdammen, and SY-A), alternative pop quintet Englestøv (who are Sigrid Aase, Halvor Strand, Sarah Nordal, Hans-Petter Gyldenskog, plus SY-A of course), and the trio Elif (SY-A with Håkon Aase and Tobias Ørnes Andersen).

August (released last month) holds four tracks composed and produced by SY-A. The experimental and playful music of SY-A relate to or pick influences and inspiration from artists like Burial, Four Tet, James Blake and Thom Yorke (at his most experimental, electronic side), bearing musical tags like: beats and dub, electronic/electronica, instrumental hip-hop, post-dub/post-dubstep, samples. August holds some 17+ minutes of music, and is for sure a fascinating listen. Title track "August" opens the EP, followed by "Steep", "June", and "Games". This is a neat flow of music and sounds, which tickles and teases with its blipping and swirling throughout cut and paste technique landscapes. I guess "Steep" is my favourite track, but the dark, closing "Games" is also a mind-expanding exercise. The trip-rhythmic title track is also quite delicious, lifted by the vocal colorization. "June"'s also spiced with vocal tinting. Way cool.

August for sure is a dark toned EP, sounding like it's been created via some animated stop-motion technique - almost like being the sound of vision. Hefty stuff done in a minimalist, repetitive way.

Copyright © 2014 Håvard Oppøyen