Excellent contemporary techno featuring an Abdulla Rashim remix.
jonas ronnberg
Varg – Story Of K [NE023]
Jonas Ronnberg aka Varg with a mini album themed around dominance and glamour. This is the statement of Penthouse Electronics.
Varg – Ursviken [NE019]
Sophomore album from Jonas Ronnberg aka Varg with icey electronics live recorded. Ursviken is, unsurprisingly, a largely icy and atmospheric affair, with occasional bursts of throbbing, techno-influenced intensity (see the relentless loops and murky textures of “Vitberge”, and industrial freakiness of “Guldstaten”) punctuating the otherwise downbeat, largely ambient mood. As usual, there’s much to admire, from the bleak, dubbed-out oddness of “Raggarsvin” and overwhelmingly dreamy “Ohn”, to the understated grooves and spaced-out chords of “Skaeliptom”.
Varg & Hypnobirds – Linje 19 LP [CDRLP024]
Northern Electronics artist Varg returns to Glasgow label Clan Destine Records for a second release this year. Dedicated to the various stops on Line 19 of the Stockholm metro, Linje 19 finds Varg working with a new partner in Hypnobirds. As you’d expect, the prevailing mood over the four tracks here is deep and atmospheric, see the discordant, delay-laden dub techno of opening track “Bandhagen”. From here Varg and Hypnobirds burrow deeper into the subterranean crawl space between ambient and techno with closing track “Hagsatra” a particular highlight. Here they take the listener on an icy but strangely warming voyage into otherworldly sonics.
Ulwhednar – 1520 [NE013]
Abdulla Rashim and Varg’s collaborative project are back for another quest in sonic experiments and northern tales. Even if they do release obscure drone from time to time Northern Electronics continues to up hold its reputation as record label worthy of the tag: ‘buy on sight’. That can definitely be said about Varg and Abdullah Rashim’s second full length as Ulwhednar. For some dirty Rashim loops look to “De 92 Vita Stenarna” while for some Nordic drone splashed with Varg’s trademark space echoes check out “Kattarens Dom”, and if you want to experience what the crash landing of Star Trek’s USS Enterprise sounds like there’s “Askan Fran Balet”.
Varg – Gravrösens Bortglömda Band [SEM068]
Varg debut EP for Semantica. Collection of recordings from tapes found hidden in the depths of the Ursviken tombs. Recorded live by Varg in Skellefte.
The Hipodrome Of Music 