Fire! Orchestra: Exit!

Rating: ★★★★

Record and Artist Details

Musicians:

Elin Larsson (ts)
Mats Äleklint (tb)
Andreas Werliin (d, perc, radio)
Emil Strandberg (t)
David Stackenäs (acoustic g)
Niklas Barnö (t)
Sofia Jernberg (v)
Sten Sandell (p, v)
Anna Högberg (as)
Christer Bothén (bcl, contrabass cl)
Mariam Wallentin (v)
Magnus Broo (t)
Per Äke Holmlander (tba)
Johan Berthling (b)
Thomas Mera Gartz (d)
Sören Runolf (el g)
Joachim Nordwall (elec)
Joe Williamson (b)
Johan Holmegard (d)
Joel Grip (b)
Emil Svanängen (v, g)
Dan Berglund (b)
Fredrik Ljungkvist (ts, cl)
Raymond Strid (d)
Andreas Söderström (lap steel g)
Tomas Hallonsten (org)
Mats Gustafsson (fl, fluteophone, bar s, elec)
Jonas Kullhammar (f)

Label:

Rune Grammofon

April/2013

Catalogue Number:

RCD 2138

RecordDate:

13 January 2012

Fire! Orchestra draws together key figures from Stockholm's overlapping jazz, rock and experimental scenes, building a mammoth 31-piece ensemble around the core trio of saxophonist Mats Gustafsson, bassist Johan Berthling and drummer Andreas Werliin. There's a sense of colossal scale across these two long tracks, recalling George Russell's Electronic Sonata For Souls Loved By Nature as much as Keith Tippett's sprawling Centipede project: massed horns swell and jab, electric guitar launches into Sonny Sharrock-style paroxysms, and raw electronics rumble and roar, while vocalists Mariam Wallentin and Sofia Jernberg sing bluntly poetic lyrics written by Arnold de Boer of Dutch post-punk heroes The Ex. It's all prevented from tipping over into chaos by locking into the kind of monstrous grooves Berthling and Werliin have perfected in Fire!'s previous albums: the first a plodding, bluesy lope, the second a meteoric Krautrock gallop with echoes of Can's ‘Mother Sky’. It's an audacious plan that, against the odds, succeeds magnificently. Now, what are our chances of bringing this band to the UK?

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