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Recent Posts
Twitter feed
- "Høyt Oppe i Fjellet", the second performance for children 0-3 years is still running in Bergen! http://t.co/XiDvq6X8
- RT @svennevenn: Programmet for Borealis på nett (alt??). Jasså, så man må til Odda for Stian Westerhus solo og Poing m Maja Ratkje! http ...
- Slugfield's debut album "Slime Zone" (Nilssen-Love, Marhaug, Ratkje) available now: http://t.co/l8yepKwt
- RT @tusk_music: IKue Mori and @majaratkje on the cover of Moving In Music (Belfast)'s programme brochure http://t.co/ikepUiyX
- @dontbeafraid "just let them show: True colors, true colors..." ? I love that song.
Upcoming shows
- 13/02/12 - 03/03/12 Hanne Dieserud in Bergen at Den Nationale Scene Buy tickets
- 03/03/12 Aksiom with Maja S. K. Ratkje in Oslo at Norges Musikkhøgskole
- 09/03/12 Maja S. K. Ratkje in Hamar at Høgskolen i Hedmark
- 09/03/12 POING and Maja S. K. Ratkje in Hamar at tba
- 17/03/12 POING and Maja S. K. Ratkje in Odda at tba
Category Archives: Record reviews
Wach auf! reviewed by Signal to Noise
“an intuitively astute combination that gorgeously and engagingly blends righteous political music from across the globe.” Continue reading
Wach Auf and Smell the Coffee!
The Sound Projector: It took the band 12 years to get around to getting this collection into wax, but it’s a corker of an album. Yes, Ratkje truly shines as a songstress, but it’s a collaborative set all the way. Continue reading
Wach auf! reviewed by Kwadratuur (NL)
Muziek en politiek, die combinatie heeft zelden artistiek boeiende resultaten opgeleverd, zeker wanneer het eerste gebruikt werd om het tweede te verkopen of op te dringen. Op ‘Wach Auf!’ wagen de Noorse zangeres Maja Ratkje en haar landgenoten van het … Continue reading
Wach auf! reviewed by Dusted Magazine
Set aside the countless versions of “Mack the Knife,” which too often devolve into camp, and Bertolt Brech’s collaborations with Hans Eisler and Kurt Weill can provide a fertile launching point for improvisers. When done right, the core theatricality and … Continue reading
Wach auf! reviewed by Nordische Musik (DE)
Was ist eigentlich noch übrig von der Roten Revolution? Nur noch Nostalgie – oder doch noch die eine oder andere Lösung, wie wir aus der postmodernen Kapitalismus-Falle wieder rauskommen? Schwerer politischer Stoff, den sich das Trio Poing da ausgesucht hat. … Continue reading
Snowblind review (in Norwegian)
“Her har Ratkje virkelig klart å underbygge tekstens motsigende kraft. Det er lekent, det er vare stemninger, det er overraskelser, det er smerte” Continue reading
Posted in Blog, Other album reviews
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Wach auf! reviewed by All About Jazz
POING and Ratkje don’t hesitate to play and reconstruct these iconic songs, injecting their own sense of humor and irony, and performing them with great passion, highly creative arrangements and excellent musicianship, making them their own without surrendering to nostalgia. Continue reading
LIGHT reviews in English, Norwegian, Swedish and German
Record Collector: Illuminating: anarchy in the art house. Commissioned by Norway’s Henie Onstad Art Centre on the advent of its 40th anniversary in 2008, Light captures preeminent improvisers Spunk at the top of their game. Led by Maja Ratkje’s bestial … Continue reading
Wach auf! reviews in Norwegian, Swedish and Danish
“Her er rå og kompromissløse tolkninger av Weill /Brecht og Cyndi Laupers «True Colors» side om side med herlig sinte brokker fra Minor Threats «Seeing Red» og en flott versjon av Rudolf Nilsens «Gategutt» der Lillebjørn Nilsens melodi parres med et riff av Thelonius Monk. Det er vakkert, stygt og ellevilt.” Continue reading
Konfrontation mit dem Tode (DE)
Pizzicato 3/2011: “(…)Höhepunkt der Einspielung aber erscheint mir ‘HVIL’ aus dem Jahre 2008, bezeichnet als ‘das Flehen der Erde an die Menschheit’ und komponiert von Maja Solveig Kjelstrup Ratkje, geboren 1973. Hier muss man allerdings bedauern, dass man die Worte … Continue reading
Posted in Blog, Come Away Death
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Voice reviewed by KILLED in CARS
This album is maybe a good document of how one aspect of Western modernism took to task the reimaging of the primitive in a context that almost inherently rejected it; the “ugliness” of African sculpture defying, defiling in the hands … Continue reading
Posted in Blog, Voice
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RECORDING OF THE MONTH: Come Away Death
MusicWeb International:
Unless even the mention of Death is taboo for you, consider hearing this disc. There may be no joy in this enjoyment, but there is much beauty, sincerity and high art. This disc gave me one of the strongest musical experiences I have ever had. Continue reading
Posted in Come Away Death
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00-talets bästa album/PM Jönsson (SE)
Göteborgs-Posten:
(…)
9. Maja Ratkje, Voice Continue reading
Posted in Voice
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Twenty Centuries of Stony Sleep reviews (in English and Norwegian)
“Some of the most exciting material arrives from the old guard however, in particular Ultralyd’s shimmering noir soundtracks on ‘Salinity And Brine’ and Maja Ratkje’s ‘Breathe’, which features some of her signature atavistic vocal contortions set amidst a layered soundscape populated by opaque environmental recordings and howling drone tones.” Continue reading
Posted in Other album reviews
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Maja Ratkje – Voice, czyli głosu poszatkowanie i uwolnienie (PL)
The Sound and the Fury: Głos. Coś, co jest z nami od początku, zestaw dźwięków przypisanych do każdego z nas indywidualnie. Głosy słyszymy jeszcze w brzuchu matki, przy ich akompaniamencie rodzimy się, dorastamy i umieramy. Na początku to tylko jęknięcia … Continue reading
Posted in Voice
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Cyborgic reviews (in English, Norwegian, Swedish, Greek)
Boomkat – 2009: The third in this inaugural batch of deluxe, limited LPs from Rune Grammofon (via their new vinyl-only offshoot The Last Record Company) comes from Maja Ratkje, a staple of contemporary Norwegian music who has made an impact … Continue reading
Posted in Cyborgic
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Come Away Death reviews in Norwegian
“Marianne Beate Kiellands plate om døden er nesten avskrekkende konsekvent.” Continue reading
Blixter Toad reviewes in Swedish
“Med en fenomenal förmåga lyckas den norska noiseduon Fe-Mail blanda det skitiga och hårda med det lena, vackra och nästan korala på den nya dubbel-cd:n Blixter Toad.” Continue reading
Stemmekjærlighet (NO)
Magnus Andersson, Morgenbladet:
Når hun høres ut som et ekorn, når hun synger med sin feteste jazz-stemme eller når hun ler høylytt, utstråler hun en glede over å produsere klangen som er mer interessant enn hvordan hun strukturerer musikkens storform fra denne lyden. Dette leder meg til å påstå at det grunnleggende premisset for Ratkjes musikk er lekent. Continue reading
Kantarell reviews in French
Octopus: “Quatrième album de Spunk, Kantarell (chanterelle en français) possède un avantage incontestable sur les précédents : son titre est enfin prononçable pour les non norvégophones ! La musique, toujours entièrement improvisée par Kristin Andersen (trompette, etc.), Lene Grenager (violoncelle, … Continue reading