Author name: Maja Ratkje

Post-Human Identities reviews (in English, Dutch and Norwegian)

“At times sounding like two cartoons at the same time, then mating whales, then a whole marching army to end with the amplification of the smallest forms of life. ” “Post-human Identities fremviser det beste eksempelet på musikalsk menneske-data-maskin-interaksjon jeg har hørt siden … vel, Maja Ratkjes soloplate Voice fra 2002.”

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Post-Human Identities

Maja Ratkje and Jaap Blonk have been performing and recording together since 2001. Their first release was a cd of acoustic voice duets ([intlink id=”3380″ type=”post”]MAJAAP[/intlink], also released on Kontrans). Here they go electronic with their voices still as their primary sound source. [intlink id=”3164″ type=”post”]Reviews[/intlink] Track list: 1 Rotary Torso Extension 2 Of Strange

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En aldeles forferdelig sykdom reviews (in English and Norwegian)

Named after Pippi Longstocking´s favourite word, nothing to do with bodily fluids, Spunk are a Norwegian improv quartet who share their fictional heroin´s feistiness and insistence on doing things a bit differently. The quartet are about to celebrate their tenth anniversary and have marked the occasion with this quite wonderful new album. I laughed out

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En aldeles forferdelig sykdom

Rune Grammofon: “Their third studio album marks the 10th anniversary of this all female quartet. Free collective improvising is one of the most demanding ways of making music: the pitfalls are many – self-absorption, incoherence, certain standardized «gestures» of free jazz, lack of dynamics, humourlessness – but SPUNK are alert to the dangers. Bold, sometimes

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Vox ex machina

Curated by Jaap Blonk this is volume 15 in the Leonardo Music Journal CD series. Selections include ‘Kana’ by Tomomi Adachi, ‘O Som Que Circula Nas Veia’ by Americo Jorge M. Rodrigues, excerpt from ‘Mushroom Clouds’ by Christian Bok, ‘Vielleicht’ by Sprechakte X/treme, ‘OOA’ by Vincent Barras and Jacques Demierre, ‘… due Giorni Dopp’ by

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More Voice reviews in Norwegian

“Dette er nesten sykt: Gåsehuden denne anmelderen sitter igjen med etter å ha stiftet bekjentskap med Voice for første gang er helt uvirkelig.” “Voice banker dritten ut av alt annet jeg har hørt innen norsk eksperimentell elektronisk musikk i år.” “”Maja Ratkje klarer å utfordre vår oppfatning av hva musikk kan og kanskje bør være. Dette er musikk så selvstendig og kompromissløs sterk at man ikke klarer å forholde seg passiv til den. Den gjør noe med deg fysisk, som veksler mellom ubehag og velbehag.”

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Interferenze 2005 (IT)

Sands Zine:
Un set d’incredibile potenza perturbante e perforante tragicità, tutto affidato ai movimenti, alla voce, alla modulazione fatta reagire dalla macchina e dall’interscambio con essa. Sul piano prettamente produttivo c’è la stessa ossessione di “Pulse demon” dei Merzbow e di “Schrei X” della Galas.

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Fe-mail: An Interview with the Pink Inferno

Rare Frequency: Fe-mail is Maja Solveig Kjelstrup Ratkje and Hild Sofie Tafjord, and they make noise… lots of it, using theremins, dictaphones, samplers, laptops, harmonicas, and, most importantly, voice (Maja’s) and French Horn (Hild’s). Inspired by the extreme noise music produced in Japan and the vibrant scene in their native Norway, Fe-mail emerged as a

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