Category Archives: Full length album features

Echo Chamber 3.0/Ekkokammer 3.0

Echo Chamber 3.0 is a concert performance for the ear, by Maja S. K. Ratkje written for Trondheim Voices in 2020. The piece is a continuation of Ekkokammer 2.0 which is a staged performance, premiered in 2015. The album is … Continue reading →

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Maja S. K. Ratkje: Works for String Orchestra

Pictures From a Sinking City was commissioned by the Trondheim Soloists, and had its world premiere in Trondheim on 30 January, 2020. Tale of Lead and Frozen Light exists in two versions: one for a string quartet, Tale of Lead … Continue reading →

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Corona lockdown concert for TUSK Festival 2020

Still photo from concert film by Marte Ingeborg Haltli and Elias Habbestad Kjelsås. Composed and performed for TUSK Virtual 2020. Part 1 of 2. Maja S. K. Ratkje is using voice and live electronics (with software by Øyvind Brandtsegg). Link … Continue reading →

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Sult

Based upon Ratkje’s music created for the ballet Sult (Hunger) by profiled director Jo Strømgren for the Norwegian National Ballet, this is a departure from records and live settings normally associated with Maja S. K. Ratkje as a solo performer, … Continue reading →

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Still Eating Ginger Bread for Breakfast – The 20th Anniversary Concert

Rune Grammofon: “Formed in 1995, SPUNK comprises four of Norway’s most innovative musicians: Maja S. K. Ratkje, Hild Sofie Tafjord, Lene Grenager and Kristin Andersen. The quartet combine talents that range from vocal experiments, instrumental virtuosity, impulsive improvisation and a … Continue reading →

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And sing…

Booklet text (Norwegian below): Could the act of composing include my sound as a voice performer? The two works on this album are two different answers to this question. From the moment I started to compose new classical music I … Continue reading →

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Kapital & Moral

The combination of the trio POING and vocalist Maja S. K. Ratkje has been referred to as among the best, boldest and most innovative players in the Norwegian music community. On their new album, “Kapital&Moral”, they present a selection of … Continue reading →

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Crepuscular Hour

Crepuscular Hour was originally commissioned for a performance at the Ultima festival 2010 in Uranienborg church, Oslo. The work is composed for three choirs, three pairs of noise musicians and concert organ. All performers surround the audience, and are amplified … Continue reading →

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Rasaka

Concert recording from Rødbrygga, Inderøy, April 2013. Maja S. K. Ratkje (voice and live electronics) with the trio SAKA: Kristoffer Berre Alberts (saxophones), Jon Rune Strøm (double bass), Dag Erik Knedal Andersen (drums). CD and Vinyl. Mixed by Lasse Marhaug.

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Celadon

A record of slowly evolving beauty that gradually unravels its meditative design. Recorded in Norwegian sculptor and painter Emanuel Vigeland’ s (1875 -1948) mausoleum in Oslo in 2013. A recording space that is famous for its acoustics and its long … Continue reading →

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Live in Molde

+3dB: “SPUNK and Joëlle Léandre is a match made for history. Based on their first joint appearance at Belleville, Oslo, in 2008, Molde Jazz Festival suggested that these players join forces again, a situation that warranted documentation. Léandre is one … Continue reading →

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Adventura Botanica

Rune Grammofon: “On in this botanical adventure – or “Adventura Botanica” – SPUNK join forces with one of Norway’s leading modern dance exponents, Odd Johan Fritzøe, to create a sound and movement work celebrating Darwin’s legendary, game-changing voyage to Madagascar. … Continue reading →

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JANUS

Beautiful, hand pressed black vinyl from Maja S. K. Ratkje / Joachim Montessuis on the French label Erratum. A collaboration which started in 2008 and finished in 2013. Continue reading →

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Voice (LP)

The debut solo album from founder SPUNK member and composer Maja Ratkje has secured her a place among the finest experimental singers. From the weird and furious to the enchanting and beautiful, this is an album rich in atmosphere, colour … Continue reading →

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Scrumptious Sabotage

A recording of live performances which brought together two essential figures of the contemporary scene: an oustanding Norwegian composer and vocal artist Maja S.K. Ratkje and a celebrated improviser and composer , former DNA drummer, Ikue Mori. Continue reading →

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Das Wohltemperierte SPUNK

Rune Grammofon: “At one minute past eight in the evening of the twentieth of January, 2001, the Norwegian quartet SPUNK began playing a drone in the key of B, inaugurating a project that would weave into their musical lives for … Continue reading →

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Trouble in Paradise

Tzadik: “Members of bands as diverse as DNA, Skeleton Crew, Electric Masada, Hemophiliac and Björk, Zeena and Ikue have been leading figures of the downtown scene since the early 1980s. Their fabulous duo project Phantom Orchard is expanded here with … Continue reading →

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Treasure Hunt

Ikue Mori, Simon Balestrazzi, Sylvie Courvoisier, Alessandro Olla, Maja S. K. Ratkje recorded this album on Sardinia in 2010. Tracks: 1 Searching For 4:26 2 Alive 7:59 3 Tokyo Map 3:23 4 So Sorry 8:39 5 You Play Against My … Continue reading →

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Slime Zone

Slugfield’s debut album. Slugfield is the super trio consisting of Maja S. K. Ratkje, Paal Nilssen-Love and Lasse Marhaug. This is a concert recording from Mono during Oslo Jazz Festival, August 2010. Recorded by Audun Strype, mixed by Ratkje, mastered … Continue reading →

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LIGHT

Rune Grammofon: “This DVD gives a rare and unique insight into the live concert experience of one of Norway´s most prominent and long standing contemporary impro groups. Commisioned by the Henie Onstad Art Centre for it´s 40th anniversary in 2008, … Continue reading →

Posted in Blog, Full length album features, Mixed media/Vinyl/Other shapes, Rare stuff, Recorded improvisation | Tagged SPUNK | Leave a comment