Blixter Toad

“Le disque l’est aussi et confirme que cette formation est une des plus ahurissante de la scène noise actuelle, se contrefoutant tellement des conventions qu’elle ne prend même pas la peine de les détourner. C’est un chef d’oeuvre.”

Chicago Reader:
The duo of Maja Ratkje and Hild Sofie Tafjord just gets better and better. This sprawling 2-CD set ranges freely from acoustic free improv to blistering power electronics with countless stops in between, keeping its focus on whimsy, radical dynamics, texture, and razor-sharp interplay…

“Spådommen er at dette albumet blir stående igjen som et av de mest egenartede og spesielle fra denne generasjonen musikere i Norge.”

Textura: “Certainly one of the most bizarre releases heard in recent days, Blixter Toad, a two-disc set by SPUNK members Maja Ratkje and Sofie Tafjord collaborating under the Fe-Mail guise, distills mutant noise-mongering, hard drive convulsions, haunted voices, and assorted other alien syntax into fifteen set-pieces (and two videos by Masako Tanaka) that are enigmatic,

Gaz-Eta:
The biggest shock comes in the form of the 13 minute long “Ballad”. Nearly a non-song, rather this seems to be the duo’s venture into the world of pure ambience. I kid you not. Strangest thing is, I couldn’t care less what they employed to make this piece – their laptops, a bunch of old synths or perhaps a sampler – it just sounds so bloody good.

photo by Anders Samnøy KFJC 89.7 FM: “I’m on a major Maja mission. Maja Ratkje along with her Fe-Mail partner, Hild Sofie Tafjord are also in SPUNK; a Rune Grammofon bit of SPUNK is in the KFJC pipes right now along with a beauty of a solo picture disk. This is “surf noise”, agressive waves

OKSRNA:
When the events are spare you have the opportunity to hear the scheer oddness of their material, when the events get dense, it builds a massive structure that feels like shards of something sharp buit into a house of cards. A great, great record.