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Elephant9: Mythical River
ByEmerson's L-100 is currently on loan to The Met in New York, authentically preserved in its battered but unbowed glory. Meanwhile, Elephant9's keyboard player, Ståle Storløkken, is intent on keeping the beast's siblings out of museums. And he succeeds wonderfully. The L-100 is his number one keyboard on Mythical River, though he also plays Mellotron (with which Emerson had a short affair), grand piano, Fender Rhodes, Arp Pro Soloist and Moog Minimoog.
Formed in 2006 and with half-a-dozen studio albums and two live-doubles under their belt, in 2021 Elephant9 cut loose from their signature heavy-weaponry trajectory to inject more structure and less sonic excess into their groove: Arrival Of The New Elders (Rune Grammafon) set the scene for Mythical River. The band's post-2020 maturity has done nothing to diminish its Emmersonian echoes. On the contrary, Storløkken now has the space to add nuance and even the use of silence to the wildchild palette, and we the listeners have more space in which to appreciate it. The album moves delightfully between psychedelia, grinding jazz-rock and cosmic instrumental balladry. Simultaneously a trip down memory lane and a voyage of discovery.
Track Listing
Solitude In Limbo #2; Mythical River; Party Among The Stars; Chamber Of Silencde; Heading For Desolate Wastelands; Star Cluser Detective; Cavern Of The Red Lion; Solitude In Limbo #1.
Personnel
Elephant9
band / ensemble / orchestraAdditional Instrumentation
Ståle Storløkken: Hammond L-100, Fender Rhodes, Minimoog, Arp Pro Soloist, grand piano, harpspiano, celeste, Mellotron, Continuum; Nikolai Hængsle: bass guitar; Torstein Loftus: drums.
Album information
Title: Mythical River | Year Released: 2024 | Record Label: Rune Grammofon
Comments
About Elephant9
Instrument: Band / ensemble / orchestra
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