(2021) Mikael Ogren & Johan Agebjorn - Artefact


Review:
Fashioning an album with a particular novel in mind is never a bad strategy when most narratives involve dramatic changes in action and a wide variety of sequences. Such potential can be ably exploited by musical producers capable of taking advantage of what the source material offers. Two such are Swedish electronic artists Johan Agebjörn & Mikael Ögren, who created Artefact as an unofficial soundtrack to Arthur C. Clarke’s sci-fi classic Rendezvous with Rama. If any author’s works lend themselves to electronic interpretation, it’s those by Clarke, best known as the novelist of 2001: A Space Odyssey and co-screenwriter of Kubrick’s film. Like it, Rendezvous with Rama involves space, with in this case Rama a cylindrical alien starship that after entering the Solar System is intercepted and examined by the crew of the Endeavour. The story recounts the fantastical events that occur inside the starship, one example (depicted on the album package’s inner sleeve by Kilian Eng) being the crab-like creature one crew member encounters after crashing his skybike. It’s all the more tempting to experience the book and recording together when Agebjörn and Ögren designed each of the twelve tracks to correspond to a different chapter. That said, Artefact remains an immensely rewarding listen in the absence of familiarity with the book. As the duo read the novel, “the reading immediately planted visual and sonic images into our heads,” and much the same will happen within the listener as the recording plays. The duo come well-equipped for the task. Agebjörn works comfortably in electronic genres ranging from electro-disco to ambient electro, and Ögren draws for inspiration from electronic pioneers such as Jean Michel Jarre and Kraftwerk. On this sequel to their first collaboration, 2017’s We Never Came to the White Sea, Agebjörn’s interests emerge in a number of places to give contrast to the peaceful ambient-styled passages. The inclusion of vintage synthesizers gives the material a classic feel, but Artefact’s no throwback: current technologies are deployed as plentifully, the result a sparkling, evocative panorama of electronic-ambient scene-painting. Setting the tone, cavernous rumblings hint at the cold, limitless expanses of space in “Extravehicular Activity” before the narrative proper advances with “Passing the Gates,” a co-production with Between Interval (Stefan Strand) that comes alive with pulsing electronic rhythms and breathy vocal accents. In the album’s other co-production, this one titled “Octapod” and created with Le Prix (Johan Emmoth), the music morphs from an aggressive, synth-powered house sequence into something considerably more serene. Agebjörn’s aforementioned interest in ambient electro lend muscular drive to “Space Travel,” and a relaxed disco-funk groove helps “The Storm That Passed” stand out while also drawing a connecting line to acid; “The Hall of Crystals” likewise stands out for working ethereal vocal textures by Martina Björk into its softly pulsating soundscape. Radio transmissions between the Endeavour and ground control add drama to the vibrant atmospherics of “Static Air,” and a smidgen of jazz even seeps into “Flight Over the Sea” when electric piano’s added to its propulsion. With every track presenting a different sound experience, the impression created is of a journey undertaken and completed, with many an eye-opening moment arising during the trip. Certainly one of the primary satisfactions the release provides is through its generous incorporation of beat-animated episodes, which makes the recording significantly more engaging than had it been a purely ambient creation. There are moments here where you might be reminded of Aphex Twin (in acid mode), Klaus Schulze, and others, but Artefact ultimately registers as an imaginative and inspired creation by Agebjörn and Ögren, and in designing the recording to follow the novel’s trajectory, they’ve created a soundtrack that’s never less than stimulating.





Track Listing:
1.Extravehicular Activity 2:48
2.Passing The Gates 6:12
3.The Plain 5:59
4.The Storm That Passed 5:48
5.Flight Over The Sea 5:19
6.Static Air 4:39
7.Octopod 3:50
8.Monitoring The Zooids 7:00
9.The Hall Of Crystals 5:20
10.Interplanetary Threat 1:09
11.Space Travel 8:11
12.Final Sight 8:34


Media Report:
Genre: ambient, electronic
Country: Sweden
Format: FLAC
Format/Info: Free Lossless Audio Codec, 16-bit PCM
Bit rate mode: Variable
Channel(s): 2 channels
Sampling rate: 44.1 KHz
Bit depth: 16 bits