BENEDICTE MAURSETH
Hárr (Hubro)
Benedicte Maurseth is a folk musician from the Hardanger region of Norway and her main instrument is that region’s greatest gift to music, the hardingfele or Hardanger fiddle. She is one of a few artists among the roster of Oslo label Hubro – Erlend Apneseth is another – who have a relatively traditional folk background but have parlayed this into a more experimental approach over time.
Hárr is Maurseth’s third album under her own name but finds her operating as a trio, with the fiddle’s mournful tones processed into something more soundscape-y and abstract, blurring with dappled marimba and the twin electronics of Mats Eilertsen and Håkon Stene. Eidfyrder is driven by cavernous double bass, the title track by drums that are audibly brushed yet have the feel of a barnyard ceremony rather than a jazz club, and ornithologists may wish to take up the challenge of matching the bird call sound to the six species Maurseth lists as sample sources on the delightful album that is Hárr.
words NOEL GARDNER