The next album, "Light Extracts," had much to live up to, and did not disappoint. Again, ambience and club rhythms were present, but the music was becoming a truly separate organism. Where "Electronique Noire" has tracks that could be individually described in terms of genre(s), "Light Extracts" offered music that could only be described in terms of "Aarset-ness". The album features the bass clarinet of Hans Ulrik, an artist Aarset met when recording with Marilyn Mazur's Future Song; Ulrik's sound would lend the album a whole new dimension, and he has appeared on each release since.
With the establishment of Copenhagen’s Tivoli Gardens in 1843, the Danish composer and conductor Hans Christian Lumbye (1810–1874) swiftly rose to fame as the city’s internationally acclaimed king of waltzes and galops, leading his orchestra from the violin. For this recording, Lars Ulrik Mortensen and Concerto Copenhagen – Scandinavia’s leading period instruments ensemble – studied Lumbye's original scores and used instruments from the era to recreate an authentic sound. This collection showcases Lumbye’s enchanting music, along with popular pieces by his idols, Lanner and Strauss I.
Catchy melodies - particularly from the Impressionist period - in fresh new arrangements that bridge the gap between jazz, pop and classical music. Featuring Bugge Wesseltoft and Lars Danielsson.
"Connected" marked yet another leap up on Aarset's evolutionary ladder and sits like a prelude to a manifesto. "Connected" perfectly captures Aarset's working method. His musical world is uniquely his, and the vocabulary of his guitar describes it as no one else could. The music has become self-referential, yet manages to retain warmth and openness.