Jim O'rourke & Kassel Jaeger In Cobalt Aura Sleeps (2020)

Covering a vast terrain with delicacy and poise this new release unveils a spectral showcase for all manner of deep abstraction. The first side positions itself somewhere between stoned komische synth and more nuanced electroacoustic tactics, all weighted by a melancholic undertow. The second side builds on the tension of the former as an undulating drone teases all variety of matter to rise and fall amongst the foreign space it inhabits.

Timely outing from two grand masters of exploratory electronics. Kassel Jaeger is the moniker of French musician François Bonnet who works at the GRM and has released a number of books including the highly regarded The Order of Sounds, A Sonorous Archipelago published by Urbanomic in 2016. Jim O’Rourke is known to most through his explorations of the song and shapes, the high and low, the east and south.

These two extraordinary guitarists first met in an Oslo studio in January 2019. Having admired each other’s work for some time, they decided right there and then to record an electric guitar duet collaboration specifically to create a soundtrack for a classic Norwegian silent film. They spent 30 minutes setting up before Kaiser suggested a short test recording to one of the less likely candidates, Roald Amundsen’s 1925 documentary "Ellsworths flyveekspedition 1925". One hour and 56 minutes later they set down their guitars and shook their heads in wonder. They had played for the entire length of the film without breaks, in the process creating a complete score for the film. Five tracks with a total playing time of 65 minutes were selected for this CD release.