Eivind Aarset - Sonic Codex

After lots of early '70s fusion/jazz over the last couple of weeks (the CTI box set, and healthy doses of Billy Cobham, Freddie Hubbard and some others) it was time to drag myself back into the current millennium.

Enter Norwegian guitarist Eivind Aarset.  I posted before about his excellent "Live Extracts" CD from last year.  Currently I'm diving into his 2008 release "Sonic Codex".  Many of the compositions on "Live Extracts" were originally released on "Sonic Codex", and the contrast between the studio and live treatments of the songs is very interesting.  Where "Live Extract"s excelled was in the use of dynamics, combining very quiet, ambient passages with insane industrial crescendos.  "Sonic Codex" on the other hand provides more in the way of varying textures, reigning in the dynamic range just a touch.

One of the things about Aarset's music that appeals to me the most is his ability to make his guitar sound like anything but a guitar.  (Here's some good information about his gear - I'd hate to have to set up / pack up that mess every night).

Being in the studio gives Aarset the flexibility to overdub in additional sounds/textures, and makes for a great listening experience - this is an excellent CD to listen to through headphones, especially those with a nice large soundstage.  The CD kicks off with "Sign of Seven," the guitar sounding like some sort of muted vibe or tuned PVC pipe before bulding to a powerful climax - if Robert Fripp tried to record something that was a bridge between his ambient "Soundscapes" and Crimson prog-rock it might sound something like this.  "Quicksilver Dream" tracks a more spacey/ambient path before the middle-eastern tinged "Drøbak Saray".  "Still Changing" effectively mixes in some banjo (ambient banjo!) while  "Black Noise/White Silence" takes the unique approach of starting out as an intense Hendrixian take on a free jazz type jam (with Wetle Holte's drums even sounding a bit like the Experience's Mitch Mitchell), before eventually dissolving into a serene ambient passage.  The CD closes with "Return of Black Noise" reprising  the imagery of "Black Noise/White Silence" before transitioning into "Murky Lambada".

I really enjoy all of Aarset's releases, but I think Sonic Codex may be his strongest effort yet.  It is available for online purchase in FLAC format at Gubemusic.com, or as a CD from Amazon.


1. Sign Of Seven
2. Quicksilver Dream
3. Drobak Saray
4. Cameo
5. Still Changing
6. Black Noise/ White Silence
7. Family Pictures Iii
8. Sleeps With Fishes
9. The Return Of Black Noise & Murky Lambada