Drummer Øyvind Skarbø’s trio Bly de Blyant, comprised of the Icelandic guitarist Hilmar Jensson (TYFT, Jim Black’s AlasNoAxis) and the Brooklyn-based multi-instrumentalist Shahzad Ismaily (Marc Ribot, Will Oldham, John Zorn) in addition to Skarbø, received glowing reviews for their adventurous debut album ABC. The British magazine Prog wrote: “It’s a highly subtle album that denies itself nothing in terms of its sonic palette.” Rock-a-Rolla described the album as “[a]n intriguing, shapeshifting collection, open-ended and saturated with potential”.
“We had so much fun recording ABC,” says drummer Øyvind Skarbø, “that we wanted to try a similar formula for the new record.” Hindsight Bias was recorded in the same studio (Grieghallen Studio in Bergen, now closed) with the same technician, Davide Bertolini. This time, too, the three musicians were together in the same room, without headphones, and with a wide variety of analogue instruments and equipment to play around with. One important point of similarity between ABC and Hindsight Bias is the unprejudiced attitude towards mixing and drawing inspiration from different genres. The members of the trio find references everywhere, and seem capable of combining them in an entirely uninhibited manner. The main difference between the two releases lies in the material.
ABC was a rather fragmented record, presenting a large number of short pieces. Many of them were based on small sketches, and a good deal of the album was improvised in the studio. “With Hindsight Bias I wanted to create a more integrated album, with fewer and more concise songs,” says Skarbø. “I composed new material and adapted work from my archives with this in mind.” By the time the trio got together for this new recording, Skarbø had six pieces ready, all with more or less finished arrangements. “Although I had written nearly all of the music (two of the pieces were improvised), they would have remained only static sketches if Shahzad and Hilmar had not breathed life into them in their own personal ways.”
Despite their broad-minded eclecticism, the band manage to maintain credibility in everything they do, whether it is prog-inspired rock (“Michael Jackson Pollock”), groovy, twisted instrumental soul (“Westkreuz”), or disco with a banjo (“Laura”). This is a band that feels at home no matter which musical impulse they choose to pursue.
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Øyvind Skarbø on Hindsight Bias, track by track:
JIDDU
The main structure here began as an attempt to create a tune that could have been an outtake from Joni Mitchell’s record Hejira. Rather than being given a distinct melody to work with, Hilmar has plenty of leeway. I heard him play with another band, where he had a long, melodic solo. With “Jiddu” I wanted to create a framework where we could hear that side of him. When we play live, Shahzad plays normal bass on this and Moog with his foot.
WESTKREUZ
This song appeared more or less by itself while I was out walking in Lodz, Poland. The last part is an adaptation of an older song, “Tjukkesokka”, which had been tested out by two different bands, but never came into its own. Westkreuz is a district in Berlin.
LAURA
One has heard of it happening, but this was the first time it ever happened to me: the bass line for “Laura” came to me in a dream. The guitar figure in the dream was identical to one I had seen on a YouTube clip of James Brown. Using a banjo was Shahzad’s idea. I bought a cassette that we used to record the song on, and then recorded it back to ProTools twice in order to get that great cassette sound.
HINDSIGHT BIAS
This is a tune that has been running through my head for several years. The harmonium stood in the corridor outside of the studio. There was coincidentally a conference somewhere else in the Grieg Hall that day, which we can hear in the background. We can also hear a man walking by with a large bunch of keys hanging out of his pocket.
MICHAEL JACKSON POLLOCK
This tune was inspired by much of the metrically challenging music heard in New York. The melody itself was originally written “blind”, without double-checking with any melodic instruments, and then edited marginally afterwards. There are also elements of an old hip-hop beat here. Michael Jackson represents the melodic, danceable aspect of the music, while Jackson Pollock represents the abstract component.
DEFGHIJKL
This is an improvised piece. The basis here is a new drum machine Shahzad had got hold of: Teenage Engineering OP-1. This gives me associations to some of the very early jazz-rock bands in the late sixties and early seventies.
BUNKER HILL
The point of departure for this tune is the drum track (and there are five of them). I think that the original idea arose after a concert with Batagraf. Hilmar and Shahzad then added their own voices before Kjetil Møster himself came and laid down a truly amazing solo.
THE EIGHTEEN IRASCIBLES
This is the second improvised piece, admittedly featuring some well-chosen overdubs. Hilmar found a guitar-like instrument in the studio, decorated with snakeskin, and used it to record a few voices. I heard a piano figure in my head, and Hilmar took care of that, too. “The Eighteen Irascibles” is a good example of what we’re trying to do, namely to make what is entirely improvised sound as though it could have been composed.
released January 30, 2014
The song Jiddu refers to Indian thinker Jiddu Krishnamurti
(1895-1986). His book Freedom From The Known is highly
recommended.
Tenor saxophone on Bunker Hill performed by Kjetil Møster.
All music composed by Øyvind Skarbø (TONO), except
DEFGHIJKL and The Eighteen Irascibles, composed by
Ismaily/Jensson/Skarbø (BMI Wazirmusic/STEM/TONO).
Recorded March 18-22 and mixed April 22-23-30, 2013
by Davide Bertolini at Grieghallen Studio, Bergen,
Norway.
Mastered June 6, 2013 by Morten Lund at Lunds
Lyd, Oslo, Norway.
Produced by: Øyvind Skarbø.
Executive producer: Andreas R. Meland.
