007

Artist:

Nils Berg

Release Title:

Coming And Going

Track listing:

  1. Hope
  2. När Näktergalen Sjunger
  3. From Above
  4. Interlude 1
  5. I Väntan På Renar
  6. Doves
  7. Interlude 2
  8. Black Times Two

Catalogue Number:

OONA007

Release Date:

21st June, 2023

Nils Berg – Coming And Going

About an hour’s drive from Stockholm, there is a place called Ilandet—a patch of Swedish countryside overgrown with an abandoned apple orchard, with century-old trees stretching across verdant fields. It’s one of those places that invites introspection, where the sound and sights and smells of nature can envelop you entirely, and transport you far away from the humdrum of modern life. It’s in this environment where Nils Berg, the jazz composer and multi-instrumentalist, conceived of his new album, the hypnotic and breathtaking Coming and Going. Across eight tracks of ambient instrumental jazz, spanning everything from tender clarinets to plaintive violins to soaring flutes, Nils invites the listener into this world of his own creation, one whose sole purpose is to arrest time and lilt its inhabitants into a state of peace and joy.

While one could argue that Nils’ music has somewhat always had this effect on his audience (for example: his Nils Berg Cinemascope project, a trio that uses found footage to craft unique live experiences, or his acclaimed band The Stoner, who set the standard for Nordic jazz in the ‘00s and ‘10s), but what sets Coming and Going apart is its explicit ties to the natural world that entices Nils so much. Throughout the record, birds, insects, woodland animals, all make an appearance, woven in between the simple-yet-arresting melodies that compose the songs’ structure.

“Most of the songs on this record started out by visualizing a bird, and spending time with it,” Nils says. “It could be playing a very simple movement again and again, like two notes that for some reason have the feeling of a blackbird singing. Then we’d come up with movements or sounds that other animals could make to accompany this blackbird—like how music is made out in the bush, if you just stop for a while in a forest or in a field and listen.” Take the opening track, “Hope”, for instance; much like an orchestra warming itself up to play some grandiose suite, subtle strings are plucked while Nils’ clarinet trills inquisitively, mimicking a wild creature suddenly aware of its surroundings. “There’s so much going on in nature, and you never really think about it until you stop to listen,” he continues. “Maybe it’s not perfect harmony, but it’s not disharmony either. It just is.”

In order to maintain that organic feel in-studio, Nils and his band recorded all of Coming and Going live, and the spontaneity of the tracks feels almost infectious. A notable track, “From Above”, was written from the perspective of an eagle, soaring high above the clouds, dominant but carefree. Punctuated by stabbing strings, the song builds and builds, bringing the listener on the duration of the epic flight, until it slows down and returns to its first simple melody. “I Väntan På Renar”, which translates in English to “Waiting for Reindeer”, is something of a document of an adventure sound artist Helena Persson (whom contributed to the record) had in Lapland, in the far north of Sweden.

In the end, it all comes back to the central theme of escapism, that sentiment that drives Nils to travel up to Ilandet to take the time to bathe in nature. “I need to be reminded of that,” he says, “that the essential things in life, maybe they can be found very close to you. Often they’re there, they’re all around you, like a good book, or maybe a good meal or a new friend. They can be just around the corner, and every once and a while you just need to change moods to understand that. I love those exotica, easy listening music from the ’60s, that were made for people to escape from suburban life to Hawaii or somewhere. And I guess this is my version of an exotica album, but I’m not trying to paint the picture of a faraway place—I was to take people into the head of a small bird in my own backyard.”

 

006

Artist:

Kiri Ra!

Release Title:

Kiri Ra!

Track listing:

  1. Kites Over Gärdet
  2. ))Glänta///
  3. Natt
  4. A'Delos
  5. !Birchwood/(
  6. Adventure In Väne-Ryr
  7. Linnesöndagen Gynnas Icke
  8. Nerför En Sandig Slänt
  9. Mu!
  10. Haplo'os
  11. ((Pufzi///

Catalogue Number:

OONA006

Release Date:

12th February, 2021

The debut album from Kiri Ra! is an intuitive journey through landscapes of spectral otherness with colors of post classical minimalism, ambient folk and spiritual jazz.

Starting as cross Baltic improvisation group in 2014, Kiri Ra! found form in the winter of 2016 when Finnish experimental artist Lau Nau, Finnish jazz saxophonist Linda Fredriksson, and Swedish pianist Matti Bye were commissioned by The Swedish Film Institute to create music for experimental amateur documentary films from its archive. Their debut album is made up entirely of improvised live studio recordings that stemmed from this film-scoring effort; magical and otherworldly material with a unique narrative voice of its own.

With meticulous attention to detail and a sense of wonder, the players are collective witnesses to what can unfold between three musicians in a room. As illustrated on the tracks “Happlo’os” and “))Glänta//”, softly played piano ostinatos, field recordings and bowed percussion set a visceral foundation for the saxophone to carve melodic tones of tingling melancholia. This warmth and sense of intimacy prevails throughout the album, as illustrated on the serene track “Linnesöndagen Gynnas Icke” whilst “Kites Över Gärdet” is an almost supernatural unfolding of timelessness.

Kiri Ra! approaches each recording session without speech; the players choose an instrument and the journey begins, constructing music around repeated motifs, and the all-important space between the notes. This act of listening and reacting creates a very lucid, intuitive and inviting sonic atmosphere.  

Kiri Ra!’s music slides easily between genres, with  textures of post-classical, ambient folk and spiritual jazz, taking the listener with them on an unpredictable yet accessible journey.

Press:
“Experimental Jazz Trio Kiri Ra!’s Debut Album is a Deeply Moving Film Score” – XLR8
“The wonderful delicately experimental, delicately jazzy ambient that they have created is rare and unique. ” –   Groove
“Kiri Ra! drop an instantly bewitching and utterly enthralling self-titled debut album on OONA Recordings” –  Inverted Audio
“Mostly acoustic with discreet electronic underpinning, this is simply beautiful music with some of the husk left on.”  – Finnish Music Quarterly

005

Artist:

Series N°2

Release Title:

Here, Now

Track listing:

  1. N°2 (Anders af Klintberg)
  2. Luce (Julia Kent)
  3. Spektrum (Matti Bye)
  4. Breathe (Lisa Montan)
  5. Gaia (Rebekka Karijord)
  6. We The Feels (Kira Kira)
  7. Kites over Gärdet (Kira Ra!)
  8. In Chocolat (Nils Berg)
  9. Elsa Lill (Lau Nau & Matti Bye)
  10. Wait (Daniel Ögren)
  11. Over (Kirsten Evans)
  12. Nenni (Kira Kira Blissmix) (Teitur Magnusson & Kira Kira)

Catalogue Number:

OONA005

Release Date:

9th September, 2020

In these disorientating and reordering times, we believe music can serve as the re-connective tissue, bringing the outer and inner worlds into some sort of momentary harmony. We find no better place to turn for inspiration than the natural world around us. Not only does the natural world offer an astonishing view of the will of life, but an illustration of the fact that we will at some point all return to it.  As observed by Maria Popova, the natural world offers us the opportunity to dissipate the self-involvement with which we humans live through our sorrows, in so giving us back to ourselves.

In this series we presented select artists the Poem Lost by by David Whyte (below) along with the premise of creating a piece of music they relate to the natural world. Not only a piece that each artist associates with some sort of harmony between their inner and outer worlds, but also a connection to the greater natural world that holds us all.  The result is 12 unique pieces, paired with cover art by by the visual artist Martina Hoogland Ivanow in which we are now proud to present as Series N°2 – Here, Now.

Lost by David Whyte:

Stand still.
The trees ahead and the bushes beside you Are not lost.
Wherever you are is called Here,
And you must treat it as a powerful stranger,
Must ask permission to know it and be known.
The forest breathes. Listen. It answers,
I have made this place around you,
If you leave it you may come back again, saying Here.

No two trees are the same to Raven.
No two branches are the same to Wren.
If what a tree or a bush does is lost on you,
You are surely lost. Stand still.
The forest knows Where you are. 
You must let it find you.

004

Artist:

Lisa Montan

Release Title:

Fossiler

Track listing:

  1. Enter Forest
  2. Guld
  3. Höstanemon
  4. Psalm 1
  5. Car
  6. Vibrato
  7. Psalm 22
  8. Creation
  9. Värmland
  10. Ackord
  11. Treklang
  12. Chat
  13. Flocken
  14. Epilogue

Catalogue Number:

OONA004

Release Date:

28th February, 2020

Lisa Montan (formerly Lisa Holmqvist) is a composer of music and sound art based in Stockholm, and the only female to have been awarded a Guldbagge for her 2015 score the film Flocken.

Fossiler, which is partly a retrospective album of Lisa´s compositions from film scores, also features all new pieces such as the otherworldly and unraveling track “Höstanemon”. Solo voice and wordless choir, minimalistic percussion, bowed saw, reeds and winds instruments wrapped around sparse string arrangements.

All of Montan’s fourteen compositions on Fossiler have out-of-time and ceremonious qualities, such as the enticing track “Guld” (from the film Guld by Abe Hassan), where a single voice introduces what could be an ancient lullaby. “Psalm 1” (from the film Euphoria by Lisa Langseth), a wind and woodwind piece shadowed by static, could easily have been composed two hundred years ago and has those entrancingly sacred qualities. “Enter Forest” (from the film Euphoria) is gorgeously warped and majestic awakening.

A big part of Fossiler came from image-related projects. She says that “in this context the music is the leading narrator. Music can stand on its own, because the listener can supply her own image.”

On February 28th, 2020 OONA Recordings is proud to present Fossiler, the debut instrumental release from this unique, talented and important voice.

“With this record, I am ready to celebrate being in my own skin, myself” says Lisa.

This record was produced with support from The Swedish Arts Council / Kulturådet

003

Here, Now

Artist:

Subchamber Ensmble

Release Title:

Subchamber Ensmble

Track listing:

  1. Navaswan
  2. Skate Park Fauna
  3. Butterfly Coil
  4. Abeyance
  5. 108 Minor
  6. Oh! Clementia
  7. Nuuk Port By Night
  8. Flora Dorian

Catalogue Number:

OONA003

Release Date:

30th August, 2019

Pulling from Alice Coltrane’s ecstatic energy plus Lamonte Young’s drone strategies, Subchamber Ensmble presents its debut album.

The Subchamber Ensmble is a collection of freelance musicians operating outside of the traditional orchestral context, founded by Malmö and NYC based film composer Nathan Larson and Malmö based cellist and composer Gerda Holmquist.

Their debut album is an entirely improvised performance, recorded at Gula Studion in Malmö, Sweden over a period of three hours on Monday November 5th, 2018. In the spirit of Brian Eno’s Oblique Strategies, small directives were given (Play in D…when you get uncomfortable, do not stop playing… avoid melodic resolution… etcetera). These instructions were interpreted by the players in whatever way they saw fit. The resulting recording was then mixed and edited with an eye towards early dub’s blatant and playful use of reverb and tape delays.

There is no goal or expected outcome, but one side-effect is the creation of a context that might allow classically trained musicians to work beyond set sheet music, to become more comfortable creating spontaneous sound. The Subchamber Ensmble could be read as a loving response to the conservatory/academic approach that so often limits a classical musician’s relationship to her instrument. Subchamber Ensmble aims to create music spontaneously, relying on the musicians’ ability to create unique sound based on impulse, rather than structured form.

The Ensmble has a rotating roster of players, but this recording features regular players Tove Wadenius (violin), Susette Johansson (guitar), Samuel Lundström (violin/viola), Olivia Rydqvist (bassoon), Lydia Holmlund (harp), Viktor Auregård (double bass), Gerda Holmquist (cello), Jonas Losciale (clarinet/bass clarinet), and Nathan Larson (tank drums).

002

Artist:

Mambo Noir Trio

Release Title:

Mambo Noir Trio

Track listing:

  1. Noir
  2. Matador
  3. Clouds
  4. Savu
  5. City
  6. Love
  7. Sangre
  8. Luna
  9. Fin

Catalogue Number:

OONA002

Release Date:

13th September, 2019

On their self-titled debut album, Mambo Noir Trio brings together the resonance of dark exotica and sway of 60´s latin jazz into the melodic timbre of the Swedish archipelago.

Recorded live in Matti Bye’s Studio Barnängen, fittingly located in the Hammarby harbour in Stockholm, the album features nine tracks of sure-handedly improvised music for piano, percussion and vibraphone. From the Manciniesque opening track “Noir” to the shifting lullaby mood of “Fin” that bookend the record through the waltzy “Clouds”, the music and dramaturgy unfold, painting slow seductive circles of faintly recognizable memories.

Mambo Noir Trio treats its source material with a tentative playfulness that allows vibraphone timbres time to diffuse and roll out, while double bass loops keep the musical movement grounded. This approach is somewhat reminiscent of the American composer and “father of exotica” Martin Denny, with the harmonic nuances and melodic accessibility of jazz pianist Jan Johansson. Rhythmically the record brings to mind the bluesy, freewheeling sound of the Ethiopian singer, pianist and nun Emahoy Tsegué-Maryam Guèbrou.

Mambo Noir Trio is Matti Bye on piano and electronics (well know for his scores to contemporary films as well as vintage silent movies), Vilhelm Bromander (Saigon, Musette, Joe Davolaz, Josefin Öhrn + The Liberation) on double bass and Dennis Egberth (Saigon, Joe Davolaz, Taxi Taxi, Josefin Öhrn + The Liberation) on drums and percussion. The recordings were influenced and colored in by Anders af Klintberg, whom produced and mixed the record.

 

Press:

“This is mambo for the 21st century: harmonic, freewheeling, bluesy, and with a touch of super cool jazz.  Stunning stuff”
HiFi Choice Magazine (5/5)

“Gripping, fascinating and a wonderful drama roll… Are you ready for your new favourite band?”
Gaffa Magazine (5/5)

“Mambo Noir Trio deftly drop kicks the traditional kitsch stylings of the Cuban genre into touch, replacing it with an altogether cooler, smokey jazz club vibe by way of a David Lynch-type darkness…”
R2 Magazine

001

Artist:

Various Artists

Release Title:

Here, When

Track listing:

  1. Ljussken (Matti Bye)
  2. Mother (Rebekka Karijord)
  3. Linnesondagen gynnas icke (Kiri Ra!)
  4. Psalm 1 (from the film Euphoria) (Lisa Montan)
  5. Walking Down (Diagnos)
  6. Trampoline (Jon Ekstrand)
  7. First & Last (Anders Af Klintberg)
  8. Pawling (Julia Kent)
  9. G Choral (Lau Nau)
  10. Quaver Sequence (Nathan Larson)
  11. Birch (Elias Krantz)

Catalogue Number:

OONA001

Release Date:

28th June, 2019

Friday June 28th marks the release of OONA’s debut offering, featuring our Series format. Entitled Here, When, this first release is a compilation of songs from eleven different artists, inspired by text from the author Pico Iyer and paired with art from visual artist Martina Hoogland-Ivanow.

Here, When explores the idea of space and distance. It is no secret that this day in age we are presented with an extreme, constant flood of stimuli and information. Time is a scarce commodity — creating such time, space, and distance from our illusions and realities to process, feel, and digest them is a luxury. In the words of Pico Iyer, “We are extracting meaning only when we have distance from our experiences to process or experience them.” OONA’s debut release is an attempt to create that space for the listener, an open-ended invitation to fill this space with their individual needs, feelings, and desires.

As a multidisciplinary undertaking, OONA is an inviting and inclusive space. Not your conventional record label. Jacob explains it best. “What we are building with OONA is an independent, humanistic, artist-driven label with non linear thinking; a home for composers and artists creating instrumental, experimental, and non-genre based music.”

We wish to present music in an alternative manner, to approach the format and content of releases from a more immersive angle. We are interested in connecting and exploring parallel narratives between art and artforms. We seek to uncover the languages spoken in the spaces between music, visual arts, text, and poetry. By connecting and presenting these diverse expressions together in new combinations and contexts, we set out to create a richer experiences for anyone who enters the world of OONA.

All of our releases will contain both visual and written elements. A short film or poem may be the starting point for a recording, a group of songs may influence and provide context to an image, or vice versa. We believe in challenging the idea of a leading narrative, and that any one medium can be the starting point for another, resulting in a cohesive, holistic release. At the very least we aim to offer the consumer an alternative, and offer the opportunity to explore ‘playlisting’ and ‘thematics’ from a different perspective. That and allow artists and artforms an open space to connect and experiment with expressions.