Motorpsycho and Ståle Storløkken - The Death Defying Unicorn

  by Andrew Carver

published: 2 / 4 / 2012

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Arr, me hearties, set you down and I shall tell you a tale of a bunch of bold, seafaring Scandinavins, who set out upon a trip to parts unknown with only the Trondheim Jazz Orchestra and some jazz fusion hands to keep their vessel afloat! Yes, Norway’s long-serving psychedelic rockers, Motorpsycho have been reading their nautical tales (they recommend a bunch of aquatic missives in the liners) and it all goes into ‘The Death Defying Unicorn’ (subtitled ‘A Fanciful And Far-Out Musical Fable’). The double album shares a co-credit with Stale Storlokken - recently heard lending a hand to El Doom & The Born Electric, and recruits the talents of jazz violinist Ola Kvernberg, string group Trondheimsolistene and the aforementioned Trondheim Jazz Orchestra. This isn’t the first time the band has collaborated with a jazz group; their second live Roadwork release was a collaboration with the Source at the Kongsberg Jazz Festival in 1995, but it was a much fuzzier affair. They also worked with The Jaga Jassist Horns for their edition of the ‘In rhe Fishtank’ series. The studio effort on ‘The Death Defying Unicorn’ has moments as wild as any - starting with the terrifying crescendo of soaring strings and cooking brass in the instrumental intro ‘Out Of The Woods’ that manage to blend the output of all 22 musicians on hand while still being very identifiably the work of Motorpsycho. It’s one of their fullest-sounding records, which is saying something of a band that likes to make full use of the studio, but on tracks like ‘The Hollow Lands’, the band's bass, guitar and drums (as well as Storlokken’s keyboards) are well to the front, with their accompanists floating their boat on waves of orchestration. It is also one of their most lyrically focused, with a protagonist who undertakes a marine journey into the unknown. ‘The Hollow Lands' segues into ‘Through The Veil’ and combines with a few melancholy passes from the Trondheimsolistene before the members of the TJO begin piling up a series of repeating riffs, soon swept under the driving prow of Motorpsycho’s own fuzz assault. The tune probably charges a bit harder than its lyrical focus on Nepenthe, the Homeric drug that cures sorrow with forgetfulness. At more than 16-minutes of howling horns, buzzing guitars. it’s quite a bit to digest but Motorpsycho are old hands at extended workouts and their compatriots have no trouble keeping up. They have a knack for cooling things down, taking a slightly different tack, then surprising with yet another run of full-speed-ahead rocking. It’s followed by the instrumental ‘Doldrums’, which floats in on the lulling lows of Andre Roligheten’s bass clarinet. It’s a pensive piece, briefly pierced by the darting notes of tenor and alto saxophone. ‘Into the Gyre’ is a similarly gentle piece - at least to start with - with some lullaby vocals over some gently rippling brass.Things, however, get chaotic as it progresses and the weather takes a turn for the worse, with some frenzied strings chasing some rapid-fire guitarpicking from Hans Magnus Ryan. The first disc closes with another instrumental, ‘Flotsam’, which makes its way on a single doleful violin bow for little more than ninety seconds; change over to Disc 2 quickly because ‘Oh Proteus - A Prayer’ keeps the mood at a low emotional ebb. As the protagonist prays to assistance to Homer’s shape-changing, prophetic 'Old Man of The Sea', the TJO once again puffs and swells, putting wind in the songs sails. It’s followed by the instrumental ‘Sculls In Limbo’, whose echoing sounds and reverberating electronic tones are a far cry from melodic, instead conveying the protagonist having wandered far astray from somewhere, possibly into nowhere. It turns slowly into ‘La Lethe’, a drifting, jazzy piece with wordless groans and sawing bows backing solo saxophone. There’s a brief return to ‘Proteus A Lament’ before Motorpsycho once again takes the reins, in a low-key way, with the sotto voce intro to ‘Sharks’. The song builds a steady pace to the soaring finale and a quick jump into the steady, almost funky charge of ‘Mutiny!’ The finale ‘Into the Mystic’ keeps up the pace and has the band well to the forefront, with some enthusiastic violin soloing for a garnish as the protaganist concludes his drift into the unknown. Motorpsycho have done a remarkable thing with ‘The Death Defying Unicorn’ - made a concept album with the help of an orchestra that doesn’t succumb to instrumental bloat or its own importance. In fact, it’s one of their best albums in a career with no real weak points. Apart from being a must for fans, it’s also easy to see it being a the sort of strange trip that could appeal to fans of the Flaming Lips and other adventurous combos.

Track Listing:-

1 Out Of The Woods
2 The Hollow Lands
3 Through The Veil
4 Doldrums
5 Into The Gyre
6 Flotsam
7 Oh Proteus - A Prayer
8 Sculls In Limbo
9 La Lethe
10 Oh Proteus - A Lament
11 Sharks
12 Mutiny!
13 Into The Mystic

Band Links:-

https://www.facebook.com/motorpsychonews
https://www.facebook.com/Motorpsycho-370680215153
http://motorpsycho.fix.no/
http://motorpsychonews.blogspot.co.uk/

Label Links:-

http://www.runegrammofon.com/
https://www.facebook.com/Rune-Grammofon-267695363296413

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