Low Frequency In Stereo - Low Frequency In Stereo

  by Richard Mather

published: 7 / 1 / 2003

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Review

There is a distinguished but eclectic history of bands who eventually shun vocals for a track or two and dare to try their hand at something a little different - the "instrumental".  Even the highbrow Gallagher brothers gave it a whirl.  But bands whose repertoire is almost entirely vocal free are a bit of a rarity.  Commercial success is far from guaranteed and keeping an impatient rock listener’s interest going with few words is no mean feat. The Low Frequency In Stereo have given it a surprisingly good go with this eponymous 9 song collection. TLFIS are a 4 piece Norwegian / Danish band who met whilst living near Bergen in Norway. Like all the best ideas, TLFIS was conceived after a semi-drunken night when Per Hansen (the Danish member of the band) and Per Steinar Lie met up, found themselves to be like-minded souls from the low-fi rock, post-punk indie scene and decided they wanted to do something just a little musically different.  They began with guitar, samples and bass and added Orjan Haaland on drums and Hanne Andersen on vocals.  They then settled on a more prominent role for keyboards, with Hanne's vocals diminishing to the point where this album is instrumental, although they still play with vocals on some songs live.  Now based in Copenhangen and together for almost 3 years, TLFIS play live mainly in Belgium, Germany and Norway. Personally, I’m not comfortable with pigeon holing music like TLFIS into any of the current melange of confusing descriptive genres. For instrumental work, the proof is surely in the music. I remember at school my music teacher playing a classical piece in class and asking a bunch of rowdy 13 year olds to close their eyes, to feel the music, and then to draw what images the music suggested to us. The results from a class of hormonally hyped-up teenagers were, to say the least, interesting, but the lesson was valid and seems to me a good way of approaching the TLFIS experience for the first time. So, I found myself a quiet room, filled a glass, hit play, turned the volume up, immersed myself in the music and let my imagination wander…  The melodies hold you, and the mood swings from the upbeat to the sublime, to the raw, and back. If you open your ears, the music talks. The opening track, 'Die Elektro Voice', begins with sparse and expressive melodic guitar, a sound you'll hear more of throughout. It pauses before growing in complexity, gradually creating a sense of calm optimism, of hope and innocence, and slowly building before exploding into an uplifting New Order-esque wash of guitar. The 2nd track, 'Still', starts with a softer beat, gentle pulsing bass and mellow understated keyboards.  It glides, mysterious but soothing.  Relax and go with the flow. 'All In All' continues the mellow theme in an almost Cocteau Twins style. Slightly disharmonious with a softly chiming bass and guitars, it lifts you, gently lowers you and then abruptly thrusts you skyward once more. Another gently optimistic tune. Track 4, 'Large Truck F.H.L' is altogether different,  Starting with a gentle thudding bass line, chiming guitar and a tense drum beat, it evokes building motion before hitting a crescendo of grinding guitars and savage keyboards. Not safe. Not gentle.  A juggernaut with a heavy load, crashing off the road. Then we are brought back down with 'Space Echo', a simple chiming guitar riff working around Haaland’s slowly pulsing and echoing drum beat.  To coin a phrase, ladies and gentleman we are invited to float in space. And so to Track 6 'Atreides', the longest on the album at 10 minutes and alive favourite.  More chiming guitar and gentle base as we are drawn slowly into this song, with a Cure-like riff. This track is intended to summon up images of the good versus evil sci-fi epic space-opera 'Dune' books.  After a couple of relatively uplifting 'Atreides'minutes a darker, more sinister edge is introduced - enter the evil Harkonnens stage right. The thudding base is becomes unsettling. Threatening robotic sounds contrast with thegentle guitar.   Suddenly, the tempo changes, the keyboards launch in,augmented by grunting guitar and taking us into a more ominous world. This is the darkest sound on the album by far.  Raw, industrial, disturbing and powerful. 'High Rider' then brings us back to a calmer, more serene, world. A gentle beat, with shimmering, carefully layered sounds. Quiet and introspective. And then to the penultimate song, 'Electone', a simple lullaby of a tune, dreamy and soothing, linked by brief vocal dubs to the final and title track. 'Low Frequency' centres around what is now an almost trademark Per Hansen guitar melody, building gradually to a lively and less hypnotic sound, overlayed with a growling guitar and a harsh bass. More voice dubs give an abrasive edge before the original melody returns to close the album on a satisfying, relaxed note. So where do we go from here? Well, in my view The Low Frequency In Stereo is a well assembled album and would make a change from almost everything else on most people's CD rack.  Forget preconceptions and pigeonholes and just go with it.  It's one of those albums that you’ll play regularly for a while, when you'll file it away under 'L' and re-discover it every so often  when you’re in the mood for something mostly (but not entirely) mellow, atmospheric and just that bit different. It’s ambitious, but accessible. And a TLFIS live show, washed down with a few fine continental beers, would probably make for a pretty decent and chilled night out.

Track Listing:-

1 Die Electro Voice
2 Still
3 All In All
4 Large Truck FHL
5 Space Echo
6 Atreides
7 High Rider
8 Electone
9 Low Frequency