Portrait Of David - These Days Are Hard

  by David McNamee

published: 20 / 1 / 2002

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Review

Only Scandinavia could have produced Dogma. The place is a cinema in itself, a loose collective of countries thrown onto the planet from an alien galaxy, or perhaps vomited from the Earth. Iceland oscillates between permanent daylight and lightsucking darkness, Sweden has its cabal of esoteric religions, and the ghosts of the old gods are everywhere. Moreover, there appears to be sense of absolute ‘stillness’ to Scandanavia that perhaps lends itself well to the moments of repose and reflection in Dogma filmmaking.   Only Norway could have produced Portrait of David. Their music is so ‘still’ we can practically hear it crystallizing. Not that it isn’t beautiful; a softly-intoned vocal reminiscent of a Scandanavian Blixa Bargeld recites in English a captivating sort of semi-abstract prose (dreams, kites, horses, skeletons; Bill Callahan would adore this) over the most minimal Eno/Satie accompaniment. Ripples of piano and gentle stabs of icy guitar underscore songs which move with the urgency of glaciers, but it all melts into a serene if somewhat unsettling musical landscape.   Perhaps not the most exciting ‘tip for 2002’, but a rare moment of respite in a whirlpool  of stardom-seeking vacuity.  

Track Listing:-

1 Lake
2 Nine Day Wonders
3 Beautiful Flimsy Kite
4 Constant Flow
5 Sweet Thief
6 In The Garden
7 Davids Portrait