MoHa - One Way Ticket to Candyland

by Adrian Huggins

published: 10 / 11 / 2008

Label: Rune Grammofon
Format: CD

Experimental, but mesmerizing second album from Norwegian avant garde duo MoHa !whose noisy and discordant surfaces conceal hidden rhythms and depths

Review

'One Way to Candyland' is the second full-length album from Norwegian noise pollution twosome, MoHa !I had the pleasure of reviewing their debut offering and jumped at the chance to see what their latest material was like.I was certainly not disappointed. This time around they have a little more structure to their songs, but still produce music that is truly and utterly experimental. This second album is easier to get into and get your head round, but loses none of its impact as a result. This is not music that is for everyone but it lacks that feeling of self-serving pretentiousness that certain ‘experimental’ bands sometimes give off. It is the sound of two insanely tight musicians knocking out some mesmerizing and groundbreaking tunes. The songs have a more rhythmical structure to them this time around.‘Sopp Pa Kugen’ appears early on the album and sets the pace for the more straight forward driving almost techno-like quality to the tunes.It is also the first song on that album that features more electronica. This is the direction the band seem to have gone in rather than making flat out noise. ‘Aids of Space’ on its surface sounds like someone moving a box full of cutlery around while a noisy neighbor plays music next door, but when you’re ears tune into it you start hearing the rhythms underneath. This is why I really enjoy this band. They’re like the musical equivalent of a magic eye picture. It makes no sense at all at first then gradually it starts becoming obvious. This is a band that are really ground breaking. They will never be a band that everyone will get but they are really worth listening to if you’ve an ear for something new and exciting. This album is a more complete work than the first album. In part this is down to the slightly more traditional song structures. Brilliant stuff ! It will blow your mind if you can handle it.