Elephant 9 - Walk the Nile

by Paul Waller

published: 6 / 6 / 2010

Label: Rune Grammofon
Format: CD

Elitist and ultimately self-indulgent muso instrumental rock on second album from Norwegian collective, Elephant9

Review

Lengthy Norwegian analogue based jazz-rock fusion. That’s what I have been living with for 24 hours straight. Having followed the Iceburn Collective from the United States over the years I now find myself quite partial to this kind of high brow and ultimately elitist, muso-fuelled instrumental band. But as with Elephant9's previous album 'Dodovoodoo' listening to a whole album worth of songs does little except induce a headache. 'Walk the Nile' found itself as the soundtrack for a long walk around the Kentish countryside (not quite Egypt I know), a piping hot bath afterwards and both my nightly and morning ritual of lying in bed with music blasting from my iPod. All this and it still didn’t manage to seal the deal for them. It’s just too much. Case in point is the fourteen and a half minute 'Habanera Rocket' which builds from a gentle seven minute intro a funky Hammond cascade of swirling keys and cosmic rock. You can tell that band leader Stale Storlokken is a passionate artist as well as a perfectionist. This record is ridiculously tight but with that precision comes a staleness within the grooves. Live, just like with the Iceburn Collective, Elephant9 have received rave reviews and I can see that bought as a memento of a stunning gig 'Walk the Nile' could be a cool reminder of a kick ass evening. As an album in its own right, however, it is a record that critics will no doubt tell us we should love even if it’s just a name we can drop to our less musically educated friends. After living with 'Walk The Nile' for 24 hours I feel like I need a dose of the Donna just to dumb things down again.