|
1/2/2010
Blood
From a Stone
Hanne Hukkelberg
Propeller Recordings
Music review by
Originating in Kongsberg, Norway, Hanne Hukkelberg has been making music
and testing out her vocal capabilities from the ripe age of three. Performing
with an ever-expanding cast of friends and accomplished musicians, Blood
From a Stone is Hanne’s third release under her guise as solo artist
and composer.
When listening to Blood From a Stone, one can certainly detect Hanne’s
punk/noise roots and her assimilation into a scene that championed DIY
noise and experimentation over musical pomp and uniformity. Like the songs
of the Cocteau Twins, Joanna Newsom or Coco Rosie, Hanne’s music
has a distinctly ethereal quality, which both captivates and entices;
transporting the listener through a series of dark, foreboding and enchanted
spaces.
Unlike the onerous drones of Funeral - the doom metal band with which
Hukkelberg once performed - the singer’s third album positively
lends itself to the majesty and grace of Hanne’s voice. If the world
is a stone, Hanne is the crimson blood that spills forth from it, unapologetic,
whimsical; brimming with emotion and depth. Hanne’s music creates
a cathartic diversion from the hum drum of the everyday; it allows a space
to engage in fantasy, and a medium for ecstatic, unadulterated feeling.
Drawing inspiration from bands as varied as Einstürzende Neubauten
and Sonic Youth, Hanne utilizes all manner of found objects, from kitchen
utensils, to clacking type writers, flag poles, seagull cries and cat
purrs, and weaves a unique and poignant miasma of textured, layered and
ambient sounds.
|