Cakewalk - Transfixed (2013) [Hi-Res]

Cakewalk is Stepan Meidell (The Sweetest Thrill), Øystein Skar (Highasakite, Sacred Harp) and Ivar Loe Bjørnstad (Hedvig Mollestad Trio). The music on their critically acclaimed debut album “Wired” from 2012 was described by Mojo Magazine as “hypnotic angular improv grooves, hammering home strobing images of Konono No 1 tearing it up with greasy Benzedrine hoodlums in a No Wave New York Loft.» – which pretty much sums it up.

Their second album «Transfixed» takes them in a new direction. The short, concise and sometimes punk-ish slap in the face is now replaced by a longer, darker and more massive album.

«Mainly conceived, and improvised in our studio in Bergen, we were focused on experimenting, and doing something new. Jamming for hours and coming up with riffs, structures and melodies is not a new way of making music, but we still try to keep improvising once a tune has materialized itself. » writes Stephan Meidell in the liner notes. «Our very foundation, is that we all have very different preferences, but find a musical common ground – through improvisation. We don’t seek out a particular sound of a specific era, style or band, but move freely beyond the shadows of rock, noise, jazz and contemporary music.»

In reviews of their debut album references to kraut rock, Bowie/Eno´s Berlin, early Sonic Youth and Explosions in the Sky where drawn.

«(Listeners) will definitely want to compare us to someone else, but chances are, we’ve never listened to them. Musicians in general are often confronted with references that are flattering, but completely false.»

On the studio sessions for Transfixed the trio also invited with them Espen Sommer Eide aka Phonophani (and a member of Alog) as a guest. He brought his Buchla synthesizer and play an important role on the zen-like track “Dive”.

Tracklist:
1 01. Cakewalk - Ghosts (08:04)
1 02. Cakewalk - Bells (05:49)
1 03. Cakewalk - Transfixed (06:23)
1 04. Cakewalk - Swarm (06:46)
1 05. Cakewalk - Dive (04:57)
1 06. Cakewalk - Dunes (07:35)