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Let Them Eat The Rich

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Let Them Eat The Rich --- 2022-06-17

Let them eat the rich, the debut album from the Norwegian/Canadian band ternOP, sees Håkon Norby Bjørgo and Mike McCormick draw on the intuitive interplay they have built through years of collaboration in the dynamic guitar trio BRINICLE, as well as a variety of other projects. Throughout this recording, however, the Oslo-based improvisers explore the depth and breadth of their musical interaction in an entirely new setting. The lineup of the band constitutes a trio of sorts – besides Bjørgo's upright bass and McCormick's electronics, the live processing algorithm programmed by the latter possesses a degree of autonomous volition in musical interplay, being able to both independently launch and respond to musical gestures and initiatives, in manners that are eerily human and strikingly un-human. This in turn leads the group interplay down surprising paths that would otherwise be left unexplored, in ways that nevertheless feel intuitive. Hence the name, ternOP – a ternary operator being a computer science term for a construct that takes three arguments. Let them eat the rich was improvised and recorded in rural Hemnes during the covid-19 pandemic, in the dead of the Norwegian winter; keen-eared listeners will be able to hear the crackle of the studio's fireplace on several tracks. The unexpected meeting of analogue and digital technologies is characteristic of the music itself; the acoustic sound of the upright bass and the electronic output of the laptop interact in real time to strengthen or transform their respective meanings. Musical gestures are mangled, layered, or juxtaposed to create a sonic collage that can be absurd, humorous, or abstract. This expression is echoed in Maria Alzamora's coverart, as well as the 'malaphors' that title each track and the album as a whole: mixed-up idioms resulting in phrases that are simultaneously nonsensical or absurd, yet familiar. Recorded February 2nd and 3rd 2021 by Magnus Skavhaug Nergaard at Flerbruket, Hemnes, Norway. Mixed by Mike McCormick, and mastered by Christian Obermayer at Strype Audio, Oslo, Norway. Produced by Mike McCormick and Håkon Norby Bjørgo. Artwork and design by Maria Alzamora. Thanks to Notam, Norsk senter for teknologi i musikk og kunst. This recording was partly funded by Fond for Utøvende Kunstnere and Norsk Jazzforum. © 2021 Smia Records