Photo by Peo Bengtsson
The vast Swedish green spaces and open fields along the highways we are passing serve as a perfect introduction to the cozy Norbergfestival, where industrial romanticism is merged with rural peacefulness. The narrow highways go straight through the greenery and crystal lakes, railway passes and rocks. Massive monolithic constructions loom over Swedish fields, forests, and the sleeping calm of Norberg town with its dimming lights as we enter the festival area. The location of the festival does not distort the scenery, but rather fills it with additional undertones.
Norberg festival hits the perfect spot in terms of size, quality and quantity. While it remains quite a small and cozy meeting of like minded music enthusiasts, it still manages to have solid line-ups with big names and lots of interesting local up-and-coming talent. It is nice to notice that Norberg actively promotes the local scene, and especially young artists, instead of relying solely on big names, thus leaving a lot of room for exploration and discovery.
The first thing that struck me was the awe I felt in the Mimer space, which is one of the most impressive concert venues I have ever seen. Situated in an abandoned iron-mine tower it is all vertically laid-out, making the listener move up and down, exploring the space and searching for the perfect combination of sound and light. It alters the perception of hearing, and, rather than just establishing a direct stage-artist relation, it immerses the listener into the sonic experience, and creates a more impersonal, yet intimate surrounding. In addition, it nicely complemented the essence of sound, and provided the music with additional monolithic undertones subtly creeping around. From what we found out in a guided tour, it is one of the many remaining mines in the surrounding area, and acts as a kind of relic of the mining activities within the area. This resonates with the exploratory idea of the festival, and the idea of music as constant research and reinvention.
In one way or another, the Mimer space seemed to alter the way artists sound. The collaborative performance of Caterina Barbieri and Kali Malone was the first experience that really showcased the vast and rich sonic sensation. Caterina usually creates drone soundscapes with her Buchla synthesiser, but here they played a beautiful set that was almost shoegaze with a stunning wall of sound not far from what a coalescence between Troum and Slowdive might sound, if a bit more minimal. The mellow drones flourished in the concrete mazes of Mimer, and were roaming all around. Perc also dropped his heavyweight techno in favour of a more abstract sound. It seemed that all the energy he transfers through his rhythmic sets was divided into small particles and melted into a giant drone sonic construction, where solid rhythmic patterns roam around the metal ambient. If Mimer could have been transformed into sound directly, it might have sounded like Perc’s set, which nicely merged with the metal constructions.
Thursday’s Kraftwerk program was a playful and diverse affair. Zamilska’s varied techno sets are usually unexpected, and the mood dives from prime-time 4x4 energy to leftfield explorations, noisy experiments, or bizarre ambience. The first lady of drum’n’bass, DJ Storm, was a very nice exposure to the classical UK sound, and a pleasant voyage to the golden age of d’n’b. There is nothing much to say other than it was an elegant rhythmic attack and provided additional diversity into the mix.
Friday introduced another interesting topographical digression into the festival’s narrative. A short trip to the Risbergs’ venue on a cozy vintage train transferred us to a strange remote place further away from the main area, and made us feel comfortably isolated. Risbergs’ was a nice combination of the rustic and the industrial. An old workshop house situated in the woods next to a railway track serves as a romantic shelter filled with heavy and mellow sounds. The only drawback was the limited capacity, which resulted in some of the shows being enjoyed from outside the venue. Maria Horn started the program with her mellow audiovisual wanderings where soft atmospheric structures merge with heavy rhythms. Frederikke Hoffmeier also exchanged power electronics for more beat-driven and slow pulsations. Maria and Frederikke's combination of dreamy layers and cold beats was a great soundtrack for this abandoned workhouse and the surrounding greenery, while Ida Lunden’s performance was a bit off-mood and would have been a better fit for a more sterile place.
EVOL’s hoover sonics was another interesting session in Mimer. However, this was a case where Mimer was not the best place for the show, because EVOL’s sound requires one to be exposed to it very directly and abruptly, rather than being distributed around a large space. The razor hoovers were roaming and got lost instead of directly attacking the listener. I remember seeing the project in a more congested and limited space some time ago, and it proved to be a more effective way of absorbing the direct sonic attacks, and embracing the eerie deconstruction and sparse power of rave. Klara Lewis was back on track again, and her dark esoteric wanderings were hauntingly beautiful. She was a bit more spacious and mellow than in her long play “Ett”, but it was for the best.
Lorenzo Senni found the right balance between the sublime and intense within the Kraftwerk space . His sound is a physical experience, but at the same time has subtle emotional and melancholic traits hidden within. In an article for The Quietus Lorenzo names Slowdive’s “Souvlaki” as one of his favorite albums and this can really be felt by a more attentive listener. There is an underlying melodic essence that flourishes in all its beauty during his live shows. The Norberg set was relying on his more emotional and atmospheric side and showed a dreamy textural core to his sound, rather than raving intensity. It was crystalized and pure sound exposure - ambience for the rave generation. Saturday proceeded further with Jacaszek’s show, which was another stunning fusion of space and sound. The chamber drone was beautiful and nicely merged with the space. The cello added a beautiful neoclassical touch to Jacaszek’s elegant drone scenery. M.E.S.H. was definitely one of the highlights, and his majestic futurist world fitted the cold Mimer space brilliantly.The giant epics and deconstructed rhythm structures hypnotised with their heavy and grand ambience. It was a mesmerising and ethereal experience, which multiplied the power of his excellent new album “Piteous Gate”. It seemed that his performance is made of hypnotic loops/circles which immerse you more and more with every minute and note.
After all the experiences, encounters and discoveries it seems that Norberg proves to be a fine hidden gem in the charming industrial shelter surrounded by stunning nature. The line-up was very cleverly built and lacked neither atmospheric sonic experiences, nor danceable moments. It is a sophisticated amalgamation of industrial surroundings, pastoral coziness and sharp experimentalism, where sounds interfere and play with one’s senses and each other.
Photos https://norbergfestival.com/galleries/2015-in-pictures
