Review: Erland Dahlen

Erland Dahlen – Rolling Bomber (Hubro)
Erland Dahlen is a Norwegian drummer and serial collaborator, who has played on over 130 records in a variety of musical genres since the mid 1990s, but is perhaps best known as drummer in Madrugada, and as part of the Nils Petter Molvǽr trio.

Rolling Bomber is Dahlen’s debut solo album and is named after the 1940’s Slingerland Rollingbomber drum kit that he used. Being a 1940’s kit the arms industry had appropriated all available metal so the mechanical parts are made from rosewood, which in turn produces a very warm sound.

He draws melodic lines from the musical saw and incorporates drones and sounds from an arsenal of percussion, sticks / mallets on stringed instruments, electronics as well as using specially constructed instruments (such as cakeform on springs).

With the exception of “Piratman”, which rocks along with an oriental industrial swagger, the scurrying insect-like “Monkey” and the pounded krautrock-ish distortions of “Germany”, “Rolling Bomber” is an intense and dark experience which fits musically somewhere between jazz, sci-fi and surrealism.
www.hubromusic.com
Willsk