Eivind Aarset – Last Two Inches Of Sky (2023) [Official Digital Download 24bit/48kHz]

Eivind Aarset – Last Two Inches Of Sky (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 40:18 minutes | 453 MB | Genre: Ambient
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © PUNKT Editions

«Last Two Inches of Sky», released by Punkt Editions on 23 September, is an ambitious and engaging mixture of sonic painting and art-pop; a new high point in Eivind Aarset and Jan Bang’s collective output.

Aarset and Bang have collaborated since the early 1990s in constellations with, among others, Nils Petter Molvær, Bugge Wesseltoft, Sly & Robbie and Jon Hassell. «Snow Catches on her Eyelashes» (2020) was their first recording as a duo, an album that was widely praised, inspiring John Eyles of All About Jazz to write: «Aarset, Bang and company go from strength to strength, as does the Norwegian scene. Onward and upward.»

«Last Two Inches of Sky» further expands this sonic universe – onward and upward. Like its predecessor, the new recording is an amalgam of styles, linked together by Jan Bang’s hallmark sampling technique and Eivind Aarset’s continuous exploration of the guitar. Now, the rhythm section of Audun Erlien (bass) and Anders Engen (drums) are prominent on most tracks, and the arrangements are enhanced by guests like Gianluca Petrella (trombone), Adam Rudolph (percussion), Emanuel Birkeland-Bang (drum programming) and Erik Honoré (samples, lyrics on «Legion»).

Both conceptually and sonically, «Last Two Inches of Sky» is a multi-dimensional experience of dreams within dreams, layers upon layers of colours, light and shade. While the seamlessness and warmth of the duo’s earlier work is still present, the new album is thoroughly grounded in a bass/beat foundation owing much to the Jamaican sound systems of the 1970s, but placed within a decidedly 2020s context.

Tracklist:
1-1. Eivind Aarset – Fire Dancer (05:24)
1-2. Eivind Aarset – Legion (05:02)
1-3. Eivind Aarset – City Never Sleeps (03:44)
1-4. Eivind Aarset – Seraphine (03:27)
1-5. Eivind Aarset – Hush Now (06:11)
1-6. Eivind Aarset – Minute Warning (05:46)
1-7. Eivind Aarset – Last Two Inches of Sky (05:57)
1-8. Eivind Aarset – Two Predators Circle Above a Forest (04:45)

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