murkla: Mover

Swedish musician Mattias Lagerkvist takes his avant-garde lo-fi approach to the next level on Mover, the new album by his murkla project. His previous effort Leviata was inspired by the mysteries of Eulisis, but this time he plunges into darkness, stumbling upon a bad news bird (The Glowing Duck) and grappling with the concept of a 24-hour cycle of noise (A Circadian Hymn).

Amidst a stack of field recordings that sound like crap on purpose, white noise and unrelenting drones Lagerkvist creates an alternate universe where humankind is insignificant, a tiny speck on the face of Mother Nature. Life on Earth will adapt and survive, because time is not of the essence to do so. Mover is bleak and foreboding, but like a major trainwreck it is impossible to look away from it.

Ekolali: For Why You Happy

Swedish musician Mattias Lagerkvist goes back to a slighter smoother approach for his experimental electronic music. After dabbling with lo-fi for last year's album by his murkla project, he now offers the lengthy For Why You Happy, flying his Ekolali banner this time. He used every trick from his vintage Yamaha PS20 to play a game of tension, more then tension, even more tension, and just a bit of release. Think a game console becoming sentient.

The wealth of loops to create a maze for the music crash into themselves sometimes - white noise anyone? - before finding a way to get around the self-inflicted difficulties. Repetitiveness is key, something that will be required taste for most, but persist and go with the flow. After a while you will not want it to end. Holger Czukay fans will love it.

murkla: Leviata

Swedish musician Mattias Lagerkvist goes lo-fi on Leviata, the new album by his murkla project. Seven murky drones lead the way to Eulisis, home of the mysteries for an initation rite to become an adult in Ancient Greece. He recorded it on a beat-up four track recorder, making the tape hiss an integral part of the process. He honours the old adage that repetitions only work when it seems to go on forever, in order to induce a trance-like state (and leaving the ones who can't handle it behind).

With a mangled bass as the foundation he added field recordings and seemingly random bits of percussion. And while it is not as forebidding as the Theatre of Eternal Music or Lou Reed's Metal Machine Music, it is a definitely an acquired taste to fully appreciate. He reaches a level that bands like Sonic Youth shied away from.