Commuter Anthems

Opsvik & Jennings | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 17, 2007)
• Original Release Date: 2007
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Rune Grammofon
• ASIN: B000NVHVZ8
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #586,639 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

This is the second full-length release from Eivind Opsvik (bass, drums, percussion, piano, organ, Theremin, vocals, software) and Aaron Jennings (guitars, lap steel, banjo, concertina, vocals, software), and their first on Rune Grammofon. Opsvik is from Oslo, Norway, but has lived in New York since 1998. He started out playing the drums at a very early age, but gradually switched to bass in his teens while also spending time experimenting with a 4-track tape recorder. In New York he now has his own band Eivind Opsvik Overseas and plays with a number of other experimental groups. Jennings is a guitarist and software enthusiast from Tulsa, Oklahoma, who moved to New York after college, where he began working in a variety of musical projects. Over the course of his career, Aaron has concentrated on free jazz and electronica, but these days he's mostly considered a musician that works somewhere in the realm of experimental pop music. As with much of the incomparable Rune Grammofon catalog, Commuter Anthems is difficult to categorize. Both players come from a jazz background, but that's only a small part of the picture. Folk and country influences provide the album with a rural, almost relaxed feeling as guitars, double bass, concertina, pump organ, lap steel, banjo, and various recording techniques and software manipulations create a filmatic musical story being played by a dreamy experimental pop orchestra.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Richly Layered Music, February 9, 2008

By 

Scott Williams "sneakyneighborsdog" (Oakland, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Commuter Anthems (Audio CD)

Opsvik and Jennings have created a rich tapestry of music here. Each track weaves together a myriad of electronic sounds with a variety of guitar sounds. They have seamlessly woven together twangy accoustic guitars, banjos, hawaiian slide guitar parts with electronica. The end result is something that sounds like mix between psychadellic pop (e.g. Pink Floyd Circa 1968 w/o vocals) and a John Cage prepared piano piece. The electronic sounds give it a post modern finish. There is not really any soloing on the album, so you can't really call this a jazz CD. To put this CD in any genre would be a difficult task. The overall mood of the CD is ambient and surrealistic. If you're a fan of the Rune Grammofon label, you should pick this one up.