Khmer is intelligent, accomplished, deeply atmospheric and emotional music that forges real and cogent expression from the burgeoning musical vocabularies available to sensitive and probing musicians.

Nils Petter Molvaer- Khmer

ECM have always had some sort of reputation based on great production, intelligent and introspective music, discerning covers and in many ways have been the trendsetters for much of what is now around. They tend to be the label that every one else worth their weight bases themselves on. And so this should be. I have been a collector for many years and I am happy to repeat what I have been saying for many many years, that this is the greatest label in our time. Consistency and loyalty is something that ECM has nurtured and I think this is a good thing. To a degree because so many of their musicians have not only recorded so many great albums but have also cross pollinated musically across such a wide spectrum of albums, this has in many ways contributed to that unique ECM sound. Now we have another ECM classic, this time by multi instrumentalist Nils Petter Molvaer. At time of review this had not been officially released but seek this out by all means. What you get is a cross over between world music, tribal,industrial beat techno, Nordic rock and some damn fine ambient moments. NPM is a fine trumpeter if ever there was one. Stylistically he sounds a bit like Don Cherry meets 70's Miles, especially on the title track. Check out Tion for some of the most intense playing heard for a long time. It all starts very slowly and then develops into some sort of roller coaster plethora of sound that builds up to something that is not exactly ECM, a sort of techno dance tune that will jump up and bite you on the bum interwoven with some of the cleverest Nordic guitar treatments and trumpet blowing I have heard for a long time. Move over Terje Rypdal, we have a new contender in Elvind Aarset, previously heard on Marilyn Mazur's excellent release on same label Small Labrynths. Lay down a THUNDEROUS drum beat over all this and you have a mother and a killer of a track.This absolutely kicks. Access continues the theme of Tion but concentrates more on the guitar work of Aarset. In fact this release is top heavy with guitarists. Second guitar is ex heavy metal player Morten Molster who I am advised used to be with the Norwegian band The September When, but these days is into improvisation and third guitarist is Roger Ludvigsen who is better known for his material with Mari Boine Persen, playing dulcimer and bowed acoustic guitar. Throw in sound treatments and samples ( notably from Lost In The Translation by Bill Laswell) and you have one very interesting album that will carry ECM further into legend status. This is my contender so far for album of the year.

There are I am told remixes by Herbalizer, Mental Overdrive and Rocker's Hi- Fi on the way for this. Should be interesting to say the least. Molvaer himself says of this:

"Most of the guys in the remix world have a brilliant feel for beats and putting together grooves. I like this feeling of just letting loose all the elements of the work and then being confronted with them again, reassembled from the point of view of somebody else's aesthetic consciousness."