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Ronnie Sundin
Seven Year Silence

A Norman Records recommendation (22nd May 2009)

Cover art for Seven Year Silence by Ronnie Sundin Description: Intriguing CD in weird A5 packaging with loads of drawings on Fang Bomb
Format: CD
Genre: Experimental / Abstract
Label: Fang Bomb
Price: £11.79
Availability: despatched in 1 working day


Average staff rating: four-stars.png
Based on 1 review(s).

Rating: 4
...according to our Ant on 20 May 2009.

The only thing I can recall hearing by Ronnie Sundin was a spilt 7" with Dead Letters Spell Out Dead words that came out a bit ago on Fang Bomb. I really liked that record so after a couple of hours filing records away in our stock room it's a treat to find a new CD by him also on Fang Bomb in my review pile. Brian has just brought me a cup of tea and I'm getting into 'Seven Year Silence'. The album begins with some spacious and sparse electronic hums and then lots of detailed squiggles of sound (possibly granular synthesis) making me imagine tiny micro oganisms, then the noise builds in intensity like layers of shattered glass fragments colliding. There's various drones and pulses once the intensity decreases but then they become so repetitive that it still feels intense but in a more subtle way. Some of the sounds are disorientating and remind me of some of Hecker's stuff. Two long pieces comprise this excellent 'Seven Year Silence' CD housed in smart A5 booklet with drawings by the Swedish artist himself. A mighty fine release.

Sound clips for Seven Year Silence by Ronnie Sundin (CD, Fang Bomb, FB011, £11.79)

What their label says...

Trained artist and non-musician Ronnie Sundin was once heralded “Sweden’s most silent man” by now defunct fanzine Fat Bankroll. At the time, more than half a decade ago, Sundin's recordings bordered on the levels of audible – quiet compositions and intricate structures, as if intended to challenge the listeners’ perceptions of hearing/not hearing.

By releasing “Seven Year Silence” Sundin announces his departure from the realms of silence, and from a shorter hiatus, with an intelligent noise freak-out of massive proportions. This brand new recording impresses with an innovative take on noise, an immensely deep and detailed interpretation that, just possibly, could help redefine parts of the genre. The recordings on "Seven Year Silence" are assembled from piles of rediscovered mini-discs from 2001-2007, thereby also proving that there has been activities of a harsher nature ongoing throughout the quiet years.
A Swedish music journalist remarked that the music on Sundin's "Morphei", released by Häpna in 2002, was barely communicating at all, that it was staying inside its own little bubble. Well... that was then. This is the sound of the bubble bursting baby, so hold on to your hat and enjoy the ride!

ABOUT THE ARTIST:

Ronnie Sundin (*1973) is trained in the visual arts at the Academy of Fine Arts in Umeå, Sweden. His work generally centers around sound, somewhere between art and music. Sundin started his musical career in solo noise project Bad Kharma, collaborated extensively with Lasse Marhaug, but quickly gained an interest in quieter domains. With the trilogy of  "Sleepwalk" (Ground Fault recordings, 2001), "Morphei" (Häpna, 2002) and "Hägring" (Antifrost, 2004), he took an interest in the hypnagogic state - the senses and illusions appearing when crossing over between being awake and being asleep. In 2008, Sundin reestablished his Bad Kharma project with the release of an 4 cassette compilation box, cataloguing his noise works from 1996-1998, and the return of his Red Tape Rot project with Lasse Marhaug. Now, in 2009, his resurrected interest in noise is manifested by the release of "Seven Year Silence" on Fang Bomb.

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