Maja Rakje/Lasse Marhaug: Music for Loving
CD - Bottrop-Boy, Germany - 2004

Reviews:

Maja Rakje/Lasse Marhaug: Music for Loving
Ratkje's electronic encounter with expert noisemonger Lasse arhaug in an
Oslo studio last November generated a welter of turbulence, captured live
without overdubs on Music For Loving. That title raises the prospect of
seductive subtleties but the music's rawness is more accurately conveyed by
the third track's title, "Interference; Swapped, Stripped And Fucked". The
CD begins with a scarring sonic gouge that establishes an outlook of urgent
intensity. Ratkje and Marhaug revel in a tide of pollutants, crosscurrents
of acoustic grit and grime, colliding streams of untamed signals that refuse
to signify. Samples proliferate - sheep, Steve Reich, insistent foghorn,
Heavy Metal, airline announcement, fairground organ, earnest piano - all are
soundblasted, lashed with wild noise. Within the appearance of accident,
distinct forms coalesce, compositional spirit asserting itself precariously
and ambiguously on the brink of auditory chaos. (Julian Crowley, The Wire)

MAJA S.K. RATKJE and LASSE MARHAUG :: Music for Loving
OK, I admit, I noticed the picture of Flipper (er, a dolphin) on the inside cover artwork before even sticking the disc into my PC for the full feature. It was to my surprise that the first thing I noticed about Music for Loving was what appeared to be only sounds that such creatures would understand when they speak amongst themselves. But seriously, “A Hymn, May Be Classified as Influenced by Baroque” is hardly a critical commentary of hard criticism; it’s like the second coming of Godzilla fighting an army of generically oversized Teletubbies armed with cans of Silly String. Oh my! Recorded in Oslo, my immediate reaction was a fat smile. It’s one of those recorded forms that just takes hazardous technical difficulties to the umpteenth level. This is the noise record of the year. Pixelated, muddy, awkward, fricticious, its all in there; like a mystery stew of aural delights. Chaos personified, remixed and served as an elixir alongside yodeling nonsense and random sky scraping air rides from Mars. What’s this about “Sliced Minimalist Meets Sheep”….etc? I am truly speechless; this is just fucked in half! (TJ Norris, Igloomag.com)