DARK STAR SAFARI BY JAN BANG, ERIK HONORE, EIVIND AARSET, SAMUEL ROHRER.

dereksmusicblog ♦ June 11, 2019 ♦ Leave a comment

Dark Star Safari by Jan Bang, Erik Honoré, Eivind Aarset, Samuel Rohrer.

Label: Arjunamusic Records.

Jan Bang, Erik Honoré and Eivind Aarset are among the leading lights of Norway’s vibrant music scene, and are know for creating ambitious, innovative and progressive music that pushes musical boundaries to its limits. So is forty-two year old Swiss drummer Samuel Rohrer, who is known as a versatile musician who can effortlessly switch between musical genres. This is something that Samuel Rohrer has in common with Jan Bang, Erik Honoré and Eivind Aarset. They’re like-minded musicians, and it was no surprise when they four friends decided to collaborate on a new project in December 2017. 

This new project they called Dark Star Safari, which is by Jan Bang, Erik Honoré, Eivind Aarset, Samuel Rohrer and was recorded in December 2017. Additional recording took place during the summer of 2018 in  Berlin, which has been home to Samuel Rohrer since 2003. Meanwhile,  Jan Bang, Erik Honoré and Eivind Aarset were doing additional recording in studios in Kristiansand and Oslo, in Norway. When the album was complete, it mixed in June 2018 by Ingo Krauss at Candybomber Studio Berlin. All that was left was for Mike Grinser to master the album at Manmade Mastering in Berlin, December 2018. Now Dark Star Safari were ready to released their debut album.

Dark Star Safari by Jan Bang, Erik Honoré, Eivind Aarset, Samuel Rohrer was recently released on Berlin-based Arjunamusic Records. It’s the result of four like-minded musicians collaborating.

When Jan Bang, Erik Honoré, Eivind Aarset and Samuel Rohrer began recording in December 2017, it was on a project where they were determined to give themselves an organic freedom that enables the music: “to fill itself in”, and to self-actualise through the efforts of the pan-European group of musical pioneers. To create the ten tracks on Dark Star Safari, they began by improvising and sketching out the tracks. Having done this, they examined the ten soundscapes and looked at what potential each one had. From there, Jan Bang, Erik Honoré, Eivind Aarset and Samuel Rohrer began adding to the sketches. The four musicians were like artists, who used their musical palettes to add detail and colour to the ten sketches.

The result is ten multilayered and multi-textured soundscapes that make the listener think.Their cinematic sound is sure to paint pictures in their mind’s eye. Some will bring back memories from the distant past, while others have a dreamy, dreamlike sound. Other tracks are evocative, melancholy and wistful quality. Other times, the darkness descends as the music becomes dark, moody and shadowy. Offering a contrast is Jan Bang’s smooth delivery of Erik Honoré’s perceptive lyrics. They play their part in what’s an album of ambitious, innovative, progressive and genre-melting music from this pan-European group of musical pioneers.  

Elements of avant-garde, electronica, experimental, free jazz and improv are combined on Dark Star Safari by Jan Bang, Erik Honoré, Eivind Aarset, Samuel Rohrer. They’re responsible for Dark Star Safari which is a truly captivating, cinematic and thought provoking album, that deserves to be heard by as wide an audience as possible given its quality.

Dark Star Safari by Jan Bang, Erik Honoré, Eivind Aarset, Samuel Rohrer.