Anmeldelser [reviews ]

Exact
Ved første bekjentskap kan noen kanskje oppfatte dette som støy. Men det erbåde melodi og rytme i det Per Henrik Svalastog spiller inn, kutter i biter ogforer tilbake gjennom computeren.  Stemningen som melder seg mest er norskskog og fjell. Man kan tidvis høre de folkemusikkinstrumentene som Svalastoghar brukt som utgangspunkt for noe av musikken. Han er også glad i kontraster,og bruker meget bevisst styrke og følelse i musikken for å skape reaksoner hoslytteren. For de som ikke tar dette nesten umiddelbart, kan det fort bli i mestelaget, selv om både mannen og albumet fortjener en sjanse. De enkelte låtenekan sette deg i svært ulike stemninger, og før du aner det, er du hensatt ethelt annet sted enn der du faktisk sitter.
(5/6) KD

Dagsavisen
Langeleiktronikk
Det er en interessant skikkelse fra norsk elektronika som her gir ut sitt første soloalbum, etter en 15-årig platekarriere: Per Henrik Svalastog fra Tromsø er arkitekt, komponist og multikunstner, han har bl.a lagd musikk til danseforestillinger og gitt ut tre CD-er med duoen Information, og "Silencer" er hans første plate under eget navn. Han har et gjenkjennbart sound basert på prosseserte samples og helelektroniske klikk og kutt. Her har han originalt nok tatt utgangspunkt i heilnorske instrumenter som bukkehorn og langeleik, som han manipulerer til det ugjenkjennelige, slik at det bare er en vag følelse av "norskhet" igjen i bunnen. På spor som "Decentralisation" (!) hører man kildematerialet tydelig, på andre spor går tradisjonsinstrumentene umerkelig inn i en større helhet – de høres mer ut som signaler fra det ytre rom enn som "Folkemusikkhalvtimen". Dermed blir dette langt fra noe gimmickaktig "folkemusikk møter moderne musikk"-prosjekt, slik man har hørt mindre vellykkede eksempler på tidligere. "Silencer" er et spennende elektronisk apropos til feiringen av Norge Nasjonen.
(4/6) Bernt Erik Pedersen

Reviews

The Wire
Having released three albums as part of Norwegian electronic duo Information, as well as a number of 12" releases and remixes under various aliases, Per Henrik Svalastog has produced a work of hushed splendour for his first solo CD. Using traditional folk instruments such as the ram´s horn and the langeleik, a Norwegian variant of the zither, as his source material, Svalastog creates a uniquely crystalline, windblown sound. On first impression, each composition presents a bleak expanse of torn shadows and savage inclines. On closer inspection, their finer details reveal something far more welcoming. Illuminated by the brightness of the tiny events contained within them, tracks like "Accents of the land", "Blow patching", and "Slycing steel work" hint at the vast distances over which light must inevitably travel if it is to have value.
Ken Hollings

Igloo
Per Henrik Svalastog's debut as a solo artist (he was one half of Information, a mainstay on the Norwegian electronic scene who released three records and a number of 12" during the last decade or so) is an excursion into the woods above Tromsø where he captures elusive radiation signals from the high atmosphere and plays them back as accompaniment to painstakingly sparse acoustic melodies. Silencer is filled with so much silence that it is almost the main "sound" of the record; everything else is but the infinitesimal movement of particles around the gravid emptiness of atomic space.
Svalastog improvises on archaic folk instruments like the langeleik (the Norwegian version of the zither) and the ram's horn, and he takes the music of these instruments into the bit-space of his computer where he processes all the vibrant energy out of their sounds. The resultant echoes are his grist, the dust and micro-particle that make up his thin electro-static compositions. Brittle hand drums beat slowly in "Restringer," an irregular patter of hollow sound that rises up through a haze of drifting snow. A tiny guitar tuned so high that it is nearly a bell plucks a Yuletide melody in "Silverliner" while a radio beacon sounds its laconic wail in the background. The urgent rise and fall of "Blue White Yellow" is the sonic passage of a solar flare that throws off so much radiation that the wind patterns twitch and turn unexpectedly. "Fish in the Air" is filled with such brittle sounds that the very act of hearing them breaks them. Melodies start and are lost, washes of sound peer through veils of static, and beats stagger three steps like frozen explorers before falling without another sound into bottomless crevasses. The wind and snow cover everything eventually.
Silencer is dub recorded so far past the Arctic Circle that the tropical warmth of the echo is frozen instantly and shatters into micro-filaments of sound. This is the frigid chatter of molecules freezing their electrons off. I'm glad I'm up to date with my heating bill so that I can turn up the thermostat before the sounds of Silencer have a chance to ice over the furniture.
Mat Propek

De Subjectivisten
“Wat doet u in het dagelijks leven?”, vraagt Per Hendrik Svalastog aan zijn drie buren. “Ik maak leuke, populaire indiepop”, antwoord Röyksopp. “Ik maak al jaren etherische wave, maar ook meer dancegericht werk”, zegt Bel Canto. “Ik schijn redelijk succesvol sfeervolle en invloedrijke elektronica te maken”, mompelt Biosphere schuchter. “En jij?”, vragen ze alle drie nieuwsgierig aan hun nieuwe buurman. Svalastog dacht rustig als muzikant in het Noorse plaatsje Tromsø te kunnen gaan wonen. Maar kan hij zich meten met zijn buren? Wat zal hij antwoorden? Dat hij al jaren in de redelijk onbekende maar leuke elektronicagroep Information zit? Dat hij graag minimale elektronica maakt die glitch en idm elementen bevatten, waarvan Biosphere zou smullen? Of dat hij nu een soloalbum Silencer uit heeft gebracht waarop hij nog minimaler te werk gaat? Een album waarop hij folkinstrumenten, zoals de langeleik (Noorse sitar), gebruikt en die vervolgens bewerkt met de computer. Hierdoor krijg je bijzondere geluiden, die op minimalistische wijze gepresenteerd worden. Het is spannende, soms zenuwslopende muziek. Alsof je ’s nachts dwaalt door de toch al donkere wouden van Noorwegen en alle geluiden onbekend of angstaanjagend zijn. En toch zuigt het dieper het woud in, zonder dat je tegenspartelt. Ja, leg dat maar eens uit. Svalastog antwoord: “Ik doe momenteel niet veel, ik zoek vooral de stilte op.” Biosphere begrijpt dat.
Jan Willem Broek