Posts Tagged ‘Tusmorke’

Inspired by the classic bands and albums of the early 1970s progressive music scene, as well as  contemporary bands ÄNGLAGÅRD, ANEKDOTEN, WHITE WILLOW and LANDBERK, THE CHRONICLES OF FATHER ROBIN (TCOFR for short) was founded back in 1993-94 by WOBBLER frontman Andreas W. S. Prestmo together with childhood friends Jon and Henrik, who shared a joint interest in folk tales, mythology, fantasy literature, psychedelia and adventurous music.

It was an exhilarating time filled with fiery discussions where we introduced each other to our latest musical, philosophical or literary discoveries and tried to win each other over. After a while, we created our own world inspired by these discoveries that besieged us.

From this period of creativity the story of the entity known as Father Robin emerged, a creature that embodied all the members of the band. As the members experienced challenges in life and developed as human beings, so the story of Father Robin took root in the mythical world of Airoea.

The first recording sessions started at Bekk Studios in Jæren, and over a span of 13 years they recorded what would eventually become “The Songs & Tales of Airoea”, which tells the tale of Father Robin’s journey in Airoea through 16 songs spread out over three albums.  

After a recording session we would typically walk down to the nearby beach. We discussed what we had done that day, but very often we started talking about what Father Robin would do next in the story we were continually writing. Where was he really going? Which implications and consequences did the choices we made that day have to say for the road and songs ahead? Holistic impulsivity and ideas, altruistic friendship, music, fantasies and coherent concept – all melded together in one pot.

The final pieces of the puzzle fell into place with the contributions of Lars Fredrik Frøislie (WOBBLER, IN LINGUA MORTUA, WHITE WILLOW) folksinger Aleksandra Morozova (MT. MELODIE, OSLO PHILHARMONIC CHOIR), Kristoffer Momrak (ALWANZATAR, TUSMØRKE, LES FLEURS DU MAL), Håkon Oftung (JORDSJØ) and illustrator Lars Kvernberg.

Thus “The Songs & Tales of Airoea” trilogy was finally complete, which is where Karisma Records comes in, because this summer they will join forces with the TCOFR’s own label, Old Oak Records, to unleash this beast onto an unsuspecting public. 

Karisma Records will release CD, Digital and Black Vinyl versions, whilst Old Oak Records will release a Deluxe Limited Edition coloured triple vinyl box set, something TCOFR have been looking forward to for a long, long, time:

The impulsive creative process and “collective brainstorming” that started in 1993 has more or less been the same all along. The ideas and the becoming concept have matured like an old wine in an abandoned fortress. We are now what we set out to be 30 years ago, and it feels bloody fantastic.

We’re therefore thrilled to be able announce this joint venture with Karisma Records, and proud to be a part of their ever-growing roster of exciting and talented artists. Karisma’s professional set up, network, and standing among artists and music lovers is a perfect match for THE CHRONICLES OF FATHER ROBIN. It’s been 30 years in the making, but now the dream finally comes true.

Full details of “The Songs & Tales of Airoea” trilogy will be released soon, and in the meantime a teaser for the album can be heard at www.fatherrobin.com

Lots of more information about THE CHRONICLES OF FATHER ROBIN can be found on the band’s website www.fatherrobin.com or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/TheChroniclesofFatherRobin  

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
THE CHRONICLES OF FATHER ROBIN
Website: www.fatherrobin.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheChroniclesofFatherRobin
Instagram: https://instagram.com/thechroniclesoffatherrobin?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
KARISMA RECORDS
Promo and other information: post@karismarecords.no
Karisma Records contact: post@karismarecords.no
Karisma Records: http://www.karismarecords.no/
Karisma Records Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/karismarecords
Karisma Records Bandcamp: https://karismarecords.bandcamp.com
Karisma Records on YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/c/KarismarecordsNor
Karisma Records Twitter: https://twitter.com/KarismaRecords
Karisma on SoundCloud:  https://soundcloud.com/karisma-records
Karisma Records Webshop: http://karismarecords.bigcartel.com/
Karisma Records US Webshop:  http://karismarecords.aisamerch.com/

You rarely, if ever, get Prog albums aimed at children, but then along came TUSMØRKE, a band that has  never been overly concerned with what is, and what is not, the norm, with not one, but three such albums – the third “Intetnett” due for release on Karisma Records on the 7th October.

As you would expect from a children’s album “Intetnett” has a very definite story line, and in it TUSMØRKE regale us with the adventures that ensue  when  two evil scientists plant a self-teaching system called Intetnett onto the computers of an unsuspecting school.  Intetnett then proceeds to use electronic impulses to take control of an ant colony that lives in the school kitchen.   The system soon jumps from the ants to human hosts, taking over the minds of both pupils and teachers. 

But every adventure has its heroes, quite often a group of misfits who,  in this case, happen to be one of the teachers who is a technophobe, a substitute teacher who does not yet have the necessary login info to access the computers, and a small group of pupils.

And now you can get another insight into the somewhat anarchic world of the Norwegian Prog Folk Rockers TUSMØRKE with the release of a third single taken from “Intetnett”.  The track, “Kunstig uintelligens”, or  “Artificial Unintelligence”, can be downloaded or streamed from a number of services at https://link.karismarecords.no/Tusmorke_Kunstig-Uintelligens

Commenting on the track, the band had this to say:

Are we happier now that we create avatars to simulate perfect lives and share doctored images of fake non-events online in order for these signs to be consumed by another simulacrum out there in the cold, vast cyberspace? Of course we are! What’s not to like and share?

Written for, and first performed at, the Aktivitetsskolen Nordstrand,  the album is actually comprised of  two original musicals – “Intetnett” and “Når Enden er Golem” and will quite possible be the band’s final children’s release. It was recorded  at Det Ytre Rommet, Holy Space! and the Nordstrand Skole by a lineup that includes Benediktator (bass, vocals, guitars, synths, percussion, whistling), Krizla (flute, vocals, piano, synths, percussion) and HlewagastiR (drums).

Tracklisting as follows:

  1. Satt i system                                      12. Den nye tida
  2. Det beste for budsjettet                    13. Synth etisk
  3. Han er litterær                                  14. Kunstig uintelligens
  4. Varslerduett                                      15. Gudenes krig
  5. Vikaren                                               16. Verdensarvingen
  6. Jakelstigen                                          17. Enki Dumuzi Absu (CD only)
  7. Vi drikker ikke melk                       18. Før flommen
  8. Vi er elever                                         19. Enkis sang
  9. Maurenes Jenka                              20. Golem
  10. Undringstimen (CD only)              21. Kontakten brytes
  11. Kunstig Intelligens

With artwork by the legendary Norwegian artist Thore Hansen, “Intetnett” features a  whopping total of 21 tracks and  will be available in CD, Digital, and Limited Edition White Vinyl formats, the latter of which will come with a 12-page lyric booklet. 

Various services updated regularly: https://link.karismarecords.no/Tusmorke_Intetnett
Webshop:  https://www.karismarecords.no/kar224-tusmorke-intetnett/
Bandcamp:  https://tusm-rke.bandcamp.com/album/intetnett

Unwary adult  listeners (because this album is for them too) should definitely keep in mind the fact that  that while TUSMØRKE may aim some of their albums at children, and entertaining though those albums may be, the band also has a serious message to impart to its adult listeners. And, by introducing a fascinating mix of subjects ranging from  artificial intelligence, to advancements in technology, to the Singularity, and  Mesopotamian gods,  TUSMØRKE reminds us all of our old, long-forgotten histories.

In fact, “Intetnett” serves as a warning about the direction mankind is taking with technology, where our world is becoming a totalitarian nightmare where no one thinks for themselves, no one dreams anymore, and human culture itself is in peril. But all in not lost, because, long-ignored by humans, and consequently fading away, the old Mesopotamian Gods want to help humankind regain its freedom, and the only way to do so is by using Magic – better known as the old technology from a bygone era.  

More information about TUSMØRKE can be found on the band’s Facebook page at  https://www.facebook.com/Tusmorke/

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Facebook:   https://www.facebook.com/Tusmorke/
Bandcamp:  https://tusm-rke.bandcamp.com 
Band contact: tusmorke.booking@gmail.com
Promo and other information: post@karismarecords.no
Promo and other information: post@karismarecords.no
Karisma Records: http://www.karismarecords.no/
Karisma Records Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/karismarecords
Karisma Records on YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/c/KarismarecordsNor
Karisma on SoundCloud:  https://soundcloud.com/karisma-records
Karisma Records on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/karismarecords/
Karisma Records Webshop: https://www.karismarecords.no/shop/
Karisma Records US Webshop:  https://karismarecords.indiemerch.com
Karisma Records BandCamp: http://karismarecords.bandcamp.com/music

Not long now before Karisma Records releases “Nordisk Krim” the latest album from Psychedelic Folk Rock Proggers TUSMØRKE, for whom the album has a particular significance, since, having developed a fascination with the subject matter long ago,  it is an album they have dreamt of making for most of their lives. 

It was as children visiting in the museums at Moesgaard and Silkeborg that they first laid eyes on the famous Danish Bog Bodies with their orange hair, and where the seeds were sown for the project that was to eventually become “Nordisk Krim”.  As the band explains:

Nordisk Krim, which means Nordic Noir, refers to the fact that the bog bodies were first thought to be a police matter. In reality, the true crime was disturbing the gifts to the gods in their slumber. Nordisk Krim celebrates the willing victims of ancient rites, those whose bodies are in the bog, but whose souls are among the stars in the heavens.

Everyone knows about mummification of bodies in Egypt,  but maybe not everyone knows how the myths and practices surrounding those mummies affected bodies found elsewhere, even when those bodies had mummified due to natural conditions, as was the case in Scandinavia.  So today, with the release of the single “Mumia” TUSMØRKE  gives a glimpse  into the ancient practices, and the myths.

“Mumia” can be streamed or downloaded from a number of services at

https://karismarecords.fanlink.to/Tusmorke_Mumia

TUSMØRKE  were happy to give us this insight into their own quirky take on the subject of “Mumia”:

Ancient as well as early modern medicine was attracted to anything spectacular as a cure for any ailment, whether it was ingesting mercury against syphilis, smoking herbs up the arse against constipation or drinking aquavit against a common cold. The king of ineffective cures was arguably pulverised mummies, imported from Egypt to treat diverse maladies. Something preserved for five thousand years must be good for something, right?

Egypt was far away from Scandinavia, however, a fact that spawned the questionable business idea of pulverising bog bodies, marketed as mummy powder, or mumia. It can be argued that this was just as effective as the original Egyptian medicine. However, it also turned a number of suffering patients into ghouls. Worth a song, anyway.

The lineup on “Nordisk Krim”  includes  Benediktator (bass & vocals), Krizla (flute & vocals), HlewagastiR (drums), Haugebonden Gode Gullstein (keys) and Åsa Ree (violin), who recorded and produced the whole thing  in Benedikator’s home studio (Det Ytre Rommet). Apart, of course, from some field recordings and some bubble noises recorded in the bathtub (The Bubble Bath of Blood)!

“Nordisk Krim”, which will hit the streets on the 26th February,  is a double concept album coming in at a whopping 82 minutes.  With artwork by Anne Margrete Sjøflot for both the album and all the singles,  track listing is as follows:

  1. Ride the Whimbrel
  2. Age of Iron Man
  3. Mumia
  4. Cauldron Bog
  5. Dog’s Flesh
  6. Moss Goddess
  7. Black Incubation
  8. Et Moselik
  9. Heksejakt
  10. (The Marvellous and Murderous) Mysteries of Sacrifice

“Nordisk Krim” will be available in digital, double CD and double LP formats, with the vinyl being limited to 666 copies in transparent magenta.  It can be pre-ordered from:

Webshop:  https://www.karismarecords.no/shop/

Bandcamp: https://tusm-rke.bandcamp.com

US Webshop: https://karismarecords.aisamerch.com/ 

A video for the previously released single “Age of Iron Man” can be seen below

More information about TUSMØRKE can be found on the band’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/Tusmorke/

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Facebook:   https://www.facebook.com/Tusmorke/
Bandcamp:  https://tusm-rke.bandcamp.com  
Band contact: tusmorke.booking@gmail.com
Promo and other information: post@karismarecords.no
Promo and other information: post@karismarecords.no
Karisma Records: http://www.karismarecords.no/
Karisma Records Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/karismarecords
Karisma Records on YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/c/KarismarecordsNor
Karisma on SoundCloud:  https://soundcloud.com/karisma-records
Karisma Records on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/karismarecords/
Karisma Records Webshop: http://karismarecords.bigcartel.com/
Karisma Records US Webshop:  http://karismarecords.aisamerch.com/
Karisma Records BandCamp: http://karismarecords.bandcamp.com/music

If there is one thing you can expect from TUSMØRKE it’s the unexpected, and so it is with their upcoming album “Nordisk Krim”, which is set for release on Karisma Records on the 26th February.

It is an album Psychedelic Folk Rock Proggers have long-dreamt of making, because it deals with one of their fascinations in life – the Danish Bog Bodies, which they first saw when they visited the museums at Moesgaard and Silkeborg as children and remained transfixed by the black bodies with their orange hair.

And today the band has chosen to release “Ride the Whimbrel”, the opening track from “Nordisk Krim” as a single, and you can stream or download it from various services at https://karismarecords.fanlink.to/Tusmorke_RideTheWhimbrel

TUSMØRKE had this to say about the tack:

“Ride the Whibrel “is an homage to the spirits of the wetlands. Scouting the reedbeds for waders in the mist, heavy wings overhead glide in and out of focus. Riding the timbrel; villagers would parade their victim in a cart before ducking them in the village pond. Riding the whimbrel; the ethereal body of the drowned float through the fog in the plumage of large shorebirds. Picture a pink flamingo by a kidney shaped pool; then shrink the bird, make it dusky and give it a bill the shape of the new moon; then replace the pool with an archaeological dig in a dark, dank, Danish moor; now you may ride the whimbrel. “

Regarding the title of the album itself, TUSMØRKE explained that: 

Nordisk Krim, which means Nordic Crime, refers to the fact that the bog bodies were first thought to be a police matter. In reality, the true crime was disturbing the gifts to the gods in their slumber. Nordisk Krim celebrates the willing victims of ancient rites, those whose bodies are in the bog, but whose souls are among the stars in the heavens.

The lineup on “Nordisk Krim”  includes  Benediktator (bass & vocals), Krizla (flute & vocals), HlewagastiR (drums), Haugebonden Gode Gullstein (keys) and Åsa Ree (violin), who recorded and produced the whole thing  in Benedikator’s home studio (Det Ytre Rommet). Apart, of course, from some field recordings and some bubble noises recorded in the bathtub (The Bubble Bath of Blood)!

With artwork by Anne Margrete Sjøflot, track listing on “Nordisk Krim”, which is a double concept album coming in at a whopping 82 minutes, is as follows:

  1. Ride the Whimbrel
  2. Age of Iron Man
  3. Mumia
  4. Cauldron Bog
  5. Dog’s Flesh
  6. Moss Goddess
  7. Black Incubation
  8. Et Moselik
  9. Heksejakt
  10. (The Marvellous and Murderous) Mysteries of Sacrifice

“Nordisk Krim” will be available in digital, double CD and double LP formats, with the vinyl being limited to 666 copies in transparent magenta.  It can be pre-ordered from:

Webshop:  https://www.karismarecords.no/shop/
Bandcamp: https://tusm-rke.bandcamp.com
US Webshop: https://karismarecords.aisamerch.com/ 

A video for the previously released single “Age of Iron Man” scan be seen below

More information about TUSMØRKE can be found on the band’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/Tusmorke/

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Facebook:   https://www.facebook.com/Tusmorke/
Bandcamp:  https://tusm-rke.bandcamp.com  
Band contact: tusmorke.booking@gmail.com
Promo and other information: post@karismarecords.no
Promo and other information: post@karismarecords.no
Karisma Records: http://www.karismarecords.no/
Karisma Records Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/karismarecords
Karisma Records on YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/c/KarismarecordsNor
Karisma on SoundCloud:  https://soundcloud.com/karisma-records
Karisma Records on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/karismarecords/
Karisma Records Webshop: http://karismarecords.bigcartel.com/
Karisma Records US Webshop:  http://karismarecords.aisamerch.com/
Karisma Records BandCamp: http://karismarecords.bandcamp.com/music