Released April 13, FatCat Records

Storsveit Nix Noltes is a collective of musicians hailing from Reykjavik, Iceland who reinterpret traditional folk music from Bulgaria and the Balkan areas using modern instrumentation. On their second album, the nine musicians, including members of ambient folk group múm and other Icelandic bands, mix fiddle with feedback and brass with buzzing synth noise.


Similar to the work of Yugoslavian folk-punk band No Smoking Orchestra, much of the music of Royal Family Divorce is so frenetic it verges on pure chaos, often threatening to dissolve into atonal noise. One has the acute feeling that this is music meant to be experienced live, music made for dancing and drinking.


Some pieces, such as Atmadja Duma Strachilu (Revolution Song), take a more ambient route and emerge with an almost post-rock sound not a million miles from Mogwai or Godspeed You Black Emperor. However, to anyone unfamiliar with Bulgarian and Balkan folk music (which probably includes most people reading this) one track can often seem interchangeable from any other, reinforcing the feeling that, like all dance music, this is music for the body rather than the mind; music to engender feelings of community and bring people together for a shared experience.

www.myspace.com/storsveitnixnoltes

Posted In Album Reviews, Apr 01 2009. Words - Richard