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Atomic

Atomic comes this close to being a Scandinavian free jazz supergroup. It allies the top line of Fire House and the Fredrik Noren Band (trumpeter Magnus Broo and saxophonist Fredrik Ljungkvist) and the rhythm section from Element (pianist Havard Wiik), bassist Ingebrigt Haker Flaten, and drummer Paal Nilssen-Love. Formed in reaction to the ECM-style of modern jazz that came to equal "Scandinavian jazz" in the minds of music fans worldwide, the group proposes a modernized take on power jazz, drawing from American Fire Music (Archie Shepp, Albert Ayler, Ornette Coleman) and '60s European free improv (Peter Brötzmann's Machine Gun).

Broo and Ljungkvist had been performing together in Stockholm (Sweden) since the mid-'90s. Based in Oslo (Norway), Wiik, Haker Flaten, and Nilssen-Love all frequented the Trondheim Music Conservatory in 1994-1995 and performed in the John Coltrane-inspired group Element. By 1999, all these musicians regularly worked on the Scandinavian club and jazz festival circuits. Ljungkvist, Haker Flaten, and Nilssen-Love also played in Per "Texas" Johansson's group, so they all knew each other well when they decided to form Atomic. By harnessing Brotzmann-like energy with torrid heads and flexible compositional structures, they quickly established their group identity and began touring right away. Early appearances at the Oslo Jazz Festival and the Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival attracted some attention and soon the label Jazzland secured the release of their first album Feet Music (the title coming from a Coleman tune).

Source: Francois Couture

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1
Album Review

Atomic: Pet Variations

Read "Pet Variations" reviewed by John Eyles


Formed in the spring of 2000, Scandinavian “supergroup" Atomic recorded and released their first album Feet Music (Jazzland) in 2001. The years since have been remarkably stable for the quintet; they have produced albums at an impressive rate of about a disc a year, including two collaborations with Ken Vandermark's School Days group. The only change of Atomic personnel occurred in 2014 when drummer Paal Nilssen-Love left to be replaced by Hans Hulbækmo, with no cataclysmic effect on the music, ...

1
Album Review

Atomic: Pet Variations

Read "Pet Variations" reviewed by Vincenzo Roggero


Sentirli e vederli dal vivo è un'esperienza auspicabile e appagante, il palco è la dimensione ideale per rimandare all'ascoltatore tutta l'energia della loro musica, una miscela esplosiva di free jazz, avanguardia, funky, tradizione europea. Stiamo parlando degli Atomic tra i primi a ribellarsi alle sonorità di un jazz scandinavo marchiato ECM e diventati nel corso degli anni, di numerosi tour e di quattordici dischi, gli alfieri di una musica nordica iconoclasta. Ma se il live è scarica ...

1
Album Review

Atomic: Pet Variations

Read "Pet Variations" reviewed by Mark Corroto


The Scandinavian supergroup Atomic has always pushed back against “tradition," be it the customary sound of Nordic jazz or--maybe more importantly--what most believe to be the avant-garde. Each member has a thriving career outside the quintet: bassist Ingebrigt Håker Flaten with The Young Mothers, The Thing, Rempis Percussion Quartet, and his own trio and quartets, drummer Hans Hulbækmo with Moskus, pianist Håvard Wiik with Ken Vandermark and the Wiik Trio, saxophonist Fredrik Ljungkvist's work with Gard Nilssen's Acoustic Unity and ...

18
Album Review

Atomic: Six Easy Pieces

Read "Six Easy Pieces" reviewed by Karl Ackermann


Founded in 2000, the Swedish/Norwegian group Atomic has remained true to their uncommon blend of American and European influences over the years. With only one lineup change since their inception, the quintet continues to pay homage--in equal parts--to the post 1960s era in the US, and the inherent innovations of Europe's northern-most region. With Six Easy Pieces the group sounds much as they did with their debut Feet Music (Jazzland Recordings, 2001) but with years of synergy to enhance their ...

Album Review

Atomic: Lucidity

Read "Lucidity" reviewed by Vincenzo Roggero


"Laterna Interfruit," il brano iniziale, è un'indovinata miscela di accattivanti groove ritmici e atmosfere nordiche, di assoli calibrati e di timbriche inusuali, di esplosioni free e di canonici riff di matrice boppistica. Sono queste le coordinate entro le quali si muove l'intero Lucidity, settima prova discografica dell'ensemble norvegese denominato Atomic. Le oscillazioni ora verso il versante più orecchiabile ora verso quello più sperimentale garantiscono molteplicità di sollecitazioni, di riferimenti, di intrecci, di umori che sta all'ascoltatore saper ...

4
Album Review

Atomic: Lucidity

Read "Lucidity" reviewed by Troy Collins


Living up to their name in performance and on record, the all-star Norwegian quintet Atomic challenges preconceived notions regarding the stereotypically introspective nature of Nordic jazz. Inspired by the unbridled spirit of 1960s American “Fire Music" and the post-war school of European free improvisation, Atomic eclipses the meditative lyricism of influential local legends like Jan Garbarek and Terje Rypdal, exemplifying the broad stylistic diversity of contemporary Scandinavian jazz.Formed in 2000, the original lineup brought together trumpeter Magnus Broo ...

94
Album Review

Atomic: Lucidity

Read "Lucidity" reviewed by Glenn Astarita


There's an inference on this Norwegian ensemble's webpage bio that its blend of free-jazz and dynamic mode of operations is the antithesis to their fellow countrymen's largely quaint or ethereal jazz output evidenced on ECM Records, for example. However, it's not that these innuendos or tenets are viewed as negatives, but the highly respected musicians comprising Atomic have been vigorously pushing the envelope since 2000. They are restless spirits who dish out a horde of cleverly arranged tonal ...

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Career

The Album Release Re-Imagined In A Time Of Atomic Consumption

The Album Release Re-Imagined In A Time Of Atomic Consumption

Source: HypeBot

Music-tech writer Cherie Hu examines how the music industry can alter its current ways and restructure its marketing strategy by tapping in the atomic consumption habits of today's media users. Guest Post by Cherie Hu on Synchblog We are consuming media more atomically than ever. More of us prefer to consume content piece by isolated piece, as opposed to a single, large backdrop like a Facebook newsfeed. There are as many as 60 clickable pieces of information on a Facebook ...

118

Recording

Music Listening: Samuel Blaser, Atomic, R.E.M.

Music Listening: Samuel Blaser, Atomic, R.E.M.

Source: Music and More by Tim Niland

Samuel Blaser—Consort in Motion (Kind of Blue, 2011) This is a chamber jazz album filled with hushed tones and thoughtfully designed improvisations between Samuel Blaser on trombone, Russ Lossing on piano, Thmoas Morgan on bass and Paul Motian on drums. The interaction between between Blaser's delicately smeared and articulated trombone and Motian's minimalist percussion creates a quiet, intimate album that requires and concentration and contemplation. “Si Dolce è l'Tormento" and “Reflections on Vespro della Beata Vergine" nudge the tempos slightly ...

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Recording

Atomic Skunk - Portal (2010)

Atomic Skunk - Portal (2010)

Source: Something Else!

By Mark Saleski “Subtlety" is not a word to be used lightly in a music review, mostly because it's likely to scare off the listener before even a single particle of the music has entered their ear parts. The sad fact is that “subtle" and “entertaining" are often thought of as mutually exclusive things. People don't want subtle, they want to be entertained. This is of course, a big challenge when reviewing electronic or so-called ambient music, as a certain ...

113

Technology

Mellencamp Likens the Internet to Atomic Bomb

Mellencamp Likens the Internet to Atomic Bomb

Source: HypeBot

John Mellencamp. What a well-known, thoughtful artist, who always has such insightful things to say about the music business. His erudite commentary on the evolution of our culture is intelligent and will be a hot topic for further discussion: “The Internet is the most dangerous thing invented since the atomic bomb. It's destroyed the music business. It's going to destroy the movie business... After a few generations, [Rock 'n' roll] gone... at the end of the day, they're gonna say: ...

158

Technology

Atomic Powered Wonder-Watch Heats Geek Hearts

Atomic Powered Wonder-Watch Heats Geek Hearts

Source: All About Jazz

Strawberry or chocolate? Brunette or blonde? Porsche or Lexus? If you have trouble being the decider, the Casio G-Shock MTG-1500 could be the watch for you. Casio has crammed just about everything a geek might lust after into this attractively chunky timekeeper.

Solar powered? Check. Automatic synchronization with official atomic clock radio signals? Double check. Analog and digital? Triple check. Water and shock- resistance? You best believe it.

Like other watches in the 25-year-old G-Shock line, the MTG-1500 is forged ...

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Performance / Tour

Sean Nowell and Monatomic Friday @ Galapagos

Sean Nowell and Monatomic Friday @ Galapagos

Source: All About Jazz


Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Pet Variations

Odin Records
2019

buy

Six Easy Pieces

Odin Records
2017

buy

Lucidity

Jazzland Recordings
2015

buy

Retrograde

Jazzland Recordings
2008

buy

Happy New Ears!

Jazzland Recordings
2006

buy

Atomic: The Bikini...

Jazzland Recordings
2005

buy

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