Skadedyr - Culturen (2016) [Hi-Res]

Skadedyr is something out of the ordinary. The group consists of 12 musicians in all, and an even larger number of instruments. With a brass section, guitars, keyboards, vocals, two drummers, strings and accordion, they are positively bursting with musical images and narratives. Their music is both accessible and uncompromising, and stylistically they could be described as an octopus, whose tentacles reach out to a multitude of musical genres.

In the course of a short time Skadedyr has achieved a reputation as a dynamic live band, and the new album approaches their live spirit more closely than their debut album, “Kongekrabbe”, which had a more stringent form of expression. This time we encounter a more acoustic-sounding band, and it is easier to hear that this is a more of a coordinated team than before.

Skadedyr was initiated by Heida Karine Jóhannesdóttir Mobeck and Anja Lauvdal. They were also responsible for the imaginative material on the debut album, but on this second record several of the other band members have also contributed material. The album is mostly instrumental, but as on the debut album one poem by Ivar Aasen is included: the title cut, “Culturen”.

The members of the band are extraordinarily active, and are known from an increasing number of other exciting musical contexts. Even so, they all agree that Skadedyr is a band with a capital B, not a project. Broen, Jenny Hval, Susanna, Moskus, Snøskred, the Trondheim Jazz Orchestra, Skrap and Hullyboo are just a small number of the projects that various members of the band are currently involved in.