Midaircondo - Shopping for Images

.....Bjork is often cited for being at the forefront of experimental pop music, having taken elements of electronic (dance), hip hop and jazz production into the popular form. Early on she enlisted producers like Nellee Hooper, Howie B and Tricky and later studio/live collaborators Matmos, Zeena Parkins and others. Cynical types could see these moves to be as much trend spotting (a la Madonna) as it is artistic trend setting. After all if anyone had enough money to hire avant garde artists to play on their albums…. Swedish trio midaircondo come on like a group with three Bjorks plus all her collaborators rolled up in one. Shopping for Images also goes a few steps further into modern realms occupied by artists as diverse as AGF, Mitchell Akiyama and Sylvain Chauveau. What makes them even more potent is their ability to produce above average pop songs, such as “Serenade” and Bjork-like “Perfect Spot,” then shift over to organic sound experiments like “Coffeeshop/Sorry.” Lisa Nordstrom, Lisen Rylander and Malin Dahlstrom each bring layers of musical talent to the show: woodwinds, brass, laptops and three voices. Rather than overstuff their work with processing and trickery they tend to prefer a spare yet strong centre around which sound details flow, eddy and vanish. Likewise their vocal approach is warm and restrained, at times well below the surface or completely absent. If there is indeed a forefront of experimental pop music midaircondo could well be standard bearers.

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