In the 1051 Magazine office we love to listen to music that is impossible to label according to the established norms. Anything that falls outside those norms is always tremendously exciting to us, and that is the case with the album we are dealing with today.
We hope to get to know the authors better later on, but for now, let’s introduce both the authors and the work.
Øyvind Morken and Kaman Leung are Wild Flowers. Øyvind is Norwegian, a nightlife agitator in Oslo as a resident of the mythical Jaeger club, home of all those who are to blame for such a prolific Norwegian electronic scene nowadays.
Kaman Leung aka King Kaman aka MC Kaman arrives in Oslo from Honk Kong via Sweden, and, according to his biography, “was making trap before anyone had coined the phrase and playing South Korean pop music (K-Pop) before Tik Tok existed”.
The duo had a first attempt to do something together in 2007, but that’s when they got together in a warehouse loft in Oslo around an arsenal of vintage synthesizers that were gathering dust in the space, which also doubled as a studio on occasion. The real turning point came in 2018, when they decided to get serious about working on their first project.
“We have a lot of fun when we work in the studio and we hope that’s reflected in our music. In our mind, Reactivate is more of a comedy album than a nostalgic album. That’s not to say we don’t take our music seriously, we do. We just don’t take ourselves too seriously”. – Wild Flowers.
Absolutely, we couldn’t agree more with his words. From the very beginning with the title track, Reactivate, two things are evident: the first is the funkiness and the second is the analogue and organic sounds. Unexpected bursts, ascents in rhythm, looping strings. Horizon follows with a rhythmic pattern with light tribal percussive touches and a pseudo-tropical journey of more than eight minutes. With Entering Uranus we enter almost Motorik sound territories with a great rhythmic base and minimalist but beautiful melodies. The next stop is Art Foley, again music that is difficult to classify, between Electro and Techno but without pretending to be one or the other. The Sobchak Play and The Web enter again in danceable but experimental territories, and from where he leaves with Consistently Ace, closer to House but without abandoning originality as a central axis.
Closing this dozen of tracks are Back from the O.C. (Lost My Keys Mix) and Vibed One, with elegant Disco House and in the case of the latter a Balearic with a tremendous jazzy piano.
Again great music from Norway and from Snick Snack Music, the label founded and run by Ost & Kjex and Trulz & Robin. We can only congratulate their authors, and, indeed, to make music this serious you have to take it very seriously.
pre order available here
