(Beatservice Records/Creative Vibes)

Kolar Goi is the latest musical project from Norwegian producer and musician Gaute Barlindhaug, who hails from the northern city of Tromso – a veritable hotbed of musical creativity that has also given the world Biosphere, Kings Of Convenience and Royksopp.

Barlindhaug first emerged in the early 90s as part of Tromso’s second wave of techno and ambient producers, as a member of the quartet Aedena Cycle, who released the acclaimed ‘Traveller’s Dream’ EP on the Belgian Apollo Records label in 1994. After a few compilation appearances and live shows, the quartet went separate ways but Barlindhaug continued to work solo under the Aedena Cycle name, releasing the ‘Albite’ album in 1997, followed by a second full-length, ‘Cargo Cult’ in 1999 (both on Beatservice Records). Now, due to unexpected legal wrangling over the Aedena Cycle name, Barlindhaug has changed his project name to ‘Kolar Goi’ for this third solo effort.

In the time since 1999’s ‘Cargo Cult’, Barlindhaug has been involved both as a producer and live performer for Norwegian electronic-pop band Bel Canto, and has collaborated live with both Anneli Drecker of Bel Canto and jazz trombone player Oystein Blix. Blix also contributes trombone sound sources to this album, in addition to a range of other musicians on guitars, vibraphone, bass and percussion. It’s the contributions of these live players, filtered through Barlindhaug’s IDM beat-stretching sequencers and software, that lends ‘Kolar Goi’ a constantly tangible jazz-influenced pulse that beats below all of the complex timestretching and cycling delayed-out chords. This is an album focussed around attention to textures – rather than including simple minimal clicking IDM beats that could have been generated using software by any number of names, every beat is matched with a manipulated live sample to add a real organic ‘stroke’ to every drum hit.

‘Audio Krill’ opens this album with glimmering menacing ambience before shifting into a shuffling breakbeat IDM groove that almost sounds like a spooky Funkstorung, each breakbeat built around an echoing percussion rimshot that adds a real sense of metallic texture. The heavy dose of synthy funk is offset by some unsettling and mournful slide guitar amongst the echoing layers of sampled reverb, before ‘Space Ballade’ chimes in with warmer tones and jazzy breakbeats constructed from brush-drum samples, the atmosphere lifted by some groovy melodic synthlines and echoing wah-guitar. ‘Unjarga City’ places the emphasis on groovy funk, with hip hop-influenced beats and sexy synths undulating alongside cut up and manipulated electric guitar, while ‘The Good, The Bad and The Ugly Computer’ treads closer to Herbaliser territory, with flutes and funky slap bass laid over shuffling spy-movie drums and squelching synths.

‘Sweet Tape Machine’ is built around wistful cycling delayed-out synth chords and skeletal downtempo beats that bring to mind Boards of Canada, before ‘Way Back’ breaks the mood, slowly fading in with reverbed piano tones and bass upon which Blix’s melancholy smoky trombone tones ring, in a moment that feels closer in spirit to Miles Davis’ ‘On The Corner’ than many of Barlindhaug’s jazz-mashing IDM contemporaries.

‘The Planet’ injects a dash of ominous cinematic menace, its thriller-movie droning strings slowly building towards a climax that never quite comes, ‘Salt’ rides a clicking downtempo breakbeat that’s coloured with sultry Bollywood-tinged string tones, ringing bleeps and funky clavinet keys, while ‘Call 149’ brings back the funk with slap bass, electric guitar inflections and jazzy horns built around skittering cut-up cymbals and snares. Finally, ‘Musta Pekka’ closes this collection with shimmering violin textures and vocoded singing over slamming studio-manipulated live drum breaks, thick funk-infused bass and an almost Balearic-sounding piano melody line.

‘Kolar Goi’ is easily one of the strongest downtempo / leftfield electronic releases that I’ve heard so far this year, and what sets it immediately apart from many other players in today’s crowded IDM breakbeat scene is the predominantly human and organic feel that’s present in every track. By constructing tracks around human performances rather than simply working with jazz rhythms and tones through whatever latest software plug-in is available, Barlindhaug avoids the trap that a lot of other producers fall into -digital cut-up jazz that just sounds cold. ‘Kolar Goi’ by contrast contains a distinct warmth in every rimshot, brushstroke and bass pluck that’s sure to keep the cold at bay as you retreat into some latenight listening this winter.

Recommended for fans of: The Herbaliser, Funkstorung, Atom Heart / Flanger

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