Magnet

MAGNET
"THE TOURNIQUET"
(Filter US, 2006)


"Deadlock (It's Over)"


A few years ago, if someone had come up to me and asked me if I liked folktronica, my answer (after I had asked, "What the hell is folktronica?") would have been "no". But with my appetite for music slowly becoming more adventurous -- and the list of Norwegian artists I like becoming longer by the month -- I simply had to give this guy a try.

For an artist to combine two genres I don't care much for, folk and electronica, and manage to end up creating something I enjoy, takes some major skill. Magnet, a.k.a. Even Johansen, expertly intermingles the blips and beats of the digital age into the warm sounds of acoustic guitar, banjo, and other standard instruments, to form an appealingly unique sound. Just don't expect any dance or trance here; it's very much a "chill" album, with only the occasional barely-mid-tempo tune ("Duracellia", "Fall At Your Feet") making a ripple in an otherwise calm pond of laid-back, ambient song textures.

If it helps, think of Magnet as two parts Nick Drake and one part Moby. (Drawing that kind of comparison makes me laugh because it reminds me how scattershot my music tastes can be, since I've tried both of those artists and found them rather boring.) I have yet to check out the rest of Magnet's discography, but I probably will, even though I chose this album mainly because it has been described as the most upbeat, and I don't often like melancholy music. As for the Norwegian thing ... all I can figure is that there must be some magic, music-inducing substance in Norway's water supply.