Ryfylke

RYFYLKE[Oslo, Norway] consisting of STIAN SKAGEN and STEN OVE TOFT stands out as one of the most interesting and sophisticated sound artists in Norway up to date. After their internationally honored debut album ‘BOKNAFJORD’ (2004) the duo performed heavily around in all corners of Norway and in 2005 they sucessfully finished their first European Tour to excusivly positive feedback from all over the continent. In January 2006 they released their long awaited follow-up album entitled ‘MORILD / NUEMA BRISTER’ on the first day of their second European Tour. An album wich contained only two tracks clocked in at around 40 minutes presenting longer compositions described - by reviewers all over the world - as ultimate dark extreme soundscape music. Ryfylke’s intriuging sonic world is a result of two highly different approaches to music composing. On the onehand side you’ll find TOFT working with field-recordings of environments and objects together with other analog ‘found-sounds’. These sounds he then carefully deconstruct and construct through electronic manipulations. The result of these behaviors ends up in an ocean of drones, building it up to maelstrom’s of brutal swirls and layers of noise walls. On the other side SKAGEN’s way of habit is of electronic nature. He works with digital feedback, raw data files and numeric codes. This basematerial is then shattered into cascades of pulses and a sparkling multiplicity of atonal glitches. From their analog and digital backgrounds, a complex layered soundscape of drones, glitches and detailed crispy noise opens the listeners ears for an extreme dreamlike atmosphereric state of mind. Seducing the audience, taking them on a disturbing tour through subtle textures that explodes into digital crackling and electric outbursts. A Ryfylke performance is a physical interaction where the listener is challanged to experience a room in constant movement.