Miman – 1000 Bitar
Catalogue number: MOT15LP
Release date: October 1st, 2022

With their third album 100 Bitar, the trio Miman is keeping their style as an unpredictable unit with generous musical gifts. A round trip in the trio's universe as it was screwed together in June 2020 gives most various impressions.

Miman, which consists of Egil Kalman, Hans P. Kjorstad and Andreas Hoem Røysum, has played 75 concerts in 16 different countries since the start in 2016. They have previously released the two LPs Ulme and Stora mängder rymdgrus to good reviews. The three musicians are also part of Marthe Lea Band that released Asura here on Motvind Records in June 2021, as well as the group Völvur who together with the Scottish master bard Alasdair Roberts released the almost unbelievable album The Old Fabled River on Drag City in July 2021.

The recording of 1000 Bitar took place over three days and nights in picturesque fjord surroundings in Leikanger in Sogn. With an instrument station each - Kalman with double bass, modular synthesizer, guitar and drum kit, Kjorstad with fiddle, pure tuned Indian harmonium, flutes and percussion, and Røysum with clarinet, bass clarinet and bass drum, the instrumentation on this trio record fits a larger ensemble. The musical material was developed by fine-tuning concrete musical ideas, a working method the band also used on their first album Ulme. In contrast, the concerts of the band have always been freely improvised.

Several songs, such as the catchy Elefanten i rommet (The Elephant in the Room), the wild Offeret (The Sacrifice), the longing Elvsong (River Song) and the feel-good song Sunna (The Sun) build around rhythmic foundations created by E. T. Kalman. His ever-changing synth grooves and asymmetrical drumming are an important part of this record.

Jucht and Hvor er vår baronesse (Where is our Baroness?) are abstract, nature-imitating pieces, which show the trio's richness of ideas and ability to work with subtle changes within these. The A. H. Røysum song Sawakuro and F_{k+1}/F_​{k}->(1+\sqrt {5})/2 have elements of free jazz's soulful charm and resilient tonal language.

Springar is the only traditional tune on the record, a dance tune from Gudbrandsdalen, home of H. P. Kjorstad. Six moving beers are, as the title confirms, six wandering beer bottles in a samba-suggestive drinking festivity. The concept is inspired by, but at the same time, in its lack of beauty, evoked from Fredrik Rasten's choreographed guitar sextet Six Moving Guitars.

Fire varrianter (Four variations) are four attempts on a style definitely developed by Miman herself, similar to the one that is fairly thoroughly documented in the previous release, Stora mängder rymdgrus (Vast Amount of Space Gravel).

Common to all the tracks is a search for an all-consuming expression - crystallized fragments of music styles presented mysteriously and inexplicably as in a dream. Specifically, this expression strives for an imminent just tuned ideal and is not afraid of being neither head-nodding groovy nor strict and slow-flowing.

The album cover is painted by the Swedish artist Lojsa af Geijerstam, who painted several covers for Swedish prog rock bands in the 70's. Listeners who like Terry Riley, Don Cherry, Anthony Braxton, traditional fiddle music and the Art Ensemble of Chicago will likely find meaningful music on this album.

Details
All music by Miman, except Springar: Traditional from Gudbrandsdalen

Personnel: Egil Kalman - modular synthesizer, double bass, drums, guitar; Hans P. Kjorstad – violin, Indian harmonium, flutes, percussion; Andreas Røysum – clarinets and percussion

Recorded in Leikanger in Sogn, 17-20th of June 2020 by Egil Kalman
Mixed by Egil Kalman
Mastered by Giuseppe Ielasi
Cover painting by Lojsa af Geijerstam
Layout by Egil Kalman