Dwayne Sodahberk - Fjärilsfalu

Dwayne Sodahberk
Fjärilsfalu
(06.2008, Kning Disc)
File Under = A lot of stuff

As the year begins to wind down with just a couple months till 2009 (!) I realized that I have subconsciously categorized the music I have listened into various groups based on similarities in mood and style. For the most part, I have been able to tidily categorize everything into neat little mental compartments for easy access. When I’m in the mood for some darkly introspective beauty, instantly The Fun Years, Scott Tuma and Machinefabriek are running through my headphones. Some easy going, atmospheric pop? A Faulty Chromosome, Deerhunter and Evangelicals to save the day. How about some brain melting, Agrocrag destruction? Enter Hospitals, MoHa! and Black Pus. I could go on and on. However, sometimes when I’m just too indecisive and shuffle is running out of magic, those little categories seem to implode and I just want to listen to everything and nothing all at once. The remedy has revealed itself as Dwayne Sodahberk’s Fjärilsfalu. In general terms, Sodahberk is one of the most criminally unsung heroes of organic electronica and crossover electronic indie pop, however, with Fjärilsfalu, Sodahberk has become one of the most criminally unsung musical geniuses of the year, regardless of genre. Shedding any dominating aesthetic, Sodahberk has evolved from his mostly electronic past into an artist that must simply be approached on his own creative merits. Spanning the gamut from guitar driven indie pop to guttural atonal feedback to hushed woodsy folk to solo acoustic guitar layered with field recordings to, well, just about anything else you can think of. on Fjärilsfalu, Sodahberk proves that these disparate parts can come together in creation of a powerfully cohesive whole. It’s magic really. Sodahberk is a voodoo artist. Even the closing track and album namesake, “Fjärilsfalu,” veers, ending the album with a glitchy, pitch-shifted soundscape that would fit perfectly on Fennesz’s Endless Summer. It is an experience all its own. Most people will probably sleep on this, but for those who don’t, Fjärilsfalu will prove itself as one of the most refreshing releases around.

-Mr. Thistle

Dwayne Sodahberk on MySpace