It happens rarely that musicians working with improvisation at the sharp end of experimental practice are so attuned to contemporary style and taste that their work reaches beyond “the serious” or “the popular”. Building Instrument is such a group.

On their last album Mangelen Min, they mix electronic echoes and the classical baroque. As on the two previous albums, it comprises a mixture of real-time playing on a wide range of instruments, live sampling, and electronic processing. You’ll hear samples of kora, Hardanger fiddle, vibraphone, wind instruments and whistles in addition to the customary resources of song, drums and synthesizers.

The Bergen based trio has existed for more than 10 years, and their music still comprises a mixture of free improvisations and compositions done in collaboration by the three musicians. The final product is stitched together from the materials available to form a seamless musical tapestry that feels distinctively hand-crafted. This humble, hand-made aesthetic fits the band like a glove, and connects them to a style and ethos that can feel more analogue than digital, more human than machine.

Åsmund Weltzien (synths, laptop), Øyvind Hegg-Lunde (drums, percussion), Mari Kvien Brunvoll (vocals, electronics, zither, various instruments)